Book Review: Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

About the book:

Title: Finding Audrey

Published by: Doubleday books

Published on: June 4, 2015

Pages: 

Genre: Young Adult

Rating:  5/5
A laugh-out-loud romance from the bestselling author of the Shopaholic series.

Meet Audrey: an ordinary teenage girl with not so ordinary problems.

Aside from her completely crazy and chaotic family, she suffers from an anxiety disorder which makes talking to her brother's hot new best friend a bit of a challenge.
But Audrey has a plan to help her face her fears and take on the world again. First stop: Starbucks
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Shopaholic series comes a terrific blend of comedy, romance, and psychological recovery in a contemporary YA novel sure to inspire and entertain.

An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.

About the author

Madeleine Wickham (born 12 December 1969) is a bestselling British author under her pseudonym, Sophie Kinsella. Educated at New College, Oxford, she worked as a financial journalist before turning to fiction. She is best known for writing a popular series of chick-lit novels. The Shopaholic novels series focuses on the misadventures of Becky Bloomwood, a financial journalist who cannot manage her own finances. The books follows her life from when her credit card debt first become overwhelming ("The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic") to the latest book on being married and having a child ("Shopaholic & Baby"). Throughout the entire series, her obsession with shopping and the complications that imparts on her life are central themes.

#soexcited. #FindingAudrey proofs have arrived!!

A photo posted by Sophie Kinsella (@sophiekinsellawriter) on Feb 10, 2015 at 2:28am PST

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My Review:

This story is all you could wish for. Sophie Kinsella needs no testament in my review for her exceptional story-telling and narration. Changing the genre has not affected her style and exceptionally endearing quality of work even an inch.
So, it is the story of Audrey and her family. And Linus.
Her family has of course, her mother and father. These characters couldn't have been any more relatable. Hilariously relatable is more like it. The mother is always about to burst- with rage/anger/fury/love/care.
The father is busy (always) in working and couldn't care less for the rebuke and reprimand he gets, along with the kids. There are three: Audrey is the middle child, flanked by Frank, the older one, and Felix a four-year old bundle of cuteness.
The mother, although always at the tipping point of going to ashes with her anger, is so adorable in all the admonishments she churns out, her bewilderment in dealing with the kids, her eccentricities, her sacrifices, her volubility.
More than half of the times, it is Frank's obsession with video games
and then there's Felix who greets most life events with disbelieving joy.

I have not even started talking about the story and narration. I could literally scream (fangirl-scream, mind you) about how beautifully and flawlessly the dialogues and conversations have been made up. I LOVED it. And then there's of course the plot: Audrey is battling depression, Frank wants to compete in the LOC video game tournament, Felix is a happy presence wherever he is. Frank's friend Linus comes over to play LOC, and as you may have guessed is the happy companion for Audrey to get through the most difficult phase of her life.
Here's a little warning: Linus is your next book boyfriend. I'm pretty sure about this. He is going to be your next BBF, even before you realise it. And when the book is over, you'll realise you are pining for him.
With all her knack for wit, sass, sensitivity, humor, tragedy, heart-warming stories, quirk, Kinsella's exploration for exploration for teenage mental health, and depiction of the after-effects of bullying couldn't have gotten any better.
As it ends, the only pain I feel is that there wasn't enough time for me to say goodbye to these lovely characters.
And, after you have read the book, do take out two minutes, to admire and appreciate how beautifully the author has come up with the title, drool at its aptness and be amazed at the sweetness of all the elements: the plot, characters, the dialogues, the sequence, the narrative, the pace.

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Quotes from the book:

#mothersday #findingaudrey #quotes #instaquotes

A photo posted by Sophie Kinsella (@sophiekinsellawriter) on Mar 13, 2015 at 11:16am PDT

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Source of the review copy: NetGalley

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Book Review: Jesse's Girl by Miranda Kenneally

About the book:

Title: Jesse's Girl by Miranda Kenneally

Published by: Sourcebook Fire

Published on: July 7th, 2015

Pages: 304

Genre: Young-adult (YA)

Rating: 4.5/5

Book Blurb: Everyone at Hundred Oaks High knows that career mentoring day is a joke. So when Maya Henry said she wanted to be a rock star, she never imagined she’d get to shadow *the* Jesse Scott, Nashville’s teen idol.

But spending the day with Jesse is far from a dream come true. He’s as gorgeous as his music, but seeing all that he’s accomplished is just a reminder of everything Maya’s lost: her trust, her boyfriend, their band, and any chance to play the music she craves. Not to mention that Jesse’s pushy and opinionated. He made it on his own, and he thinks Maya’s playing back up to other people’s dreams. Does she have what it takes to follow her heart—and go solo?

About the author

Growing up in Tennessee, Miranda Kenneally dreamed of becoming an Atlanta Brave, a country singer (cliché!), or a UN interpreter. Instead she writes, and works for the State Department in Washington, D.C., where George W. Bush once used her shoulder as an armrest. Miranda loves Twitter, Star Trek and her husband.

On her own website, she says, "My birthday is April 29, 1982. I grew up in Manchester, Tennessee, a quaint Christian town where nothing cool ever happened until after I left. (Now it’s the home of Bonnaroo). My dream was to become an author, a Major League Baseball Player, a Cracker Barrel manager, a country music singer, or an interpreter for the United Nations.

When I was 18, I escaped to Washington, D.C. Talk about major culture shock: On my first day of college, I showed up at the dorms wearing *cringe* overalls and not knowing much about life or myself. I didn’t really even have a plan – I just knew I wanted to learn more about the world, maybe major in print journalism, and maybe learn to speak Russian.

It was the year 2000, and Al Gore was going up against George W. Bush for the Presidency, and I didn’t even know the difference between a Republican and a Democrat. My political science professor made us write a report on the various Presidential debates. Not knowing much about politics, instead I chose to describe the candidates as characters, e.g. “What the hell was up with the makeup caked on Al Gore’s face? He should become the new model for CoverGirl.” Anyway, the professor loved it, gave me an A, and told me to keep writing. Not bad for someone who didn’t even know what a Libertarian was.

So instead of becoming a Cracker Barrel manager, I discovered a love of news (from politics to Hollywood trash) and international relations. While I’m not a good enough linguist to be an interpreter, I did get a job at the U.S. Department of State, dabbling in all sorts of stuff.

Also while in D.C., I’ve re-embraced writing, which I loved so much as a kid. The first thing I ever had published was a short story for a publication at a writing camp I attended when I was eleven. The name of the story was Patsy’s Prancing Poodles, a comedy about a circus performer who decides to do a tightrope act with her poodles. Obviously, the story was absolute crap, but I loved seeing my work in print. And, of course, I was majorly jealous of my friend Rachel’s story. She wrote an awesome mystery about some stolen shoes or something, and I remember thinking, “Damn, why didn’t I write a mystery? This is suspenseful. This is cool. This is much better than some lame poodles doing flips on a high wire.”

Now, I’m still thinking the same thing every time I go into a bookstore. Why didn’t I think of Bel Canto? Or Feed? Where the Red Fern Grows? Ender’s Game? (Well, besides the fact those last two books were written before I was born)

So many wonderful writers are out there, and I love reading their books while trying my best to become as good as them."

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My Review:

How do you review a book which has been nothing but a pure light hearted joyride for a stretch of 6 hours to you? 

Well, one can always try. So here we are. Although this is a book in the series by this amazing YA author, this is read just as cheerfully as a standalone. The story of Jesse Scott and Maya Henry is endearing, quirky and romantic interspersed with hilarity in just the right amount. When I read love stories, especially Young Adult stories that are not about star-crossed lovers, what I most look forward to the most are the conversations, repartee and friendly banter and wordplay. And this novel is brimming with such banter, much to my pleasure. 

It begins in the cliched way & for a moment I think It will turn out to be just another hatred-turns-into-love story. But its not. Well, in a way it IS hate into love but it isn't cliched at all. There is a substance in the whole plot. 

Both the protagonists are driven by passion. And there are some explicit and implicit lessons in living. Consistent effort. Never giving up. Undying yearning to learn. And I live that in a novel- when it has something to offer in soul besides the plot in mind. 

One thing about the novel that deserves a special mention is the fact that everything seemed pretty balanced and thought out. Nothing seemed forced or out of the place or extraneous. All characters fit the plot just fine. 

To top it all, I was smiling continuously while reading the novel. I like that about a book. That is able to give me reason to smile through words. 

I could totally relate to Maya Henry, not in the factual sense but in what we feel. She asks at a point "What am I doing wrong? Why don't I belong anywhere?". And all I manage is a sigh, thinking to myself: I feel you Maya. I really do. And that is when I am completely, like entirely engrossed in the novel. There is a gripping urge to see it through the end. 

And the best part is that there is a reality to it all: no one sacrifices anything and reason and practicality always remain dominant. What more could have one asked of a novel? 

Maya's family and especially her brother and his girlfriend are all adorable characters, for lack of a better adjective. They are the most endearing supporting characters I have ever seen. 

The journey: defeat, betrayal, a pestering family, love, agony, despair, longing: all the emotions are worth living in this book, with this book. 

I am already in love with this author. On to reading more. 

oh, and a friendly advice:Never waste time pining for a boy, because the boy you're meant to be with will want you so bad, you won't have to pine at all.

This book gives just too much to fangirl for.

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Source of the review copy: NetGalley ARC (Advanced reader Copy)

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