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Title: Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
Author: Sophie Kinsella
# of pages: 388

Plot Summary:

Becky Bloomwood has a successful career as a financial expert on the television show Morning Coffee, which also means having more money to spend on clothes, accessories, perhaps some furniture... She has already paid off debts from earlier in the year, but she is already accumulating more debts.

In the meantime, she has already carefully planned a romantic getaway with her entrepreneurial boyfriend, Luke Brandon. But, as always, Luke is having difficulties finding time to spend with her, and the trip is ruined further by Becky's trouble with her luggage (she secretly sent her clothes by express post to the hotel, but the clothes arrived late).

Soon, Luke invites her to move to New York with him. She seizes the opportunity to go to a city with so many shops filled with fabulous goods. However, after she has abandoned her position on Morning Coffee for more glamorous opportunities in the States, a disappointing article appears in The Daily World that ruins her television career and Luke's most recent deal; will they manage to recover from it?

Opinion:

This was actually the first Shopaholic book I read, and I actually had no trouble understanding what was happening in the prequel and first novel, Confessions of a Shopaholic.

I can easily understand why Sophie Kinsella's writing has been widely admired by many chick lit fans, and how the Shopaholic books have become such a success. The moment I began reading it, I became completely engrossed in Becky's intriguing story. There are lines that are completely hilarious, some that are heartbreaking, and some that are deeply emotional. The first-person narrative just captivates the reader and puts them directly in Becky's shoes.

What made me even more interested was how there must be millions of ways that Becky could be different from me. From her quirky behaviour and somewhat peculiarly naive tendency to hide the truth, it was a unique experience imagining myself in her position.

Shopaholic takes Manhattan is definitely recommended for all teenage girls and women, but such a fantastic read is hard to miss.

Main themes:

• There's no such thing as too much shopping
• Your friends are always there to support you
• Some may abuse your trust and use it to cause harm behind your back

Subjects:

• Shopping
• Financial insecurity
• Romance

Target audience: Young women, including teenagers

Genre: Chick lit

Rating: 5/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 24 hours so far
* Can be published in the Teen Newsletter