german and english review

actual rating: 2.5 stars

 

Das war mein zweiter Versuch mit dem Buch. Diesmal habe ich es mir als Hörbuch angehört, was Gott sei Dank eine verkürzte Version war. Ich mochte die Sprecherin unheimlich gerne, was ein weiterer Vorteil war. Ansonsten, das Buch ist einfach absolut nichts für mich.

 

Inhalt: Rebecca Bloomwood hat eine gefährliche Leidenschaft: Die erfolgreiche Finanzexpertin, die anderen Menschen in Geldfragen kompetent zur Seite steht, kann keinem Schnäppchen widerstehen. Nun steckt sie in einer schweren finanziellen Krise und droht in ihrem selbst geschaffenen Chaos unterzugehen, da sie sich gleichzeitig die Bank vom Leib halten, den attraktiven Luke Brandon beeindrucken und ihrer täglichen Arbeit nachgehen muss...

 

Rebecca hat eindeutig ihre Momente, in denen ich denke, dass sie endlich zur Vernunft kommt, doch dann macht sie es gleich wieder kaputt und geht mir einfach nur auf die Nerven. Ich dachte zum Ende hin, dass es echt besser mit ihr wird, dass sie wirklich was ändert und vernünftiger wird, aber so richtig überzeugt war ich dann doch nicht. Ich weiß nicht wie sich das im Verlaufe der Reihe entwickelt, es gibt ja noch genug weitere Bücher. Aber ich glaube nicht, dass ich mir ein weiteres davon antun werde.

 

Ich muss ehrlich gestehen, dass ich mir da lieber den Film wieder und wieder angucken werde, statt das Buch zu lesen und das sage ich wirklich sehr sehr selten.

 

***

 

This is my second try with this book. This time I listened to it as an audiobook, thankfully it was a shortened version. I also really liked the girl who read it, which is always a plus. Other than that, I came to the conclusion that this book just isn't for me.

 

Summary: Becky Bloomwood has a fabulous flat in London’s trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season’s must-haves. The only trouble is, she can’t actually afford it—not any of it. Her job writing at Successful Saving magazine not only bores her to tears, it doesn’t pay much at all. And lately Becky’s been chased by dismal letters from the bank—letters with large red sums she can’t bear to read. She tries cutting back. But none of her efforts succeeds. Her only consolation is to buy herself something . . . just a little something.

Finally a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life—and the lives of those around her—forever.

 

Rebecca has her moments when I think she finally comes to her senses but a minute later she's already over it and back to getting on my nerves. Towards the end, I really thought she would change some and would maybe, just maybe, be a bit more reasonable but I'm really not very convinced. I don't know how this will develope throughout the series, there are so many more books to the series but I'm sure as hell not gonna go back there ever again.

 

 

To be completely honest, I'd rather watch the movie over and over again, since I loved that one much more than this, something that I rarely ever say.

I do re-read this book every couple of years. Probably because it was my first glimpse of Becky Bloomwood and I liked her a lot. I remember being in my 20s and spending with my credit card like I wasn't going to have to pay the bill. And I remember the juggling I did to pay down bills and the stress I would feel when I had to choose between eating something that was not soup or paying my JC Penney card down (starting off in government I had to buy new clothes...seriously people, instead of a wedding trousseau, we need to fund young men/women clothes when they go out into the workforce) so I wouldn't get a screeching call about being sent to collections. 

 

What makes "Confessions" so fun for me is that Becky is a mess. She's working at a job she hates (writer at Successful Saving) while trying to pay down her bills due to how much she loves shopping. And it's not just Becky loves shopping for clothes and accessories. It's pretty much any old thing. This of course is when Becky loses me cause I loathe shopping at the mall and every Christmas I promise myself I am just going to buy online and ship to my family. And every year I wait to late to do that (delivery fees are criminal) so I have to brave the crowds and try my best to not hip check people into kiosks. 

 

While Becky doesn't love the job she is in, she does love she gets to go to presentations dealing with banks and investment firms. Due to Becky not really paying attention at her job, she realizes a tip she gives a family friend could end up harming them and starts to get her life back on track. 

We do get a whole case of characters in this one who we will continue to read about throughout the series.

We have Becky talking about Luke Brandon who I would say is an earlier prototype of Christian Grey without the BDSM. 

 

Becky lives with her best friend and flatmate Suze who manages to have her life somewhat together more than Becky.

And we also have Becky's parents who are just as messy as Becky. Becky's neighbor's son who everyone thinks that Becky is into. 

 

I will admit there is very little development of the characters besides Becky and Suze and Becky's parents in this one. Luke is very one dimensional and stayed that way for me throughout most of the books. Besides being rich and tall, I don't get what was so interesting about him. 

 

The writing is okay. Nothing spectacular, but honestly, sometimes I want to read a fluffy book that makes me root for a character. Do I think this is going to go down as some classic over the years? Doubtful? But it is an enjoyable book. 

Becky Bloomwood has a fabulous flat in London’s trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season’s must-haves. The only trouble is, she can’t actually afford it—not any of it. Her job writing at Successful Savingmagazine not only bores her to tears, it doesn’t pay much at all. And lately Becky’s been chased by dismal letters from the bank—letters with large red sums she can’t bear to read. She tries cutting back. But none of her efforts succeeds. Her only consolation is to buy herself something . . . just a little something.
 
Finally a story arises that Becky actually cares about, and her front-page article catalyzes a chain of events that will transform her life—and the lives of those around her—forever

Becky Bloomwood has what most twenty-five-year-olds only dream of: a flat in London's trendiest neighborhood, a troupe of glamorous socialite friends, and a closet brimming with the season's must-haves. The only trouble is, she can't actually afford it --- not any of it. Her job writing at Successful Saving magazine not only bores her to tears, it doesn't pay much at all. Still, how can she resist that perfect pair of shoes? Or the divine silk blouse in the window of that ultra-trendy boutique? But lately Becky's been chased by dismal letters from Visa and the Endwich Bank --- letters with large red sums she can't bear to read --- and they're getting ever harder to ignore. She tries cutting back; she even tries making more money. But none of her efforts succeeds. Her only consolation is to buy herself something ... just a little something ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Review:

Confessions of a Shopaholic isn't great but it isn't bad, I mostly had a problem with Becky personally because it got on my nerves that she dismissed her outstanding debt continuously made excuses for her need to spend by spending more then made more purchases and again by forgetting those purchases in her room.

On top of that my own frustration built because of Becky's on going toss away of money she doesn't have. I know what its like to not have money and struggle to find a way to get through without it and dismissing the abuse of that got on my nerves. It really sucks that on the flip of a dime everything just works out magically without any remorse for the way her ignorance affects the people in her life, the harm she causes by the lies she tells that suddenly she's, a star, her problems are solved and prince money bags comes to the rescue without a clue. 

Being a shopaholic and building up those purchases in your house is a sister relation to being a hoarder. Its close to the same thing. The need for more shit you don't actually need and accumulating it without reason other than your addiction to it.

It encourages the same behavior in people that think its okay to do this kind of thing because they get it in the book readers get it in their head that someones going to wave a magic wand and make their problems go away. Its too much past unrealistic.

But if happily ever after and pleasure spending is what you're after this could be the book for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Rating:

 

 

 

 

 

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This was one of the most infuriating MCs ever. I'm having a hard time remembering when was the last time I wished so many bad things on a MC. If I made it through the entirety of this book it was only because I was so looking forward to the moment she'd get what was coming to her... which wasn't quite as gratifying as I'd hoped it'd be.

Becky is selfish, judgmental, childish, has absolutely no self-control, and makes no damn sense. She's a shopaholic in the truest sense of the word, in fact, it probably falls short to whatever she is. She should be getting like actual medical help, therapy, something. She is self-destructive and has little regard for how it affects everyone else. Her compulsive shopping problem is not relatable, it is not cute, it is not funny, it is not even amusing no matter how the author tries to spin it every time Becky fucks up. She digs herself deeper and deeper into her problems and acts like a martyr when she has brought every single bad thing on herself. She gives you SO MUCH second-hand embarrassment and not even in a funny, enjoyable, 'isn't she an absolute adorable dork' kind of way, nope. She is absolutely maddening. I wanted to slap her and put her in jail and kept wondering why her banks were being so freaking lenient. Is that how it works in The U.K? can you just be that irresponsible with your money and get away with it with a sorry and puppy-dog eyes? HONESTLY? LET ME GRAB MY THINGS, I'M MOVING RIGHT NOW.

Except, I don't really want to be that kind of adult. I'm 25 myself and I couldn't relate to Becky in any way. She acted like a stubborn teen that has yet to figure out how the real world works. The ending was utter BS, along with the romance that made NO SENSE. What is a sensible guy doing with such a selfish, ignorant fuck-up? I have no idea. There's no chemistry, there's no real mutual interests, there's really nothing there. This is crap chick-lit, no matter how good the prose was with its quirky dialogue(the reason I'm giving it two stars and not one.)

When I was done I went to see how many more books there were to this, figuring there would be one or two more to give this half-assed character a chance to grow, and what did I find? There are SEVEN more books. Surely, no character needs seven books to grow the hell up, right? How much longer is the reader going to have to put up with her annoying crap? She's probably so much better by the second book, no doubt.

So I got a hold of the book and skimmed through it, not willing to invest more time than I had already wasted on this one, and what did I find?

Well ... I'm not going to spoil no matter how much I hated this book and main character. Let's just say I chucked it at the wall and decided there's no way I'm touching another book of this series. I don't have that kind of patience.