A review by thebooklovingpanda
Cookie by Jacqueline Wilson

3.0

Another good read from Jacqueline Wilson! Although it wasn't as absorbing as some of her other books, such as Hetty Feather or Opal Plumstead, the heroine Beauty still had the usual tumultuous family life and social struggles as all the rest. It's incredible how Wilson never makes them boring and puts a different twist on each girl!

I thought the portrayal of Beauty's dad as not outright violent, but still abusive, is so relevant as most people would associate an abusive person as being violent, like Jayni's dad in Lola Rose, and not necessarily verbally aggressive. Gerry Cookson constantly talks down to his wife Dilly and Beauty, practically imprisons Dilly financially, treats them like show ponies basically - I hated him more than any other 'villain' in a Jacqueline Wilson book, especially after

Spoiler

he bloody let Beauty's brand new baby rabbit out of its cage and it got its head bit off

. He is a self-made, highly intelligent man who probably genuinely believes he is taking care of his family, but he doesn't seem to realise that throwing money at things won't magically 'fix' them, despite him labelling himself as 'Gerry the Fixer'. He is a misogynistic bully obsessed with his image. And yet I almost felt sorry for him in his confusion when they walked out, though that soon ended after he slagged Dilly off after she told him she got a job.

I loved how Dilly and Beauty's confidence really came out after they got away from his cutting dismissive comments and fits of rage. And everyone needs a friend like Rhona - a lovely kind person who doesn't care about your social status.

Skye is an interesting character - I would like to know why she is so mean to Beauty. I would love for Jacqueline Wilson to one day write a book with a 'popular', 'pretty', 'perfect' girl (or boy!) as her main character - she really has a knack for getting into people's heads, and it would be refreshing to see a character at the top of the social pyramid rather than the bottom, and how that affects them. Or maybe dual POVs? That hasn't happened since Double Act, and the main characters were twins.

This was a good book, even if it did seem a little too easy for the two girls to swan off and make a new life for themselves. But who doesn't like a happy ending?