Confessions Of A Shopaholic (2003) - Plot & Excerpts
If you know anyone that is impulsive, spendy, and irresponsible, do not let him/her read this book. Seriously.Because for any normal woman (or man--I must avoid gender stereotyping) with above average impulsive shopping tendencies, this book will make him/her feel better about his/herself. Take me, for example. When I am confronted by a cute pair of shoes or some colorful household item, I get kind of...well...impulsive, spendy, and irresponsible. Sometimes, my willpower can overrule that temptation, though passing through the Times Square and the Fifth Ave area multiple times during the week for work really weakens my resolve. But the girl in this book? Imagine the above scenario on crack plus the mentality of a hyped up mallrat who's won a $100,000 dollars. Enough money for it to become a sizable investment, but little enough that it could probably be spent in a half a day if all that person did was shop couture. Are you kind of disgusted yet? Or are you secretly hoping that person will indulge?THIS IS THE DILEMMA THAT I FACED THIS ENTIRE BOOK. Becky, the protagonist, literally just keeps spending and spending and spending and spending, despite the bills that are piling up in her desk drawer. In order to escape her debts, Becky dreams up the most ridiculous "spend less, make more" schemes, all which crash and burn before they even begin. After each failure, we watch her spend more money on things she doesn't need that leads her down a dark spiral of debt and self loathing.In a weird, twisted way, it's kind of entertaining and a little harrowing. Who hasn't felt that guilt before, buying something on a whim that is inessential to survival? It's a very touchy issue, but the author explores the mentality of a woman trapped by the glitter and glam of a highly materialistic society very well. It's a bit exaggerated, but I bet the core issues resound in the minds of millions of people. What I really disliked about this book, though, was that Becky's rehabilitation was just too darn easy. I'm willing to forgive a lot in this book, but not the assumption that the only criteria of getting one's life back together after repeated financial purging of one's bank account and credit score is to be a good person. You get the guy, the job, the money...only after bothering to care about someone else for once? Puh-leeze. I'd been hoping that life would smack some more sense into this silly airhead, not reinforce her bad habits. She's still a silly airhead after the book... Perhaps just a little more bearable.Overall, I'm hovering between 2.5 stars to 3 stars. The writing wasn't fantastic but it wasn't terrible either, and there is a certain addicting quality about this book that doesn't let you go. Recommended for some people with a lot of patience, and definitely not recommended for people who hate shopping or hate to take their girlfriends/boyfriends/wives/husbands/kids shopping.
I laughed. I cried. I finished reading this month’s chick lit novel—Confessions of Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. I have to admit that when I started it, I didn’t like it very much--I could not readily identify with the main character, Becky Bloomwood. She is a British, single, twenty-something woman who works as a financial journalist. However, she does not really seem to know much about her personal finances except how to spend, spend, and spend money. I cannot understand the obsessive nature of a shopaholic who craves to shop for dresses, scarves, kitchen gadgets and even books, etc. She continues this behavior even though she is constantly bombarded by banks and credit card companies who want her to pay her debts. However, when she attempts to deal with her problems the book turns hilarious. She avoids the credit card companies by creating all sorts of excuses about why she cannot possibly pay, such as she broke her leg or her dog died. Then she decides that she has only two options that she can chose from to solve her problems: C.B. (Cut Back) or M.M.M. (Make More Money). When she elects to bring her lunch to work rather than eating out and to cook at home rather than eat in restaurants to save money, she buys all sorts of kitchen paraphernalia spends hundreds of dollars. Her solutions are rather silly and humorous. After she inadvertently gives some bad financial advice to the couple who lives next to her parents, they end up losing some of their retirement assets. Becky feels guilty and writes a journalistic expose that reveals the evil ways of the big corporation that cost her parents’ neighbors their money. Luke, the financial advisor/lawyer of that same corporation, who Becky knew previously, and she debate the issue on national television and she makes a strong argument. Luke becomes her love interest (he conveniently has lots of money) and she ends up with a new job that pays well. Ah, think of all the opportunities for shopping! Confessions of a Shopaholic is absolutely everything that chick lit is supposed to be—funny, light, and completely brainless. Becky doesn’t need to learn to be more responsible—everything works out for her. Kinsella has developed a main character who is memorable and quirky and placed her in a Cinderella storyline. There is lots of humor. It is pure entertainment. I would definitely recommend this title and the remainder of the series to fans of Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary.
What do You think about Confessions Of A Shopaholic (2003)?
So I used to work with this girl called Sarah, who was a real no bullshit kind of person. I really liked her because she was intelligent and articulate, someone I could actually hold a conversation with. She was well read, she kept up on current events and she could talk politics while maintaining integrity and respectability. When I saw this book on the break table in the back, I never would have thought that it was hers. When I found out I made fun of her. I couldn't believe a girl like her was reading one of those girly indulgent drugstore bookshelf books about some cutsey flustered vunerable woman who almost manages to overcome her sweet, sugary problems by the last few pages. Almost. Over the next few days, when I would be taking my 20 minutes for lunch, I started to leaf through the book for lack of better reading material (I had read the copy of People from three months prior so many times I could probably name the make-ups, break-ups, new babies and total tramps.) After a few chapters I was inexplicably hooked. I had to know what else the silly little spendthrift was going to get herself into and of course, eventually out of. I read it over the course of about 4 or 5 lunch breaks. It was easy to slip into the back of my mind, underneath the homework assignments and papers and substantial literature I was in the middle of, behind the bills to pay and the jobs to keep up with. It was the easiest book I have ever read, truly light and to be totally honest, well written. The woman has an undeniable personality and voice. I haven't been interested enough to get any of her follow up books, but every time I pass them in the "literature" section at the drug store, I consider it for about half a second.
—Rachel
Dear girls,Shopping is some kinda healing, right?No girls would offense me, I guess.I think everybody will love Rebecca Bloomwood, our heroine.She's funny and out-of-control addicted to shopping brand-names (with good excuses). When I first read it, I think, ooh...there must be the one who's more crazy than me? owing many debts. I love shopping but can control my finance well. I think Sophie has developed good plots and personality of the protagonist (being shopaholics and financial consultant on TV at the same time) She can make it, WOW!Ohhh..now she has a baby with Luke. Let's see next disaster (but happy-ending) she's made for her childWants more credit cards, Mrs. Brandon (ex-Bloomwood)?I give this credit to you, five stars!!
—AmmY
At A GlanceGenre: Chick LitLove Triangle/Insta Love?: Nope. Cliff Hanger: not really.Rating: 4.5 StarsScore SheetAll out of tenCover: 8Plot: 8Characters: 9World Building: 7Flow: 9Series Congruity: n/aWriting: 8Ending: 8Total: 8In DepthBest Part: Shopping!Worst Part: n/a :DOverall Feels Felt: Love this!!!; Oh snap.; Yummy man :DConclusionContinuing the Series: yes!Recommending: yes!Misc.: Trigger Warning; Main character has obsessive need to shop. Short Review: I just love this series so much. For reals, i usually hate chick lit, but love this. It's such a fluffy read but at the same time, there is a sense of expense in there from her avoiding her bill collectors. I wish i could live her life, shopping every day :D i do hope her romance grows greatly and he doesn't find out about her debt, or if he does, he accepts and not get crazy mad. I look forward to reading the next book in the series. Review In GIF Form
—Brooke ♥booklife4life♥
