Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
This is first YA from Sophie Kinsella and it was pretty wonderful. I always have faith in a SK novel to deliver quality writing and characters, and that's what she's done. Finding Audrey was hilarious, hysterical, relatable and real.
The story is about a girl who's been through an ordeal at school, something intense and bad and inexplicable. It's literally never explained what exactly happened. But it's left Audrey with a pretty awful case of anxiety, so much so that she needs therapy and wears sunglasses 24/7, in order to avoid eye contact with people, even her immediate family. Audrey never leaves the house and spends her days in a dark den with black-out curtains drawn.
It was so easy slipping into Audrey's shoes. Her story is incredibly relatable to me and as I read the book I felt almost UNeasy because I was empathising with Audrey so much. One of the things I loved most about this book is the family dynamic. Audrey has such an awesome family, and her mum provides a lot of the hysteria. Frank, Audrey's big brother, was hilarious and Felix, her baby bro, was so so sooo cute. I love them all so much but not just because of who they are (or how well their characters were written) but because of how they loved each other.
There's a cute romance that sparks between Audrey and Lionel (Frank's friend). Lionel helps draw Audrey out of her dark place and back into the world. There were so many sweet moments between them, like the note-writing with Felix as their messenger, or when Lionel knew Audrey couldn't manage eye contact so he'd challenge her with things like shoe contact or thumb contact or knee contact. :)
I'd rec Finding Audrey for anyone who likes Sophie Kinsella, teen reads and laughing,
Rating: 4 stars