10.28.2015

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

10.28.2015
I'm sorry, Dear Blog. It's been a month since my last update and this isn't at all what I'd promised. Somehow, I'd gotten caught up in other things. (Volunteer work, Regular work, Family stuff...) But here I am! With renewed vigor! I recently found that my new library is a nice short-cut between home and work, and even stopping in for 20 minutes shaves off a lot of time from my commute (and avoids a ton of 5pm traffic!) Now that I'm finishing a few of those borrowed books, expect to hear more from me.

Sophie Kinsella, known maybe more so for her fun and trite Chick-Lit novels (mainly The Shopaholic series) tries on a new tact with her first YA novel. Audrey, her heroine, suffers from social anxiety, something Kinsella thinks is very serious. Indeed, Audrey's particular social anxiety is far more full blown than any I've ever had (but not the case for many of my friends).
Still, I feel like Kinsella tip-toed around the subject of mental illness a little too delicately and either took it too seriously or not seriously enough. I suppose that's forgivable as it would very easy to mishandle it. Still, I think I like her adult novels better because she doesn't restrain herself at all from being a goof. I, for one, have always found a very dark, bleak humor in my depression - privately singing the Kenny Loggins track "I'm Alright" during my emotional melt-downs. All the same, I'm kind of glad I borrowed this from the library instead of buying it for myself.
So Audrey has social anxiety. She can't leave the house, and wears sunglasses at all times to avoid direct eye contact. Her family is crazy, but we can all kind of relate to that. But in the midst of her family's wackiness, her brother's friend sort of helps wedge her out of her troubles,
As usual with Sophie Kinsella novels, it was light and funny - but maybe I her gimmick was a bit dark for a first YA novel. I don't know, it didn't seem a good fit.

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