Book Club Tuesday – ‘Finding Audrey’ Review

23305614Title: Finding Audrey

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Publisher: Doubleday

‘Audrey can’t leave the house. she can’t even take off her dark glasses inside the house.

Then her brother’s friend Linus stumbles into her life. With his friendly, orange-slice smile and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again – well, Starbucks is a start.And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do the things she’d thought were too scary. Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable.

Be prepared to laugh, dream and hope with Audrey as she learns that even when you feel like you have lost yourself, love can still find you . . .’

First impressions are very important aren’t they? So much so that I am convinced that if I read anything else by this author that I may not like it, because quite frankly this was not the first impression I was hoping for. I do, in no way doubt that she is a great author, it is just this particular book wasn’t my cup of tea, and I love my tea so I should know.

I know a few people will not exactly agree with me, but that’s ok. However, having faced anxiety, I know how it feels to be in Audrey’s shoes, not as much, but just enough to have felt a recurrence of memories. It made me feel very vulnerable during reading this book. Not fun at all.

I felt as though the topic was not dealt with in the way that I would have liked for it to be. At a few points I thought that it was being treated as a bit of a joke. I know it’s good to laugh, but this just didn’t feel right to me.

Audrey’s mother, as well as a few other characters were extremely pushy and insensitive towards Audrey and her anxiety. Maybe it is just me, or perhaps it was supposed to be some sort of a message to people, but I tell you now, it’s not great to feel as though you have to just snap out of it and automatically change who you are. This is not the message we want to give to people about mental health. Sure, it’s nice to help with a slight push to help the person, but this was too much.

Phew! I am glad that part is over. Now onto what was actually good about it.

Audrey’s brother just made this book for me. He was such a comical character and did this without coming across like other characters did. I genuinely loved his relationship with Audrey. He acts like a usual brother, but also shows signs of someone who really cares. He also had an intelligence and wit which added so much depth to his persona. Anytime he and Audrey were together, the book was ok.

Sorry to anyone who may have enjoyed it. 

Lonely Girl Awards Finding Audrey: 2 / 5 Happy Faces

Published by Chloe Lauren

Hey! I'm Chloe Lauren. I've never been the best at introductions so I will just say this, stick around and I will try to hold your attention with my geekiness, F.R.I.E.N.D.S references and unfortunate puns. It's going to be a bumpy ride, but isn't that part of the fun?

42 thoughts on “Book Club Tuesday – ‘Finding Audrey’ Review”

  1. anxwe says:
    Reply

    Having suffered with social anxiety at the time of reading the book didn’t make me feel vulnerable, it made me learn more about social anxiety despite feeling the same as Audrey. Interesting to know if I’d read it now I’ve recovered that I’d probably feel ‘vulnerable’ like you did. For example I hadn’t heard of the lizard analogy before and I liked the parts with her therapist and her. I agree though, it wasn’t great. The ending was silly and I don’t like the message that she needed a boyfriend to bring her out of her shell.

    Liked by 3 people

    • Chloe Lauren says:
      Reply

      Yeah like I said it was probably just me feeling this way. I still deal with anxiety a lot so I was already in a moment where I wasn’t feeling too good anyway so I guess that didn’t help me! I understand what you’re saying though.

      Liked by 3 people

  4. LyfWithEm says:
    Reply

    I read this book. I finished it in one sitting. Then I turned it back to the front cover and read it again. I just…wow, I could connect so much with Audrey and to finally found a book that made me realise I wasn’t the only one, made me feel so fricking good 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    • Chloe Lauren says:
      Reply

      Oh! I am glad you enjoyed it! For me it was literally the opposite. I didn’t mind Audrey, it was more the people around her and their attitudes towards things 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  6. Manchester Flick Chick (Chrissie) says:
    Reply

    I’ve read books in the past where the main character is really struggling with something and this is the subject of the humour and it always makes me cringe. I remember watching Some Mothers Do Av’ ‘Em (the physical comedy was genius to be fair) and there’d be scenes were the main character Frank was really struggling with social interactions and getting very anxious and making little moaning noises as he couldn’t cope (it was thought the character might have Aspergers) and I just couldn’t understand why that was supposed to be funny :o/

    Liked by 1 person

    • Chloe Lauren says:
      Reply

      Exactly! I don’t get how people can perceive something like anxiety, or anything along those lines, to be some sort of joke. I am sure the author didn’t mean for it to be seen in that way, but it was just so uncomfortable to read.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Pingback: The School Book Tag | Original – Diary Of A Lonely Girl

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