Take a photo of a barcode or cover
calingles 's review for:
Confessions of a Shopaholic
by Sophie Kinsella
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.