A Bookworm's Report (#1)

Book Review for...

Confessions of a Shopaholic

Sophie Kinsella

I saw a trailer for the movie a long time back and placed it on my 'To Watch' list. My movie list is pretty long and I never get around to watching half the movies on there. Thank goodness for that because, as it always happens, the book was better than the movie. Far better. I didn't know it was even a book until I happened across it at the local thrift store. Paperback for 59 cents! I love thrift shopping.

I read Confessions of a Shopaholic over the course of a few days. Having read a series that took an entire summer for me to muddle through, I was looking for something light and fun. When I found this shoved up near the top of my bookshelf, I thought it would do the trick. It reminded me slightly of Bridget Jones.

As long as you go into this book knowing it's silly and not deep discussion literature  you will be fine. I had seen a lot of negative reviews stating something along these lines and I don't understand how anyone could see this and think they would find deep, intricate characters. You won't. 

Rebecca Bloomwood is a character that I thoroughly enjoyed. Her descriptions of shopping and the absolute need for having something, her imagination on the series of events on what will happen from purchasing that object is just brilliant. I am not a hardcore clothing/beauty/girly shopper, but I wanted to rush out quite a few times and go shopping. "Yes!" I shout in my mind, "I need these things! Need them!" It's quite like the infomercials in the dead of night. At any other time, you can see how ridiculous it would be to purchase HD Night Vision Goggles or a Chillow or even a Booty Belt. (These exist.) But when you are up at 3am and watching someone try to sell you this... it makes perfect sense to have it.

The story line was engaging and fun. I enjoyed the characters and roles they played in Becky's life. Some things were a bit of a stretch but again, this is a summer paperback. You expect to find those hidden within the main story.

It was only within the last couple of pages that I started to become disappointed. I felt that the ending was cleaned up too neatly and it all went extremely fast. I think that some characters seemed to be two completely different people all within the space of 10 pages. I would have liked things to slowly come to a close so that I could read along and close that book cover with a satisfying pat. Instead, I was raced along and jolted to a halt. Turning blank pages at the end waiting for more.

Which, having found out this is part of a series, I suppose I could be content with the knowledge that more is out there waiting for me to get to it. But I'm not. I like a comfortable ending and this... seemed like a book had been torn in half and I was only given part of it.

Would I recommend this? Yes. For a light-hearted toss of a few pages, it was enjoyable and well worth the time. Endings are tricky and I am sure my nagging for a better tie-up is mostly personal and a small thought in the collective as Confessions of a Shopaholic has received 4/5 stars on Amazon at the time of writing this. I can come away from this book saying I had a great time within its pages.