Author: Sophie Kinsella
Series: Shopaholic, #8
Narrator: Clare Corbett
Published: October 2015, Random House Audio
Length: 9 hours 27 minutes
Source: Personal copy via Audible
Becky Bloomwood and a hilarious cast of beloved family and friends (plus one enemy!) set off in a van to find her missing father, last heard from in Las Vegas.
Becky’s father Graham and her best friend’s husband, Tarquin, have disappeared from Los Angeles saying simply they have “something to take care of.”
But Tarquin’s wife Suze who is Becky’s best friend, and Becky’s mother Jane, are convinced the two men are hiding something and are in danger—their imaginations run wild. They must track them down!
Hijinks ensue as husband Luke drives Becky, daughter Minnie, Jane, Suze and other favorite Kinsella characters across country from LA to Las Vegas in search of the missing men.
Becky feels deeply guilty about ignoring her father while he was in LA, in addition Becky feels her enemy Alicia is threatening her friendship with Suze.
My thoughts: I just love Becky Bloomwood and am so glad shes back!!! This is just a fun series, and Becky just makes me laugh, plain and simple and sometimes you just need that.
This book picks up right after the previous book, Shopaholic to the Stars, picks up. Becky decides she must go after her dad and Tarkie and the whole gang comes along for the ride. Its a comedy of errors as they rent a RV and head from LA to Las Vegas. And thats what I love about this series...it makes me laugh! Becky is a memorable character and I just love her for all the antics she seems to find herself involved in. And she even reaches out to Derek Smeath for advice - I loved that!!!
All the faces we have grown to love made appearances in this book - Becky, Luke and Minnie, Suze and Tarquin, Beckys parents Graham and Jane, their neighbor Janice, Lukes mom Elinor, and even Beckys arch-enemy Alicia. It seems that all loose ends were tied up - Suze and Tarquin resolved their issue, Grahams secret came out, the tension between Becky and Suze was resolved and they once again are back to being each others 3am friend, and so on. And most importantly, Becky herself has done some maturing - which is so not like her. Its almost as if things are being wrapped up in a neat little bow because this is the last hurrah for these characters...could that be? Is this our last visit with Becky? Have we reached the end?
Whether its the last Shopaholic book or not, I enjoyed this book. I kept my attention, made me laugh and remember why I love this series. Yes, Becky might have changed a little, but over time, dont we all? Deep down, I think shes still the same flawed character we originally fell in love with, who is slowly starting to see things a little differently. Is she completely going to change if the series continues - I dont think so, but a little change wont hurt, plus I dont see her being a girl scout model anytime soon - a huge sale at her favorite store will probably have her back to her old self in no-time!!!
Audio thoughts: I really enjoy listening to this series now...I switched to listening to the books with the last book and loved it! Its such a fun series to listen to and Clare Corbett is the perfect narrator for this series. She does a great job with the voices and infuses just the right amount of humor into her voice when needed, which with this series is quite often! I do want to see what else she narrates, though, and will be checking that out soon.
Books in this series:
- Confessions of a Shopaholic
- Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
- Shopaholic Ties the Knot
- Shopaholic & Sister
- Shopaholic & Baby
- Mini Shopaholic
- Shopaholic to the Stars
- Shopaholic to the Rescue
