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A review by mrsrachelshanks
Wilde Like Me by Louise Pentland
2.0
As a longtime viewer of the author's Youtube videos, I've be encouraged to buy this book repeatedly for a long time now. I've always resisted, thinking that a book about a single mother wouldn't really appeal to me, a university student in my early 20s. But seeing it for sale on the Kindle store for under £1 was the final push to give it a go.
Unfortunately, this book was exactly what I expected - a slightly fictionalised version of the author's own life . Perhaps it is because I am so used to Louise Pentland's mannerisms ('have a mooch' etc), as well as witnessing parts of her personal life unfold online (childbirth, divorce, depression/The Emptiness, dating, everyday life, etc) but I struggled to separate Louise from her main character, Robin. My mind's eye pictured Robin's house as Louise's house, Robin's dress sense as Louise's dress sense, and even members of Robin's family and friends as Louise's own family and friends. Even Robin's unnecessarily detailed knowledge about Youtube, blogging and technology all made more sense because of Louise's knowledge of these things.
'Wilde Like Me' would make a good piece of chick lit - an easy read with a couple of laughs and relatable dating moments. But the long descriptions of every single character's backstory shoehorned in (most of which was not relevant) made it slightly more difficult to get through. My lack of concentration caused me to forget which character was which (especially with similar sounding names; Lacey, Lyla...Louise!). All in all, it was worth the 98p and two evenings that I spent on it, which is a shame as I do truly adore the author's online content... just not so much translated into a fictionalised book form!
Unfortunately, this book was exactly what I expected - a slightly fictionalised version of the author's own life . Perhaps it is because I am so used to Louise Pentland's mannerisms ('have a mooch' etc), as well as witnessing parts of her personal life unfold online (childbirth, divorce, depression/The Emptiness, dating, everyday life, etc) but I struggled to separate Louise from her main character, Robin. My mind's eye pictured Robin's house as Louise's house, Robin's dress sense as Louise's dress sense, and even members of Robin's family and friends as Louise's own family and friends. Even Robin's unnecessarily detailed knowledge about Youtube, blogging and technology all made more sense because of Louise's knowledge of these things.
'Wilde Like Me' would make a good piece of chick lit - an easy read with a couple of laughs and relatable dating moments. But the long descriptions of every single character's backstory shoehorned in (most of which was not relevant) made it slightly more difficult to get through. My lack of concentration caused me to forget which character was which (especially with similar sounding names; Lacey, Lyla...Louise!). All in all, it was worth the 98p and two evenings that I spent on it, which is a shame as I do truly adore the author's online content... just not so much translated into a fictionalised book form!