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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
The girls that get it, get it. The girls that don’t, don’t!
Unbelievably bad. When I reach for a Sophie Kinsella book, I'm not expecting profound characters and realistic plots. In the past, I've enjoyed a few of her books for their lightness and quirky, fun characters. This was painful to read.
Rebecca is an unlikable, despicable woman. She is frivolous and shallow, which is perhaps to be expected from a self-proclaimed "shopaholic." Worse is her absolute dearth of integrity. She lies not only to her creditors and boss, but also to her parents, her friends, men who pursue her, and pretty much anyone who crosses her path. If the truth doesn't suit her for even the most MILD inconvenience it might cause to her, she simply makes up a preposterous lie. Over and over again, these lies cause pain for others, and just end up getting her into trouble...but she doesn't want to change. Are there really people like this? Please, keep them far from me.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Miraculously (and unbelievably), Rebecca reinvents herself over the course of about 1 page. She goes from pathetic, shopaholic, unambitious liar...to intelligent, self-controlled, driven young woman whose greatest desire is to bring justice to her poor neighbors who have been duped out of money by their pension provider. I say this happened in 1 page because there was NO SIGN prior to this that any of the damage or pain she'd caused to herself or others might actually be reshaping her into an improved person. This was a glaring deus ex machina. Honestly, it would not have been that difficult to revise the book a bit to show some lead-up to Rebecca's incredible transformation, but it was evidently too much trouble.
Rebecca is not smart. I don't care how much this book tries to convince me otherwise. The first sign that she knows anything remotely useful about finance is when it's convenient for the plot -- in the last quarter of the story, when she reveals that she was, apparently, a sleeping genius. Honestly. Give me a break. And not just one, but TWO multimillionaires are enthralled by this shopping mastermind. I don't know who Sophie Kinsella is patronizing more here: Women who actually believe that such a character deserves the fairy tale ending she receives, or men, who -- while intelligent enough to be vastly wealthy -- fall for such an empty, selfish, and nearly-sociopathic twit. God. What tripe.
Rebecca is an unlikable, despicable woman. She is frivolous and shallow, which is perhaps to be expected from a self-proclaimed "shopaholic." Worse is her absolute dearth of integrity. She lies not only to her creditors and boss, but also to her parents, her friends, men who pursue her, and pretty much anyone who crosses her path. If the truth doesn't suit her for even the most MILD inconvenience it might cause to her, she simply makes up a preposterous lie. Over and over again, these lies cause pain for others, and just end up getting her into trouble...but she doesn't want to change. Are there really people like this? Please, keep them far from me.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Miraculously (and unbelievably), Rebecca reinvents herself over the course of about 1 page. She goes from pathetic, shopaholic, unambitious liar...to intelligent, self-controlled, driven young woman whose greatest desire is to bring justice to her poor neighbors who have been duped out of money by their pension provider. I say this happened in 1 page because there was NO SIGN prior to this that any of the damage or pain she'd caused to herself or others might actually be reshaping her into an improved person. This was a glaring deus ex machina. Honestly, it would not have been that difficult to revise the book a bit to show some lead-up to Rebecca's incredible transformation, but it was evidently too much trouble.
Rebecca is not smart. I don't care how much this book tries to convince me otherwise. The first sign that she knows anything remotely useful about finance is when it's convenient for the plot -- in the last quarter of the story, when she reveals that she was, apparently, a sleeping genius. Honestly. Give me a break. And not just one, but TWO multimillionaires are enthralled by this shopping mastermind. I don't know who Sophie Kinsella is patronizing more here: Women who actually believe that such a character deserves the fairy tale ending she receives, or men, who -- while intelligent enough to be vastly wealthy -- fall for such an empty, selfish, and nearly-sociopathic twit. God. What tripe.
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
I thought this book was really funny. However,. It swore quite a bit and had some inappropriate parts. That was too bad because I really did like the story and laughed quite a bit.
This is a book that I have considered reading for a long time. So when my facebook group had a author spotlight of Sophie Kinsella I decided I had to finally read one of these book. Much to my surprised, this was definitely not my favorite. I did keep thinking to myself that I probably would have been more entertained by this 10 years ago. I just kept thinking dang that is not smart. I think I may have been able to understand and enjoy the excessive shopping,
Spoiler
but the flat out lies to the bank is what really did me in. < /spoiler>
I read mixed reviews of this book before I actually read it, and after reading it, I can say that I get both sides of those reviews. On one hand, I love Becky's arguments to herself inside her head, Suze, Becky's jobs, and the ending. On the other, during the middle and beginning of the book, I felt like screaming at Becky to show some self-control and to STOP BUYING EVERYTHING THAT SHE SEES. Obviously, Becky and I have very different personality-i like browsing, but not buying. :) Also, i understand that that was partly the plot of the book- that she was a "shopaholic". I was happy when I got to the end though, because I loved how things worked out between her and Luke and how she pays off her debts and finds an awesome job, plus writing the article that got her famous.
I'm glad I gave this book a chance. I would recommend at least sticking around for the ending-believe me, it's worth it. :)
I'm glad I gave this book a chance. I would recommend at least sticking around for the ending-believe me, it's worth it. :)
I really like "Can You Keep a Secret?" but the shopaholic theme really grated on my nerves and it took up way too much of the story.
I needed something quick, easy and entertaining and that´s what I got when I read Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. It´s in every way quite an average chick-lit novel and didn´t blow me away, but that didn´t really matter.
Laugh-out-loud funny, especially when she pretends to know Finnish. I found myself relating quite well to Becky's plight and found her a likable and real heroine.