Shopaholic & Baby (Shopaholic Series) by Sophie Kinsella
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Book Reviews of Shopaholic & Baby (Shopaholic Series)
Book Review: Wonderful All Around!
Summary: 5 Stars
the book was in wonderful condition when shipped and came before i expected! no complaints!Book Review: Wonderful conclusion (?) to the Shopaholic series...
Summary: 4 Stars
I remember the first time I read a Shopaholic novel. It was the first book in the series, Confessions of a Shopaholic, and I thought Becky Bloomwood and the constant trouble she got into for overspending were hilarious. (I loved the opening line, "OK. Don't panic. Don't *panic*. It's only a VISA bill. It's a piece of paper; a few numbers. I mean, just how scary can a few numbers be?" After all, who hasn't gone through THAT?) Five books later, I'm still having fun with Becky. The least likable book to me was Shopaholic and Sister, because I felt that Kinsella had run out of ideas and was churning out a filler novel just to continue to cash in on her successful series. In the meantime, I thought The Domestic Goddess and Can You Keep a Secret? were wonderful. (The books she wrote under the pen name Madeleine Wickham aren't bad either.) I'd had Shopaholic and Baby on my TBR pile for a VERY long time, since it was released in hardcover last year. Now I wonder what took me so long to give it a whirl. Rebecca Brandon (nee Bloomwood) is back, and now she and Luke are having a baby. Which, of course, means new shopping possibilities. Imagine all the baby stuff she could get! Plus, she and Luke would need a bigger house now, and she's heard of this celebrity obstetrician that she simply must receive care from! Be careful what you wish for, Becky, because the glamorous Venetia Carter, OB-GYN to the stars, could well put her (somewhat) ordered life and marriage in jeopardy...
I really loved reading this book. Sophie Kinsella has one of the sassiest voices in chick-lit I have read. (I can't help but wonder if she'd write a Young Adult novel one day. I think she'd be brilliant at it. Perhaps a prequel -- Rebecca Bloomwood, teen fashionista-slash-shopaholic?) Becky's shopping expeditions and Luke's reaction to them are hilarious, of course, but the story is riveting because it focuses more on her relationship with Luke. I had always wondered why Luke loved Becky, someone so different from him, and now I know why. This installment has more depth than the previous books because Luke is more fleshed-out; he's not just the rich, handsome boyfriend-turned-husband who has no time to notice in this one. The thing with Venetia, while unoriginal, adds some spice into the storyline. And I enjoyed revisiting Becky's friends Suze, Tom and her sister Jess. The one thing that has always irked me about Becky (besides her tendency to be annoying) and Luke is that they keep secrets from one another -- hence the big misunderstanding in this novel. Then again, without it there would be no conflict, and in turn no story. Anyway, I enjoyed Shopaholic and Baby. I don't know if this is the conclusion to the Shopaholic series, but it should be. I mean, what's next? Shopaholic and a Toddler? Shopaholic and a Pre-Teen? Shopaholic and Menopause? Well, you get the picture. I recommend this novel and I can't wait to read Remember Me?
Book Review: Shopaholic & Baby
Summary: 4 Stars
Becky Bloomwood is back... but was it worth it? I'm still pretty strong in my convictions that Ms. Kinsella should have stopped two books ago. This isn't to say that it's a weak book, it's just, like Meg Cabot has repeatedly said when asked if she'll continue Mediator/1-800, after everything eventful has happened, the convoluted situations can lead to nothing good. Kinsella has already taken the time (three books) to establish the strong bond between Becky and Luke--only to randomly (seemingly) break it in this one? Quite annoying, really. I felt like everyone's characters seemed to break a little bit, and the one relationship that I really did like the developments in, Jess and Tom, didn't really have a satisfying ending...or much of an ending or beginning at all. Will there be more books, then? It would seem like overkill, although I would personally love a spinoff focusing solely on Jess and Tom. I still did love how Kinsella wove all those stories together, eventually bringing them all back. Well done, and I was very glad to hear that Becky has a daughter--another future Shopaholic--we just couldn't have it any other way!
Rating: 4/5
Book Review: Pregnancy Hormones on Overdrive?
Summary: 4 Stars
This latest installment in the Shopaholic series was not my favorites, but certainly a good read. As someone with a young toddler, whose memories of pregnancy are pretty fresh in my mind, parts of this book took me back to what it was like to be expecting. For instance, while we aren't lucky enough to have the largest baby store on the planet, I felt overwhelmed right alongside Becky and Luke trying to pick out items from nearly a gazillion choices. There were just too many possibilities!
The part with Venetia Carter trying to steal look away, was just a tad bit unbelievable, I mean really, this women had to be the ultimate jerk to say such horrible things to Becky as she went into labor, and to confront Becky and lie to her about Luke leaving her. What physician in their right mind would do such a thing...although perhaps she wasn't...or maybe the pregnancy hormones were in overdrive...
I didn't laugh as much through this book, as I had with earlier installments, but it was still a very good read and hopefully there will be a "Shopaholic and Toddler" soon!
Book Review: Same Becky as ever
Summary: 4 Stars
If you have enjoyed the Shopaholic series in the past then you will enjoy this too. I found this particular adventure of Becky's even more fanciful than they others.
In this book,as the title probably gives away, Becky is pregnant with her first baby. She has her same wacky adventures mostly related to Pram shopping but she is dealing with a potentially cheating husband.
The caricature of her conniving OB and her husband are kind of over the top and Kinsella works so hard to sell the cheating senario that as she wraps up the book a lot of the pieces don't fit together.
I also wasn't totally on board with Becky's pregnancy experience, having had two kids myself it didn't feel very realistic to me.
Having said that, I gave the book 4 stars because it is just plain fun to read. So bottom line, if you are a shopaholic fan, you will enjoy this too, just don't wait for it to get the pulitzer.