thanks to Delacorte Press and Edelweiss for allowing me to read an egalley of this title, But then when an actual ARC showed up at the bookstore where I work, I grabbed it, And I'm glad I did, because I loved this book, Sophie Kinsella's first foray into YA is a huge success in my opinion, Only issues I had were the same ones I have with her adult books, and they're not bad things, just some products or foods that are British, and as an American I had to Google them to make sure they were what I thought they were.
But Kinsella has definitely brought her wonderful sense of humor with the characters and the way they interact, Witty dialogue, hilarious parents and the way their teen son deals with them, so realistic, yet hilarious, I was laughing out loud so many times as reading this, in restaurants and the break room at work as well,
You can read the rest of my review at my blog, sitelinkLisa Loves Literature on Saturday, Juneth, Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a readtoreview basis, Thanks to Penguin Random House UK Childrens and NetGalley,
“To put you out of your misery, heres the full diagnosis, Social Anxiety Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder and Depressive Episodes, Episodes. Like depression is a sitcom with a fun punchline, ”
This was a cute story a girl suffering from an anxiety disorder, and her crazy mother!
I liked Audrey in this story and I felt really sorry for her.
What she had been through had obviously been traumatic, and being unable to even look at people without panicking was really limiting for her,
“But I think its time, Audrey, I think you can do it, Call it project Starbucks. ”
Starbucks Is she kidding
Tears have started to my eyes, My blood is pulsing in panic, I cant go to Starbucks, I cant.
The storyline in this was really funny! Audreys mother was quite crazy about the possibility of Audreys brother Frank being addicted to video games, and went to ridiculous lengths to try and stop him from playing.
I loved Audreys take on her mothers addiction to The Daily Mail, and the way this book made me laugh!
“Ill do anything, Ill stack the dishwasher. Ill phone Grandma every night, Ill” He casts about wildly, “Ill read to deaf people, ”
There was a little bit of romance in this, and it was quite sweet! I really liked Linus, and he really helped Audrey to overcome her anxiety.
“Had to give you this before I go, ”
For a few moments I dont dare read it, But at last I open it up and stare at the words inside, My head is prickling all over with disbelief, My breath is jumpy as it read it, He wrote that. He wrote that. To me.
“Its a kiss. ”
The ending to this was pretty good, and I liked that we got a happy ending,
out ofWatch my video review or read on for the written review : sitelink youtube. com/watchvmDV
Thank you so much to Doubleday Children's for sending me this book!
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book! At first I was so excited for it because it sounded perfect for me because when I was Audrey's age, I had actually gone through something freakishly similar to her in this book! But then again, I had issues with it that I was hoping wouldn't arise but unfortunately I couldn't ignore.
I'll start off by saying that a lot of things about Audrey and this book were so similar to me that I was freaking out a little bit, Like, Sophie Kinsella, did you steal my diary from when I wasor what When I was, I was bullied and had a really rough time in high school, so much so that I couldn't go to school, or even leave my own house all of which happens to Audrey.
I also developed a relationship with a boy who helped me greatly and moved schools like Audrey plans to do, IS THAT NOT FREAKY
Anyway, Sophie Kinsella's writing style is great because it reads like one of those comedy tv shows and it also contains film scripts and notes that speed up and enhance the reading experience!
Moving on to the many things that I had issues with:
The fact that you never find out what happened in detail to cause her anxiety to dictate her mind.
The unrealistic and stereotyped parental figures, Her mother was the typical "video games are bad for you and you need to play outside because that's what I did when I was younger" except exaggerated TIMES A THOUSAND.
Her father was a classic 'always on his blackberry and never hears what his wife says and just agrees with everything she says' kinda guy and I found them to be REALLY unrealistic.
I mean, I'm sure there are parents out there that are like this, but to the extent where I found myself questioning how exaggerated these stereotypes were was ridiculous,
The instalove. Now, I understand that at Audrey's age, you get into a relationship and you're telling each other you love them straight away I know, because I did that too, Oh how silly I was! but I thought it was a bit strange that one minute Audrey was having such bad anxiety that she couldn't look him in the eye or even face him and the next minute they're making out It just didn't make that much sense to me, especially coming from someone who has experienced severe anxiety at that age and throughout my entire life.
It had its cute moments but I wouldn't recommend it, I really wish I could have loved it : Update: I reviewed/finished this a few days ago after having read it all in one day but as I sit here and plan the review and think about it more I realize it's not astar read, but more of astar read for me so I have lowered my rating accordingly.
This was okay, I found it didn't really get going for a while and that sometimes the focus was more so on the brother than on Audrey, But overall the writing was good, the characters were alright, so it was just an average read, Didn't love it or hate it, This was such a fun book! I honestly didn't expect any less from Sophie Kinsella but I was a bit hesitant because of two reasons, one being that this is her first try at writing middle grade books, and another being that I never really enjoy middle grade books.
The first reason is that I really
hoped Kinsella's humor will translate through such a young protagonist and oh boy, did it ever! and the other is that I often find MG characters too immature for my taste, but Kinsella's magic did it again and totally made this book and character relatable, fun, and all with an important message delivered to the readers.
Anxiety disorders are actually more common than what we think, Unfortunately many people aren't aware of the actual clinical term and brush it off as a personality defect, Mental and psychological illnesses are unfortunately treated as a second class citizen in relation to physical illnesses, I really applaud and admire Kinsella for picking such an important topic and simplifying it and relating it to young teens, Audrey went through a traumatic event in her school that caused her to develop severe anxiety, She wears sunglasses at all times and now never leaves the house she is in the middle of transferring to another school,
The story isn't just Audrey's story, but it is her whole family's story, One thing Kinsella did brilliantly is the family dynamic and relationship, Audrey's older and younger brothers will remind you of your own siblings, Her mother worries constantly and her dad backs her up in the parenting department just to keep the peace, We all have the bad cop good cop labels for our parents right I just liked how relatable the whole family dynamic was, Also, A Kinsella book isn't one if it isn't laugh out loud funny, which Finding Audrey totally is, Her brother plays an online RPG game that he's preparing with his friends to enter a global tournament, . and that requires countless hours of playing, something that has turned red flags for their mom, . . and commence the crazy acts, from finding inventive ways to get around the ban from playing, to restoring to the most extreme actions, like his mom throwing a,laptop out the window to finally get her son's attention This isn't the spoiler, the book opens up with this exact scene.
If I could choose one word to describe Finding Audrey, it would be fun, I can't wait for Sophie Kinsella to venture more into the non adult world YA book next please, as well as more adult books, Basically I will read anything Sophie Kinsella writes, I definitely recommend it to all Sophie Kinsella fans as well as readers who want to try her writing but aren't interested yet in her adult books, .