West End Girls (Ulverscroft Large Print)

by Jenny Colgan

[Leah]

West End Girls is my third Jenny Colgan novel after Talking To Addison and Amanda’s Wedding. West End Girls tells the story of Lizzie and Penny Berry who are fed up with life in Brandsford. A way out of their old life comes in the form of their grandmother’s flat in Chelsea so they end up flatsitting whilst their grandmother is in hospital.

I quite enjoyed West End Girls. Mainly because of Lizzie. Had the novel just been about Penny I would have gotten bored of it very quickly. Lizzie and Penny may be twins but they are poles apart. Lizzie is the meeker, heavier twin whereas Penny is the model-look-a-like twin.

I found Penny very selfish throughout most of the book and much preferred Lizzie. However Penny does redeem herself towards the end of the novel and becomes a lot more likeable. I hated the way Penny wanted to be a Chelsea-girl (I had no idea there was such a thing!), it was quite irritating to read about.

I liked the fact that both twins were different to each other – it made the story much more interesting because even though Lizzie generally did what Penny did they were both different and both had their own minds.

Georges was my favourite male character, I found him hilarious. I found Will quite underused but enjoyable whenever he was present. Sloan was slimy but was rarely used as he was only Penny’s boss.

I enjoyed the underlying story of Lizzie and Penny’s father and wondered if he would make an appearance. The twist at the end was a surprise but wasn’t a surprise, if that makes any sense. If you read it, you’ll understand!

I also enjoyed Minty and Brooke with their “yah’s” and Chelsea-girl-ways. Penny and Lizzie’s mum, Eilish, wasn’t in much of the story but it was great when she made an appearance.

My favourite parts of the book was the interaction between Lizzie “Little Twin” and her grandmother, I loved those scenes and thought they were well written.

Overall it was an enjoyable read and a very quick one, too.

Rating: 3/5