This is Rebecca Bloomwood’s story of her life as a financial journalist where she reports on all things financial. But there is a problem her own personal finances are out of control and she cannot bring herself to sort them out. Rebecca has her head in the sand. Then an opportunity to help goes wrong but can she rectify all that she has done and does she really know something about finances after all?
She tries cutting back but that costs her more money, she tries making more money but does not have the skill. Her debt just keeps increasing as do the letters from the Bank, the Visa Card people, and stores where she has accounts. These are throughout the book, as we are in Rebecca’s world where she tries to justify to us as readers and ultimately herself that it is okay to be buying all these things. Shopping is Rebecca’s addiction and even if you do not have the same sort of passion for shopping that Rebecca does you can still probably relate to some of them justifications in making purchases no matter how small or big.
I found Rebecca really annoying as a character; I am one of those people who do not shop like this; unless it is in a bookshop! She actually grated on me, but because she was that annoying I wanted to see what happen to her, and like all good chick lit books it all comes good in the end. And it was very easy to work where the book was going to go. Although this book was published 10 years ago its topics are just as relevant now as they were then. Debt is not going to go away, and for as long as they are shops there will be characters like Rebecca Bloomwood shopping in them.
Despite my lack of interest in the character and probably the story as a whole, it was a good escapism book but I will not be reading the others.
I am rather late in discovering Sophie Kinsella and the ‘Shopaholic’ series, and since I saw a lot about her latest novel, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I think my review gives that opinion. I do wonder why the character annoyed me so much. That does not mean that the book was no good, it must have had something for the character to annoy me so much and make me want to finish the book but it does not make me want to read the rest of the series, I think perhaps because I can predict what the subsequent books are going to be like. But if I am looking for some sheer escapism, perhaps if I came across one in a charity shop as I did this one I might buy it?
The Book Jotter 