Shopaholic Abroad (Shopaholic, #2)

by Sophie Kinsella

[Leah]

Rebecca "Becky" Bloomwood finally has her life sorted, she's paid off all of her debts and only buys things she absolutely needs, has a fantastic job giving out financial advice on the TV and is dating Luke Brandon. When the opportunity arises that Becky can head over to New York, to further her career, and with Luke in tow, she jumps at the chance. Becky can't stop thinking of all the culture and things she can soak up... the Guggenheim, the Metropolitan Museum of Art... but, of course, it wouldn't hurt to look in Barney's first, right? And she must visit Bloomingdale's... But is Becky able to reign in all of her spending or will she land herself in even more debt than she did the last time?

With the release of Sophie Kinsella's new Shopaholic book Mini Shopaholic slowly arriving, I've decided I might as well re-read the entire series again, from start to finish. I managed to read the first book Confessions of a Shopaholic and when I went to England one weekend I decided to take the next few books in the series with me and once I got onto the plane I settled in to re-read Shopaholic Abroad, book two in the series.

Whenever I re-read a book I'm always vaguely aware of what happens and it's only when I literally start to re-read things is when it all comes back to me. My initial thinking of Shopaholic Abroad was that it was Confessions of a Shopaholic set in New York. I really did think it was a re-hash of book one and it was only when I started reading it did it all come back to me and I realised it wasn't the same at all. Yes, Becky manages to get herself into a lot of pickles, almost identical pickles to the one she finds herself in throughout the first book but the book is still different in a lot of ways.

I was a bit worried when I first started reading it and Becky was completely oblivious, thinking that since she had managed to pay off her debts that she was now debt-free no matter how much she spent but I was soon sucked back into her world and was desperate to reach the end despite the fact it all came flooding back to me and I knew how it all panned out. I still wanted to see how Becky dealt with everything; I know it may seem convenient she always ends up sorting out a huge problem, usually by herself, but it shows a feistier side to her, a side that shows she isn't just a selfish shopaholic. There's no doubt she is a shopaholic, and can be selfish, but when she puts her mind to something she can usually get it done (unless it relates to shopping of course).

One thing I admire throughout the Shopaholic books is how all of the characters stay pretty much true to their nature. There's no huge changes of personality, no one suddenly turns strange without reason and I applaud Sophie Kinsella for managing that. It must be hard to remember all of the quirks of your characters, particularly when there's a space of time between books but Kinsella does it well. Becky is probably my absolute favourite book character. I just plain love her. Yes, sometimes I want to slap her, but even then I still love her. Some will undoubtedly find her maddening but I know that if I could be friends with any female book character it would be Rebecca Bloomwood. The same goes for all the other characters, Luke, Suze, Becky's parents, they're all such good characters. A new addition to the Shopaholic series in Shopaholic Abroad is Michael, a business partner of Luke's and I really like him, he injects a lot into the book.

Shopaholic Abroad is written in a chatty and accessible style, much like its predecessor. Kinsella manages to easily get us into Becky's life and I really admire her writing style. It isn't as wordy as some authors but the chatty style works and makes it easier to get into the books. The Shopaholic series is definitely a must-read for any chick lit fans. It's light, it's entertaining and the cast of characters round the book off perfectly. It's also a series you can read again, and again, and again. Hugely recommended!