The Shelf

by Helly Acton

[zooloo1983]

This is definitely a book I needed to read, it made me feel all the emotions. Happy, sad, angry (a lot of angry) shocked and a sense of fulfilment.

The anger came from the things coming out of the men’s mouths had me riled. I did even question at one point if the author was a man! I couldn’t believe it, I am by no means an all-out feminist but the things they were saying shocked me! The worrying thing is you know that some men do think these things! I read some bits to the boy and he was laughing at it, thankfully he is not one of these sexist men…well I hope not! It is not a bra-burning book before you worry! The way that it is written is quite funny once you get over the initial WTF moment!!

Aside from the riling of the men, the idea of the show The Shelf was so exciting to read and honestly if this was a show I would watch it and I think it would be a guilty pleasure. It reminded me of Big Brother from the old days, the original days but with quite a few twists.

It is a book to get you thinking for sure, it has got me thinking about how am I am, my relationships with people and am I being the best person I can be. It had such a nice theme running through it, you need to look after you. You can make you happy. It seems obvious really, and we should know this but we don’t always apply it.

The friendship of the “dumped” girls is a sisterhood that I would love to be a part of. They have each other’s backs. They are there to pick you up and shine that halo. Must admit the only one I didn’t really like at first is Flick but I think you aren’t necessarily meant to. She is portrayed as your stereotypical 50s housewife and doesn’t agree with all the portrayals of women now. She doesn’t believe you can be a ladette, you can go out showing cleavage, swear or do anything apart from being there for your man. These are things I don’t necessarily agree with, I mean for one I swear like a trooper, only where little ears aren’t about and I’m moaned for it. I have grown up being a Tomboy, always found relationship with girls hard work and I would rather play football with the boys. These days still am slightly Tomboyish but have way more girlfriends now, but that’s an aside, Flick grated on me. Then at the end, with her speech, well you know what she wore me down. She opened her eyes and she saw there was more in life and she accepted that. Not to say her ways were wrong, but you won’t catch me fetching anyone’s slippers any time soon…well unless they are mine or the mini-me.

This book is complete escapism, it is fun and something easy to devour and lose yourself into. I really have to thank Helly for that. I had so much fun reading it, I kept thinking it was like reading a catch up of Big Brother/I’m a Celeb/Love Island etc because it was just so crazy! It is a strong reminder that the life portrayed on social media is not necessarily the life that is being led and that we should be kind to others. It is an uplifting and soup for the soul kind of book. It had me smiling and I am so glad it came into my life just when I needed it. Thank you!