Shopaholic Confesses All (The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella)

Member Name: Butterfly-Wings

Product:	The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella
Date:	12/11/09 (37 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great book and characters

Disadvantages: None

Confessions of a Shopaholic is a Modern Fiction (Chic Lit) book written by Author Sophie Kinsella - who has also written other books using the name Madeline Wickham. Kinsella is probably more well known for her Shopaholic Series of books; one of which was made into a film more recently; Confessions of a Shopaholic. In all there are 5 books in the Shopaholic Series the first of them being Confessions of a Shopaholic which was also known as Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic. To be honest I wouldn't have normally picked up this type of book however I had read a lot of Sophie Kinsella book reviews on here and they were all positive ones so when I notice the Shopaholic Series of books in the local Charity shop I decided to purchase the Shopaholic Book's and see what I thought of them.

The first book in the Shopaholic Series is Confessions of a Shopaholic which was published in 2001 - However there was an earlier edition of this book which was entitled Secret Confessions of a Shopaholic (I made the mistake of buying purchasing both only to realise later that they were in fact the same book) You can tell by the title of the book that the plot is about a Shopaholic and this Shopaholic's name is Rebecca (Becky) Bloomwood. Becky Bloomwood works as a financial journalist for the Successful Saving's Magazine earning a Salary of £20,000. She lives with her best friend come flat mate Suze in a flat in Fulham. As previously mentioned Becky is a complete Shopaholic and likes to shop in all the big designer shops buying stuff she can't really afford and paying for the items on her Credit and Store Cards; her out of control shopping habit catches up with her and she ends up with lots of Credit Card and Store Card bills which are unpaid and the debt is spiralling - not to mention the Over Draft on her bank account, things just keep getting worse for Becky as despite the debt she is still spending like mad. She seems to think that if she just ignores the bills that they will go away - or if she drops the bills in the street or in a skip that some kind stranger will pay them for her and her shopping sprees can continue. Will Becky spending habits continue or will she see that she needs to cut back and face reality. Becky's dad gives her some advice about her spending habits - he quite clearly tells her to cut back or make more money. Becky tries both methods - does she eventually see the error of her ways or is she as bad as ever......

I really enjoyed reading this book and to be honest it was quite hard to put down as you really get to like the character Becky and all of the others in the book. Admittedly Becky is a little naive and gullible and totally addicted to spending but you can't help liking her as she seems like a really down to earth sweet character. In some parts of the book Becky's character comes across as being quite immature as she can't seem to face reality, grow up and take responsibility of her spending habits and her life - she is constantly making up excuses and eventually they catch up with her.

The way Sophie Kinsella has constructed this book is brilliant, it is such a simple story line but yet Kinsella seems to create really likable lovable characters who are quite simply hilarious at times. We have a huge mix of characters in this book from the extravagant big spender, the sensible friend, the bitch at the office, the loving parents and not to mention a gorgeous guy.

At 368 pages Confessions of a Shopaholic isn't a very long book, in fact you will whizz through it in no time. In-fact I had finished this book in one day - I was having a lazy Sunday and read the book cover to cover. If you like comedy, romance and reading you will definitely love this book. It has to be right up the top of my favourite books list and Sophie Kinsella has to be one of my favourite authors (I have read all of her other books so this is why I have made this decision)

The other books in the Shopaholic Series are -

Shopaholic Abroad
Shopaholic Ties the Knot
Shopaholic and Sister
Shopaholic and Baby

All of the above books are also extremely well written and enjoyable to read.

Highly Recommended
Thanks for reading

Summary: Brilliant chic lit book