Written by: Sophie Kinsella
Summary: An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energised. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.
Review
This book was simply adorable. For my first time reading a Sophie Kinsella I was very impressed and would have to say I'll be more than happy to pick up another one of her books. My pre-conceived judgement of Kinsella was that she would write cringy and cliche romance books- I would have to admit some parts of the book I found cheesily embarrassing like the whole foot-foot contact part... However on the whole I found the romance to be utterly enchanting and sweet. What surprised me most about the book was the strong emphasis on themes of family and , of course as it says in the summary, mental health.
I felt that Kinsella did a fantastic job on her handling on the serious issue of creating a character with severe social anxiety. Being a person with no first hand experience on the issue I instantly felt I understood the toll the issue takes on a person and their family and friend's lives. The description used to explain what was going on inside Audrey's head was brilliant and really helped me understand and empathise with her character- a thing I thought would be difficult before picking the book up.
One of the main aspects about the book I just loved was Audrey's family life. The family unit in the book was so supportive of her condition however it was really refreshing to read about a family that I could so easily relate to and understand the issues they had. Although I understood that Frank ( who was hilarious may I add) had a serious computer game addiction I did feel that Audrey's Mum was slightly too overbearing on him- especially when she threw his computer out of the window. In saying that her neurotic and , at time, insane parent caused some hilarious scenes to play out. I cracked up with laughter during the chapter when her and Frank go for a run and Frank, who we expected to die with exhaustion, turns out to be on the cross country team and crushes his mother's scheme in the process.
Frank was definitely my favourite character of the book- I loved how we understood his genuine concern and affection for his sister yet he still joked about her condition instead of treating her differently because of it. The brother-sister relationship was touching to read because it was far different from most written about in young adult fiction.
The romance element of the book was what drew me into read it in the first place and I wasn't disappointed. Audrey and Linus were adorable. Linus was so sweet in how he first approached Audrey with the notes that passed between them and from the very first time we met him you knew that he understood Audrey and what she was going through and he did his best to make her feel as comfortable as possible. The little things Linus did for her were so charming like the coconut ice cream he requested for her and the challenges he gave her to do when they were in Starbucks.
One thing that irritated me about the book was that I felt unresolved at not knowing what triggered Audrey's anxiety in the first place. I wouldn't have minded so much if Kinsella hadn't dropped hints and brought it up frequently and they said that it wouldn't be gone into. However in doing that it just makes a reader curious and then Audrey went to meet Izzy at Starbucks, who was one of the girls that bullied Audrey at school, and we still didn't find out exactly what happened.
Overall though I thought this was a charming and sweet book that is perfect for anyone who enjoys a light-hearted and comedy filled read.
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