The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)***

I love Sophie Kinsella and I love Becky Bloomwood. I love Luke Brandon too, and I want to take him home with me. Anyone who’s read my blog will know how much I love Kinsella and her characters, and anyone who hasn’t read it knows it now.

But, if I’d read the first book in the series first, I don’t know if I would have read the others.

In some ways, it’s exactly the same as the last Shopaholic book I’ve read, Shopaholic Abroad, which I think is the second in the series. Becky (or Rebecca as she’s mostly called in this book: I love the name Rebecca, but it doesn’t suit her) spends loads of money on clothes; gets into serious financial trouble; gets into huge arguments with Luke, then somehow manages to solve her own and Luke’s problems in the most dramatic possible way. Actually, apart from the ‘serious financial trouble’ part, it’s very similar to the other Shopaholic book I’ve read as well: Shopaholic & Baby.

I will read the other ones because I loved the first two I read. And I’m sure it won’t actually matter if all the other stories are very similar. Even now, I want to read more about Becky, and especially more about Luke, and I would actually be disappointed if Kinsella’s next book was called ‘Shopaholic Gets Divorced’ (which would be all about how Luke leaves Becky for a blogging bookaholic called Sophie… me-Sophie not Kinsella) because I really like the relationship between Becky and Luke. ‘Shopaholic Gets Divorced’ would probably end up a bit like Me and Mr Darcy so it’s really best if it stays in my head.

The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic was disappointing not because it was the same as all the others. It was disappointing because I was expecting a comedy and got a horror story. There are some amusing moments, but they're not nearly as funny as some of the scenes in Kinsella’s later books, and I never really felt that I was happy for Becky to get away completely with all her lies and financial problems. Also, disappointingly, Kinsella leaves out some of the scenes I was looking forward to reading. Like Becky’s first meeting with Luke. Kinsella shows little of the great rapport between the two characters in this book, usually so brilliantly written (but perhaps yet to be developed). They barely even seemed to like each other. So the ending didn’t seem right at all.

Luke is sweet and lovely, though, and even a little bit useless on at least one occasion. Becky’s friend Suze is great as well – it’s interesting to see how her story starts. In some ways, Suze is the most interesting character in Kinsella’s books because she has a story that develops a little bit more in each book, whereas Becky, in many ways, is always the same person with the same problems.

Some of the lies Becky tells are absolutely dreadful. She could have got Derek Smeath, her poor bank manager, into serious trouble. Either she’s a horrible person or she’s got a really serious psychological condition that needs treatment. The other books were comedy, but this one was actually unsettling to read at times.