Finding Audrey

by Sophie Kinsella

A ZOELLA Book Club Pick!

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Shopaholic series comes a terrific blend of comedy, romance, and psychological recovery in a contemporary YA novel sure to inspire and entertain.

Audrey wears dark glasses all the time, even in the house. She almost never goes out, doesn’t talk to new people, and finds making eye contact to be nearly impossible.
 
But then one day she meets Linus. Linus is her brother’s friend and a sensitive spirit with whom she can talk through her fears. He makes her laugh and doesn’t leave her feeling like she’s being judged. As their friendship deepens, Audrey’s recovery gains momentum, and she and Linus begin to develop feelings for each other. But how can they have a future together when Audrey hasn’t dealt with her past? And how could anyone ever love her once they’ve seen her at her worst?
 
“An outstanding tragicomedy that gently explores mental illness, the lasting effects of bullying, and the power of friends and loving family to help in the healing.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred

“Kinsella’s knack for humor and sensitivity shine.” Publishers Weekly

• ISBN10: 0553536532
• ISBN13: 9780553536539
• Publish Date: 3 May 2016 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ember
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780553536539

Reviews

[readingwithwrin]

This was such a fun listen.

I loved how Audrey's anxiety was shown to truly affect everyone around her as well which is a very real thing. I also liked how it suddenly didn't just go away because of a guy came into her life. She still struggled and he was very supportive of the small strides she was making by the end of the book.

[layawaydragon]

I flew through this book in one sitting. I woke up early on Saturday before work since my sleep scheduled was all messed up for the weekend. I had just finished the audio book of Torch Against the Night and was WRECKED. I need to get my mind off of it and relax, I needed happy and light.

Feeling depressed and anxious more than usual because of work, which just caused my doctor to increase my meds last week actually.

I picked Finding Audrey pretty much randomly and wondered if I made a good decision when I remembered Audrey's dealing with some heavy shit.

Quickly though I found myself laughing so hard I was crying. My daughter was playing Robux on my computer and kept asking me if I was laughing at her and what I was laughing at. Finding Audrey doesn't sound like a funny book. It's not, really. It's a young woman recovering from a traumatic experience with a hectic, loving, outrageous family and falling in love for the first time.

The writing and dialogue though made me laugh. How spot on Audrey's thoughts and reactions were to the medication, the therapy, and people made me appreciate the experience more and relieve some stress for me. Kinda like if she could find the funny and appreciate it being funny, even if her body wouldn't relax enough to laugh, then I could to.

Finding Audrey had been sitting on my shelves for so long and was there when I didn't even know I needed it. It's funny, true to life, cute, sweet, romantic...Just a great read for mental health rep with a stable loving family and boy/girl romance.

I'll update later with some quotes I loved. I'm away from home right now and just wanted to update GR real quick before I forgot and found myself writing all this...

[mrs_mander_reads]

First of all, if you get the chance, listen to the audio for this. It's so well done, and so endearing.
Secondly, I want Audrey to be my best friend. All the panic, anxiety, and depression that she works her way through in the novel is incredibly relatable and just... explained in a way that I could never wrap my own words around.
Can't wait to read more Kinsella.

[liz089]

I did like this one.. but didn't find it very special.. I could not really relate to Audrey..
And even though I get the point, I kind of dislike that we are not told what EXACTLY happened to her.. I get it, that is not what it is about, but I still would have wanted to know..

[shannonmiz]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
3.5*

My favorite thing about this book is that it doesn't bullshit. It doesn't paint an unrealistic picture of what it is like to need help, to find help, and how help is easily available to the privileged, but not necessarily everyone else. This line is so accurate, it hurts:

"The first question they ask when you arrive isn't 'How do you feel?' It's 'Do you have insurance?'"

Thing is, that is how so many places really are. It's a money maker, first and foremost. Help is secondary. But Audrey does find a doctor to help her, so that is good. (Also, not at all a spoiler, it's in the synopsis.) I think Audrey relates to her counseling in a way that felt quite realistic to me. She wonders from time to time if she should just be like "nah, I'm good", and of course, she wonders if any of it is worth a damn (which, if you're anything like me, you totally have wondered). There's also a moment where Audrey says her mom worries about being blamed, which is an experience I have had too.

"I think she's secretly poised for the day Dr. Sarah says 'Well Audrey, of course it's all the fault of your parents.'"

Audrey's family is also kind of a hot mess. Fine, not kind of, is. Her mom is dealing with what is probably her own particular brand of mental illness, though she doesn't appear to be diagnosed with any in the book, it's rather clear that something is going on. Felix, her younger brother, is the actual sweetest thing ever though. And it's clear that despite all their issues, they do genuinely all care about each other as a family.

Some other things I loved? Sure! 

• Real talk about meds. Seriously, there is actual discussion about withdrawal effects. This nearly never happens in books, and damn, I was happy to see it here. Dr. Sarah actually tells Audrey about them, too! Can I hug Dr. Sarah? This is such a real thing for so many people, and it is consistently glossed over by medical personnel, and I am so grateful to see it in this book. There's also discussion about the perils of one stopping one's medication when they feel "better", which is a super common phenomenon that isn't discussed nearly enough.


• Misconceptions by friends/family/etc are discussed. There is a situation where a friend's parent was afraid to let the kid talk to Audrey again because "Mum said you must be bipolar" and "Bipolar people can become violent". Audrey shuts this shit down, on so many levels. Because what even, right? Well, these stereotypes absolutely do exist, so it is awesome that the book addressed them- and negated them!


• There's talk about setbacks, and how there is no real "cure"- but that doesn't mean there isn't hope, and getting better, and living your life. I think the message was both realistic and positive, which is a hard balance. This book also uses humor (which you can read about in Vlora's post here) which I think works well to show that yes, people with mental illness can have fun, be funny, and still struggle.

A Few Things I Didn't:

• Audrey's recovery seemed too quick/easy. I am not saying that it was, but it felt that way. I know that she was also recovering before we pick up her story, but she goes from basically agoraphobic to Starbucks wayyy too fast to feel authentic to me.


• Linus... I am on the fence about him, basically. Like, I am not saying he "fixed" her, because he didn't, but I don't love that he was the catalyst for her to want to change. Like, had some dude never waltzed into her brother's life, Audrey'd still be in her room? I don't know, it doesn't quite sit well with me. And sometimes I liked Linus, but other times he was just so damn clueless. Which, I guess is realistic, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.


• There were some.... little things. Things that maybe wouldn't have bothered anyone else? Like, they talk about having chickenpox... but I don't think that is still a "thing"? (Actually, upon further research, apparently the UK does not actively vaccinate healthy people against chickenpox. Here, it is a requirement, hence my confusion. Well, the more you know, right? Now you can be not confused!) And there's a bit where Audrey talks about her parents not even knowing how to double-click, or open a picture on Facebook and I am like... these people are 38 years old, not 108, I am pretty sure they know how to operate a Word document. This could just be me, as a person not much younger than that, being a bitter old person though ;)

Bottom Line: I felt like this was an overall good representation of mental health, including some of the problematic aspects in the treatment of mental illness in general. Audrey felt like a realistic character, and her struggles were quite authentic.

*Copy provided by publisher for review

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Finding Audrey is the brilliantly narrated story about Audrey - who suffers from social anxiety after something very bad happened to her at her school.



Because Finding Audrey is narrated by the eponymous heroine herself, in first person present tense - but with some scenes filmed by her camera - reading this story was like living with her for a while. While I don't have any experience with mental illness myself, Audrey's story felt very realistic to me, from the way she was hiding in the den, always wearing dark sunglasses, and not able to interact with many people at all. In the middle of a slightly chaotic family, and with her therapist's help, she was slowly breaking out of her protective shell and managed to take baby-steps towards a social and interactive world she had stayed away from for months.

I loved Audrey's family! And also her analysis of them all! She had her parents down pat, especially her mom, who was always trying her best, but somehow often missing the actual point when it came to her teenaged children. Frank, Audrey's older brother, played a lot of video games, and their mom suddenly decided he was addicted to one game in particular. The lengths she went to to stop him from playing were extreme, and at the same time, it was almost understandable that she felt like she had nothing else to do but throw Frank's computer out the window.

With a lot of help, Audrey managed to first start talking to Linus, one of Frank's friends, by sending her little brother with notes. Then, little by little they were able to talk in person, touch (first only the soles of their shoes) and finally leave the house and live in the outside world for short moments. I loved that Audrey never wanted to give up, even when she was feeling frantic about doing something, she somehow managed to take those small steps she needed to take in order to get better.

One of the most beautiful things for me in Finding Audrey was not only that she had to find herself once more, but that she had to realize that life is full of ups and downs for all of us. And I can't really imagine how hard it must be for someone who just cannot deal with other people, to leave their house, interact, not feel judged and self-conscious. I have no idea if what Audrey lived with would be realistic for a person with social anxiety, but for me, it was eye-opening, as my heart was speeding up when hers was, from thinking about a situation that made her anxiety spike.

Well-written, and frankly, quite light-hearted despite the difficult subject, Finding Audrey was my first Kinsella read, but it won't be the last. Able to tackle something that makes life difficult for so many people in a respectful way, and still managing to insert some humour, hope and love into the story, Kinsella got me attached to Audrey from the very first page!



Felix is our little brother. He's four. He greets most life events with disbelieving joy. A lorry in the street! Ketchup! An extra-long chip! Mom throwing a computer out of the window is just one of the list of daily miracles.

My dad is tall and handsome in a car advert way, and he looks like the boss, but inside, he isn't really an alpha male. No, that sounds bad. He's alpha in a lot of ways, I suppose. Only Mum is even more alpha.She's strong and bossy and pretty and bossy. I said bossy twice, didn't I? Well. Draw your own conclusions from that.

'Look, it's the celebrity!' quips Ollie's dad, Rob. He's been calling me 'the celebrity' for the last four weeks, even though Mum and Dad have separately been over to ask him to stop. He thinks it's funny and that my parents have no sense of humour. (I've often noticed that people equate 'having a sense of humour' with 'being an insensitive moron'.)

I take off my dark glasses and look into his round, open little face. Felix is the only one I can cope with looking at, eye to eye. My parents' eyes - forget it. They're full of worry and fear and too much knowledge. And kind of too much love, if that makes sense?

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 stars

Sophie Kinsella always makes me happy. She just knows how to craft a story filled with a myriad of quirky and interesting characters, and also, create a story that is both amusing and heartfelt.

Social anxiety and depression are things I am acquainted with first hand, and I really appreciated the way Kinsella handled Audrey's issues. Kinsella showed that Audrey's issues were real, she could recover, but the recovery would not happen overnight. She also gently conveyed the effects on the rest of the family. It was sort of honest.

Audrey's family was hilarious. They were nutty and quirky, as well as, loving and caring. But the best part for me was Linus and Audrey. The effort Linus made was beautiful, and the interactions between him and Audrey were adorable.

Solid editor to Kinsella's body of work.

[brokentune]

Finding Audrey is the perfect example of how prejudice works: Sophie Kinsella is mostly known for her Shopaholic series of chick-lit novels which by their description alone appeal to me just as much as root canal treatment. So, to persuade me to take a chance on this book, it has taken several great reviews from reader friends, a free copy off the library shelves, and a sample chapter right there and then at the library.

Fortunately for the book, it started with one of the funniest scenes I had read in a while: a mother is threatening to throw her son's computer out of the window.

As the story unfolds, we learn that her son's computer addiction is not the only difficulty that the parents have to deal with - there is also their daughter's anxiety disorder. While it sounds like a drab story of parents living in teenage hell, the story is actually narrated by Audrey, the daughter who, tho reclusive, sets out to explore her surroundings and find herself after a traumatic experience left her in hiding.

It may be the author's "chick-lit" background that gave her an advantage in making light of what is a difficult subject, but it really works. As we follow Audrey, we discover a backstory that is at points difficult to read, especially when reading at an age that may afford (slightly) more wisdom on how to deal with difficult situations. I say may afford, because even tho this book was written for a YA readership (yes, another genre I try to avoid), Kinsella's approach to telling Audrey's story also holds a few aspects for older readers to ponder about - such as issues relating to schemes that try to reconcile victims with offenders by letting them meet face to face; or the uses of medication in PTSD.

In short, I would not have believed it, but Finding Audrey was a thoughtful and thought-provoking read, and while I am probably not going to read the Shopaholic series (ever), I have no issues recommending this one to friends and fellow readers.

[e_rodz_leb]

Reading With ABC http://readingwithabc.com http://readingwithabc.com/audiobook-review-finding-audrey-by-sophia-kinsella/Finally! Finding Audrey is my first Kinsella read. I’m not sure why it took me so long to start, but maybe I was waiting for her to write a YA book. I really loved this one.

Audrey is 14 and she has gone through a rough time. She doesn’t specifically explains what happened, but the gist of it is that she was bullied to severely that she now suffers from social anxiety. She’s been home for a few months and doesn’t leave the house, except to see Dr. Sarah, her therapist. She also wears dark glasses all the time as she cannot make eye contact. As part of her therapy she has to film her family, and this is when the fun starts.

“The parents are in charge of all the stuff like technology in the house and time on screens and hours on social media, but then their computer goes wrong and they’re like a baby, going, “What happened to my document?” “I can’t get Facebook.” “How do I load a picture? Double-click what? What does that mean?” And we have to sort it out for them.”

Audrey has two brothers, Frank who’s 15 and Felix, who’s four. Frank is a gamer and he’s spends too much time on-line. One of his friends is Linus and that’s how Audrey first comes to have contact with him. The overall family dynamics are fun to watch and at the same time very realistic. Frank is not always the best of brothers (who is?), but he really loves his siblings and he doesn’t hurt them purposely. I really loved that their parents were ever present and tried to do a good job at parenting and being ‘there’ for them.

Linus is so patient. He has many interests, acting, gaming, water polo, and luckily, Audrey. He goes ever so slow on her and Audrey learns to gradually trust him. Eventually, they become friends and then something more. I love how Linus made her feel loved, wanted, pretty and worth of all the trouble. Such a cute relationship :)

“Sometimes I hope I’m building up a stockpile of missing laughs, and when I’ve recovered, they’ll all come exploding out in one gigantic fit that lasts twenty-four hours.”

The story is told in the first person, from Audrey’s point of view and we can feel what is like to be in her head. How she overanalyzes everything, thinks too hard and those thoughts are not always good. I imagine that adolescents that read the book will view it in a different light than me, since I identify more with the parents and all they were trying to do. The writing is funny, even though the overall theme of the book is somewhat serious and I appreciate that lightness.

“I think what I’ve realized is, life is all about climbing up, slipping down, and picking yourself up again. And it doesn’t matter if you slip down. As long as you’re kind of heading more or less upwards. That’s all you can hope for. More or less upwards.”

Overall, Finding Audrey is a story of the ups and downs in life. A story of how love and understanding can be a catalyst for change and redemption. I plan to read another Kinsella book fairly soon.This review was originally posted on Reading With ABC

[lizarodz]

Reading With ABC http://readingwithabc.com http://readingwithabc.com/audiobook-review-finding-audrey-by-sophia-kinsella/Finally! Finding Audrey is my first Kinsella read. I’m not sure why it took me so long to start, but maybe I was waiting for her to write a YA book. I really loved this one.

Audrey is 14 and she has gone through a rough time. She doesn’t specifically explains what happened, but the gist of it is that she was bullied to severely that she now suffers from social anxiety. She’s been home for a few months and doesn’t leave the house, except to see Dr. Sarah, her therapist. She also wears dark glasses all the time as she cannot make eye contact. As part of her therapy she has to film her family, and this is when the fun starts.

“The parents are in charge of all the stuff like technology in the house and time on screens and hours on social media, but then their computer goes wrong and they’re like a baby, going, “What happened to my document?” “I can’t get Facebook.” “How do I load a picture? Double-click what? What does that mean?” And we have to sort it out for them.”

Audrey has two brothers, Frank who’s 15 and Felix, who’s four. Frank is a gamer and he’s spends too much time on-line. One of his friends is Linus and that’s how Audrey first comes to have contact with him. The overall family dynamics are fun to watch and at the same time very realistic. Frank is not always the best of brothers (who is?), but he really loves his siblings and he doesn’t hurt them purposely. I really loved that their parents were ever present and tried to do a good job at parenting and being ‘there’ for them.

Linus is so patient. He has many interests, acting, gaming, water polo, and luckily, Audrey. He goes ever so slow on her and Audrey learns to gradually trust him. Eventually, they become friends and then something more. I love how Linus made her feel loved, wanted, pretty and worth of all the trouble. Such a cute relationship :)

“Sometimes I hope I’m building up a stockpile of missing laughs, and when I’ve recovered, they’ll all come exploding out in one gigantic fit that lasts twenty-four hours.”

The story is told in the first person, from Audrey’s point of view and we can feel what is like to be in her head. How she overanalyzes everything, thinks too hard and those thoughts are not always good. I imagine that adolescents that read the book will view it in a different light than me, since I identify more with the parents and all they were trying to do. The writing is funny, even though the overall theme of the book is somewhat serious and I appreciate that lightness.

“I think what I’ve realized is, life is all about climbing up, slipping down, and picking yourself up again. And it doesn’t matter if you slip down. As long as you’re kind of heading more or less upwards. That’s all you can hope for. More or less upwards.”

Overall, Finding Audrey is a story of the ups and downs in life. A story of how love and understanding can be a catalyst for change and redemption. I plan to read another Kinsella book fairly soon.This review was originally posted on Reading With ABC