Finding Audrey

I am sort of on a mental illness novel kick right now. I read this one in basically one go. The main character, Audrey, suffers from intense anxiety brought on (or at least made acute) by a traumatic event in her past. The novels plot and the events that take place are based on her journey to at least partial recovery.

The format of the novel is unique. It is largely a first person perspective narrated by the protagonist, Audrey. It is punctuated throughout with "Transcripts" of a "documentary" she is making at the suggestion of her therapist. The transcripts are formatted basically as screenplay pages. It is a unique format, and it actually does lend something to the book. It is refreshing to "get out" of Audrey's head, and to see her life without so much of her personal spin on the events. Because of her anxiety, she tends to see things in a certain light, generally negative. It is interesting to see how her family and the other characters think of her.

Audrey is a compelling and complete, though damaged, character. We see her in her ups and downs, and in the throws of anxiety attacks. She is very likable and quite funny. The other characters are interesting, and color the story well.

I highly recommend this book. It is similar in subject matter and style to John Green's Turtles All the Way Down. It is more upbeat for the most part, but similar. I enjoyed it very much.

Just not my story.

I'm a big fan of Sophie Kinsella and I'm reading all her books and of course I didn't want to miss her first young adult novel. By the way, although my teen-years are long time over, I still enjoy reading ya.

My expectations on this book where really high. Probably I had "One plus one" by Jojo Moyes in my mind - also a family story with several issues.

This book is not only young adult, it's for even younger people. 10years+ I would recommend it.

I didn't buy the mental illness from Audrey. The beginning was quite good but it's not that easy to be cured. It's not so funny as it is displayed. Maybe it's not the right topic for such kind of book.

There are several other points that bothered me, but I guess it's related to my age - I expect more, not that easy solutions.

What I liked is the style of writing, you can just read read read and read. You are right in the story from the beginning. And another plus point are the film parts. Really good idea!