Colgan strikes again (Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend - Jenny Colgan)

Member Name: frankie1984

Product:	Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend - Jenny Colgan
Date:	26/05/09 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to read and great story

Disadvantages: None

I have always loved reading and I have a selection of authors that I always read as I find their books perfect for me in terms of their style of writing. I recently went on a little spending spree due to winning a little bit of money and finally bought a load of new books that I have wanted for ages. One of them was this one which I actually bought the day it was released onto paperback (not done that in sooooo long and it felt good!) and by the next day I had finished it as once again a book written by Jenny Colgan was just so easy to read and quick to get into!





The author:
Jenny Colgan is an English author who now lives in France. She has now written now books including this one with another in the pipeline. Her books are geared towards the romance/chick lit/slightly humorous category and are always very easy to read. She has a website, jennycolgan.com, where you can keep up to date with her blog and latest news on her books and she also has a facebook page fan page.




The plot:
This new book follows Sophie who is a very spoilt young woman. She has a very rich family is is constantly out and about partying and shopping with her two equally as rich friends Carena and Philly. However, things are quite going to plan for Sophie and when the money suddenly stops she must learn to live a very different life style. Coping in a way she never thought she would have to or even be able and suddenly having to flat share with some very skint and untidy blokes, will her friends be there to help her through?
The book follows Sophie through an interesting time as she learns to adjust and move on from what has happened to her.





Characters:
Sophie is obviously the main character in this book and what the author has done is actually create a character that although you shouldn't like, you find yourself rooting for. I think this is due to the fact that the character has been developed so that we see as the reader, a more caring and nicer side that she just chooses not to show all the time. Sophie's two best friends are exactly like her in terms of how they spend their lives but, somehow even more self centred and vile! These make for interesting twists in the tale!
When Sophie moves into her flat share we meet a couple more of the main characters who are Eck and Cal. Both art students they are living a minimal life style to scrape by on very little and Sophie cannot believe how they live. She also finds both of them attractive whch of course makes things that little more interesting along the way!
Jenny Colgan is very good at brining a small amount of humour to certain parts of her books so that it feels like an everyday situation and more often than not by the way the characters speak or more specifically, the thoughts that go through their mind. This adds a litle more to the characters especially Sophie who can come across as a little bit dim witted because of her lack of 'real life' skills.




Price:
I bought my copy in Asda for just £3.86 which I think is well worth it for a new book. Of course if you are a fan like I am of Jenny Colgans then you will want to add this one to your collection!




Overall opinion:
Once again I was hooked straight from the beginning with this book and this time it actually started out slightly differently as the author began by telling us it was present day. We meet Sophie who seems normal enough if not a little kooky and we also know there is another character around. However what we don't know is who this character is and what role they actually play. This of course means we are drawn in to find out more and by that point you are already hooked!
The book then goes back in time as Sophie is telling us the story of what happened to her and then eventually back to present day where we find out who that mystery character is! I like that this has been done as it gives the story a slightly different edge and to be honest you don't even know who the other character is until right near the end or what has happened to Sophie at this point except to know that her life has changed.
Another little thing I spotted was that in a slight way the author has linked this book to another she brought out previously. It is by all means a very small connection and only really fans would probably notice and by no way does it spoil the book if you don't spot it! I won't actually tell you what it is but, let you see if you can spot it for yourself!
Overall this is another great book from Jenny Colgan that has been added to my collection and highly recommended by me especially as a holiday read due to it's compact and lightweight size at only 306 reading pages and easy to get into style. The back of the book also contains an extract form her next book which is called ' The near misses' which of course I am already looking forward to!

Summary: Another great book from Jenny Colgan