Mini Shopaholic Review

Mini Shopaholic

- Sophie Kinsella

Publisher: UK (September 2010)

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) thought motherhood would be a breeze and that having a daughter was a dream come true a shopping friend for life! But it s trickier than she thought two-year-old Minnie has a quite different approach to shopping.

She can create havoc everywhere from Harrods to Harvey Nicks to her own christening. She hires taxis at random, her favourite word is Mine , and she s even started bidding for designer bags on ebay.
On top of everything else, there s a big financial crisis. People are having to Cut Back including all of Becky s personal shopping clients and she and Luke are still living with Becky s Mum and Dad. To cheer everyone up, Becky decides to throw a surprise birthday party on a budget but then things become really complicated.
Who will end up on the naughty step, who will get a gold star and will Becky s secret wishes come true?
 
This review a modified version of the one I did for Waterstones. My copy of Mini Shopaholic came courtesy of Waterstones Card Preview reading - Thanks.
 

Becky’s back! I really enjoyed the first couple of shopaholic books, finding them light but amusing reads that had me laughing out loud. However, this latest adventure for Becky Brand (Nee Bloomwood) held a few frustrations. Firstly, despite all her troubles Becky really hasn’t learned much. Yes, she’s a mother now and married but still seems unable to tell the truth and would rather create elaborate lies to avoid people finding out. Maybe it’s just me having related to Becky when she was young, single and shopping could change life. Now, I just find it a little difficult to swallow, especially as Becky has only just survived the problems (and debt!) her MasterCard habit has gotten her into in the past. There is an effort for Becky to change here – she tries learning to barter for what she wants and agrees not to purchase any new clothes until she wears all she owns at least 3 times – but it seems to come less from Becky and more from everyone else forcing her. The best part for me was actually the sub-plot with Becky’s mother-in-law which seemed to hold some true emotion – awkward and difficult as it is. Still, the book is easy to read, amusing in places and anyone who has read Shopoholic before will be buying this as well. Compared to the raft of other Chick-Lit Books out there this is definitely a superior example of the genre.

Recommended for previous Becky Bloomwood fans. 7.5 out of 10