Lizzy Harrison Loses Control

by Pippa Wright

[Leah]

I first heard of Lizzy Harrison Loses Control when a publicist I was emailing mentioned to me that it would be releasing in 2011. I immediately went onto Amazon, intrigued by the title, and discovered that it sounded right up my alley. When I received a proof copy of the book, it had a sticker on it saying this: “Warning. A clever romantic comedy is inside this package. Can also be enjoyed by cynics who never normally read Chick Lit” and I had no other choice to read the book. The book also claims it’s perfect for the Sophie Kinsella market, so really, I had no choice but to read it because I love Sophie Kinsella. Thankfully, the book didn’t let me down at all.

‘Have you ever noticed that the modern romantic heroine can be, not to put too fine a point on it, a bit useless?’ I love Chick Lit books that make fun of Chick Lit books, and three pages in, Lizzy gives us this corker of a line. It’s sort of breaking the fourth wall, and I always find it’s a great addition to a book, mainly because of the fact she’s a character in a Chick Lit book as well. It was a great start to the book and these references to most Chick Lit books follow throughout the book, even Pretty Woman and Sandra Bullock aren’t spared Lizzy’s scorn as typical Chick Flick characters who faff and swoon. I like a book that grabs me right from the off and Lizzy Harrison Loses Control did that easily. I liked the style, I liked the fact Lizzy wasn’t (but was really) a typical Chick Lit heroine and I thought the plot was brilliant as Lizzy finds her life spinning out of control after agreeing to be a fake girlfriend to coke-and-woman-loving comedian Randy Jones.

I loved Lizzy. Although she pretends to be a total anti-Chick-Lit heroine, she really isn’t, and I loved her for it. I loved that she didn’t faff and fawn, and was in control of her life but I also loved the Lizzy we meet when she can’t be in control of everything and she’s definitely freer when she’s not trying to control every aspect of her life. She’s someone I could totally be friends with. Although I loved Lizzy, I think I loved her best friend Lulu even more. Whereas Lizzy is very restrained and in control, Lulu is the total opposite, changing her hair colour with alarming regularity and dating the entire population of London and she really helped bring the book to life. She and Lizzy were a total breath of fresh air, and make quite the double act. Dan, Lulu’s sister, was also an amazing character, and my only wish would have been to see more of him. As for Randy, I don’t know what I made of him, I was never totally convinced of him to be honest, I just thought of him as a smellier, blonder, Russell Brand and I don’t find Russell Brand attractive in any which way.

Lizzy Harrison Loses Control is told entirely from the lovely Lizzy’s point of view, and the writing style is very reminiscent of Sophie Kinsella or Paige Toon’s style, it’s very chatty, very easy going and I thoroughly enjoy that type of novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and my only complaint is that it did veer toward predictable during the middle part of the book concerning the relationship between Lizzy and Randy. Apart from that, and the lack of laughs, I thought this was a very enjoyable debut novel. It has warmth, and it is different to a lot of Chick Lit books in some ways, but in others it’s as if parts have been taken from the Chick Lit Handbook. It’s still one I would recommend, though, and one I could easily dip into and read again at any given moment.