Finding Audrey

by Sophie Kinsella

[Leah]

This was simply amazing. I adore Sophie Kinsella, she's my favourite author, with many amazing books to her name, but even I was a bit worried when I heard she was writing a YA novel - it seems to be the trend at the mo, Chick Lit authors writing YA, with Paige Toon and Cecelia Ahern also doing that, but Kinsella blew me away.

Finding Audrey is one of the funniest, sweetest books I've ever read. I was literally sitting on a wall, reading on my break, laughing and smiling to myself like an idiot. Anyone watching me must have thought I was crazy, but Kinsella just has this way with words and she has quite the comedic touch. It was sooooo nice to laugh at a book again and Audrey's mum was freaking mint. So good. A lot of YA bloggers hate when parents aren't involved in their kids lives, but you can't say that for Audrey's mum, she's there for it all and goes as far as to threaten to throw Audrey's brother Frank's laptop out the window, to much hilarity. And the video diaries were a very nice touch in this uber digital world.

Of course the story does have a more serious side, too. Audrey suffers from panic attacks which were handled so sensitively and it made me so sad that people could act in such a way to make someone so afraid and anxious. People can be so mean, whether it's a "bit of fun" which it really isn't. Regardless, Kinsella handled Audrey's issues with a really firm, but not intrusive touch and it was so good to go on that journey with Audrey, especially getting to meet the lovely Linus. Sigh. He was so, so sweet and lovely.

This was such a good read. It proved that Sophie can write anything, any genre, she's just one of those storytellers who can do it all and it's such a pleasure to read her stories, year after year. I really, really hope Kinsella continues with both her YA books and her Chick Lit reads because she excels at both. I will happily accept two books per year please, Sophie. Finding Audrey is a must read for all teenagers, it's the kind of book I wish I'd had in school, that all teachers should champion. It's so important that mental health is taught properly, that there's no stigma attached. An illness is an illness, whether you can see it or not.