Book ReviewShopaholic to the Stars

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I always drool and count down the days to any new book by Sophie Kinsella. Usually all the extra liquids and counting down of days is totally worth it. Usually. In this case, I was disappointed. It reminds me of a memorable disappointment that is still sharp from my school days. Without pointing any direct fingers I will only say it happened vaguely between grades 1-5. This was way before any smart boards or I-thing technology in classrooms. I remember being so excited because my teacher had set up a felt board in the front of the classroom. It had various blues for the sea and a couple of fishing boats. This was high tech in the 80's. The teacher called us up to sit on the carpet and she began to tell us all about off shore fishing and how the boats had to go way out into the sea for the many fish they had to catch each day. I was hooked. I was also playing footsies with my chum Liz. What no one had ever told my teacher was that I was a highly advanced child (!) and could in fact do two things at once. I could listen to her lesson, catch sight of the moving boats, nets and fish out of the corner of my eye as well as shove back and forth with my feet. What no one had ever told me was that my teacher was secretly a member of the KGB (Kick Ginger's Butt) When the felt lesson was complete the teacher told us to go back to our desks. I was on my way to my desk which had been pushed right up against the teachers desk and no where near any other students due to my "highly developed social skills", when suddenly the teacher grabbed hold of my arm and gave me three or so well aimed spanks on my bottom. Instantly angry I swung around and yelled in her face, "What'd you do THAT for?"
"For playing footsies with Liz during the lesson!" she answered through gritted teeth and then spied her eagle eye for Liz. I saw her scampering around the desks like a trapped, desperate rabbit. Poor Liz. No amount of scrambling gets you away from the KBG. She got her smart smacks too and I remember being so disappointed from my original excitement about the felt board lesson.

This particular book in the hilarious and touching Shopaholic series took too long to get into the gist of the plot. The comedy aspects that are normally strong and numerous were weak and far between. When the spiral out of control came it was so far out of range the character became a bit unrecognizable. Then it had a large cliffhanger ending. That's new as well to this series. Especially when Sophie has no current publication date for the resolving of this cliffhanger. She has a stand alone novel due out in 2015 and nothing firmed up beyond that. Overall from my initial excitement this book was a sad let down. You must understand, the words sad and Sophie Kinsella do not belong in the same sentence! She is the queen of British comedy romance. Let's hope the queen resurrects her crown for her book in 2015. My fingers are crossed but I have to admit I'm not drooling so heavy for it this time. Same as I kept a wary eye on those tricky felt board lessons after that fateful day.