I've been a fan of Sophie Kinsella
from the beginning - starting with Confessions of a Shopaholic. The latest (#7) in this series - Shopaholic to the Stars is newly released.
Inveterate shopper Becky two year old daughter Minnie have accompanied her husband Luke on a business trip to Hollywood. Well, there are stars in the streets and stars in Becky's eyes. She sees this trip as a fantastic opportunity to shop (natch) and kick start her career as a Hollywood stylist.
I've always enjoyed Becky's imaginings of what she could do or be and her complicated machinations to rationalize and explain her (over) spending. At the root of it all, Becky is a kind and good person with a bit of a shopping problem. Kinsella again gives us lots of evidence that although Becky has good intentions, old (shopping) habits die hard.
Kinsella does an excellent job skewering Hollywood, stardom and more. Although I still found many laugh out loud moment in Shopaholic to the Stars, I also found a Becky that wasn't so kind. She's determined to succeed in Hollywood - at the cost of almost anything, including her marriage, her friends, her parents, and more. Some of the situations weren't so funny - it wasn't quite the Becky I've enjoyed in the past. Instead, she's quite selfish and self-centered.
There are numerous sub-plots - Luke's relationship with his mother, Becky's dad's quest, the reappearance of Becky's dreaded nemesis Alicia and the whereabouts of Tarquin. But - and stop here if you haven't read the book......nothing is resolved! I turned the last pages and went back, just to make sure I hadn't missed anything. I hadn't. The book ends with "Becky will return soon" and a road sign pointing to Las Vegas. I will of course be picking up the next book as I do want to find out what happens. And I like Kinsella's writing. But, I just felt a little cheated after 473 pages. This is probably my least favourite Becky book so far. Read an excerpt of Shopaholic to the Stars.
You can find Sophie Kinsella on Facebook and on Twitter.
3 comments:
Yeah, the reviews I've read of this one have been disappointing but I still plan to pick it up.
This is just my opinion, but this is the ugliest cover! I actually ended up ordering this book from a British vendor so I could get the cute UK version. I can't read a book which is getting so-so reviews (as compared to the others in the series) AND has an awful cover :)
Agreed, this was my least favorite of the series. All these plots spinning around and none resolved. Lois and Sage don't get what's coming to them, we don't find out why they're in Vegas, they're apparently forgetting all about her mother who is on a plane headed to Los Angeles, Danny doesn't care about his brand being humiliated, and they all end up tense in a car... Too much negativity, everyone is mad or lying the whole book.
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