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Romance. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:A New York Times Bestseller & A ZOELLA Book Club Pick! From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Shopaholic series comes a terrific blend of comedy, romance, and psychological recovery in a contemporary YA novel sure to inspire and entertain. 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 energized. 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. From the Hardcover edition..… (more)
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Fourteen-year-old Audrey Turner is trying to recover from some sort of vicious bullying (never specified in detail) by other girls at school. She withdrew from school, and still wears sunglasses even around the house, which in any
Discussion: There is a great deal of humor and absurdity in this wonderful story told in a mix of formats, reminding me a bit of Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple. The parents have their own frustrations, and end up acting out in ways that are well-meaning, if misguided. When Frank announces that members of the Turner family “do not understand the concept of love beyond their own self-serving version” and stalks out of the room, Audrey’s mom says to her dad, “That boy needs a hobby. . . We should never have let him give up the cello.”
Audrey sums up what many kids today think:
"The thing about Mum is, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just, no adults do. They’re totally ignorant, but they’re in control. It’s nuts.”
I had not previously read any of the books by the very popular author, but I do think that has to change!
Evaluation: This is a delightful and heartwarming story, portraying a difficult coming-of-age theme with humor and compassion, and offering an uplifting look at the powerful effects of loving concern and understanding.
And that's refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy a good literary novel, but they often come off as possessing an excess or distinct lack of plotting. So it's nice to have a writer just tell a story.
Finding Audrey is about Audrey's "reawakening" after an bullying incident triggered anxiety issues. Along the way, her interactions with her mom (crazy), older brother (addicted to gaming), dad (out of it) and little brother (hilarious) provide lots of fodder for a solid book.
The novel is told from Audrey's view. Her voice and the reason for the dark glasses are immediately compelling....
"The trouble is, depression doesn't come with handy symptoms like spots and a temperature, so you don't realize at first. You keep saying 'I'm fine' to people when you're not fine. You think you should be fine. You keep saying to yourself: 'Why aren't I fine?'"
Kinsella does a fantastic job tackling the issues of anxiety and depression. The exact circumstances that led to Audrey's current situation are never fully detailed - which is perfect. Instead the focus is on Audrey and her progress. And that progress picks up speed when she meets Frank's friend Linus....
I loved this book! I found myself laughing out loud many, many times. And just as many spent on sympathizing with Audrey's plight.
The characters are so engaging. It's impossible not to like Audrey. Her brother Frank's strategies and ploys to circumvent Mum's computer ban are epic. Wee Felix has few lines, but his sweetness is tangible. Dad is a bit of a bumbler and Mum is a bit of hard nose. (It was Mum I had the hardest time liking) But what they all share is a love for Audrey and a desire to help her feel better. Each family member is coping and supporting her in their own way. Linus - well, Linus is lovely. And I truly hope there are teen boys like him out there. Audrey's psychiatrist, Dr. Sarah, was also a great addition to the supporting cast. Her quiet advice is full of many truths.
Finding Audrey is about Audrey finding herself - and realizing that "...life is all about climbing up, slipping down, and picking yourself up again. And it doesn't matter if you slip down. As long as you're kind of heading more or less upwards. That's all you can hope for. More or less upwards."
Kinsella injects her humourous style into her first YA novel, but also handles real and serious issues with a realistic eye. Well done.
The novel is told from Audrey's view. Her voice and the reason for the dark glasses are immediately compelling....
"The trouble is, depression doesn't come with handy symptoms like spots and a temperature, so you don't realize at first. You keep saying 'I'm fine' to people when you're not fine. You think you should be fine. You keep saying to yourself: 'Why aren't I fine?'"
Kinsella does a fantastic job tackling the issues of anxiety and depression. The exact circumstances that led to Audrey's current situation are never fully detailed - which is perfect. Instead the focus is on Audrey and her progress. And that progress picks up speed when she meets Frank's friend Linus....
I loved this book! I found myself laughing out loud many, many times. And just as many spent on sympathizing with Audrey's plight.
The characters are so engaging. It's impossible not to like Audrey. Her brother Frank's strategies and ploys to circumvent Mum's computer ban are epic. Wee Felix has few lines, but his sweetness is tangible. Dad is a bit of a bumbler and Mum is a bit of hard nose. (It was Mum I had the hardest time liking) But what they all share is a love for Audrey and a desire to help her feel better. Each family member is coping and supporting her in their own way. Linus - well, Linus is lovely. And I truly hope there are teen boys like him out there. Audrey's psychiatrist, Dr. Sarah, was also a great addition to the supporting cast. Her quiet advice is full of many truths.
Finding Audrey is about Audrey finding herself - and realizing that "...life is all about climbing up, slipping down, and picking yourself up again. And it doesn't matter if you slip down. As long as you're kind of heading more or less upwards. That's all you can hope for. More or less upwards."
Kinsella injects her humourous style into her first YA novel, but also handles real and serious issues with a realistic eye. Well done.
Kinsella has a delightful way with words both funny and expressive. She uses them, this time, to look at a difficult and painful topic: mental illness. Kinsella manages the balance between
I will definitely be recommending this little novel to the teens around me, both as a lesson and as a compassionate look at suffering.
Kinsella has a delightful way with words both funny and expressive. She uses them, this time, to look at a difficult and painful topic: mental illness. Kinsella manages the balance between
I will definitely be recommending this little novel to the teens around me, both as a lesson and as a compassionate look at suffering.
Sophie Kinsella has a knack for creating characters that push my buttons. In this book, it's the mom. In the beginning part of the book, I couldn't stand her. She was irrational and I hate that. However, there are things that are revealed a little later in the book that made me sympathize with her a little more and, while I didn't agree with the way she handled things, made me better understand her. At the end, she didn't bother me much at all. Sophie Kinsella progressed all her characters throughout this book, not just Audrey. I also kind of liked that she never really reveals what sent Audrey into a tailspin of severe anxiety and only hints at it. It isn't really important to the story. It's more about Audrey's struggle with anxiety.
This book is somewhere between 3 and 3.5 stars. I gave it 3 because, to me, it isn't quite up to 4. This is a good story, though, and a quick read.
I really liked how the book addressed mental illness since that's a very important topic. Sophie Kinsella did a good job at illustrating what it's like to have an anxiety disorder.
I loved the scenes between Frank and their
Frank reminded me of Hunter Hollingsworth from Degrassi. They're both moody gamers with big hands.
Also, Sophie Kinsella books always make me want to live in England. I don't know why; they just do. Side note: I was also sort of reminded of the Georgia Nicholson series while reading this book.
The only thing I didn't like about this book was that it seemed a bit short. I felt that it could have been developed a little bit more.
The audiobook version read by Gemma Whelan is very well done. I loved the mother's voice when she got riled up. Too funny! I enjoyed watching Audrey venture outside of herself and learn to enjoy life again. My only complaint is that very few details of the incident surrounding her issues are shared. I had to piece together what I could, but I kept listening waiting to hear about what horrific incident left her so broken. Nonetheless, this was highly enjoyable! I recommend it to grades 6-12. -EC
The family of five has been derailed due to a serious bullying incident that has driven Audrey into a near mental breakdown. Circling the wagons protectively around Audrey while she heals has adverse effects on everyone except the four-year-old. The well-meaning parents are clueless, but the kids ultimately find their own way, because the parents provide love and structure (and a good therapist for Audrey) along with all their misfires and confusion. There's a teenage love story for Audrey too, with her brother's gaming buddy, Linus, who turns out to be quite therapeutic himself. Audrey finds her way out of social anxiety and Frank finds his way out of a life completely dominated by video games. By the end, Audrey's ongoing tongue-in-cheek film documentary, "My Serene and Loving Family," isn't such a joke, because it was always a loving family, and, while "serene" isn't really an option given the mix of personalities, everyone is more relaxed and connected. They have all recovered together.
Fortunately for the book, it started with one of the funniest scenes I had read in a while: a mother is threatening to throw her son's computer out of the window.
As the story unfolds, we learn that her son's computer addiction is not the only difficulty that the parents have to deal with - there is also their daughter's anxiety disorder. While it sounds like a drab story of parents living in teenage hell, the story is actually narrated by Audrey, the daughter who, tho reclusive, sets out to explore her surroundings and find herself after a traumatic experience left her in hiding.
It may be the author's "chick-lit" background that gave her an advantage in making light of what is a difficult subject, but it really works. As we follow Audrey, we discover a backstory that is at points difficult to read, especially when reading at an age that may afford (slightly) more wisdom on how to deal with difficult situations. I say may afford, because even tho this book was written for a YA readership (yes, another genre I try to avoid), Kinsella's approach to telling Audrey's story also holds a few aspects for older readers to ponder about - such as issues relating to schemes that try to reconcile victims with offenders by letting them meet face to face; or the uses of medication in PTSD.
In short, I would not have believed it, but Finding Audrey was a thoughtful and thought-provoking read, and while I am probably not going to read the Shopaholic series (ever), I have no issues recommending this one to friends and fellow readers.
I don't know what took me so long to read this. I remember seeing it around in a lot of
I want to say the problem I had with the book is that whatever happened to her wasn't addressed. The reader doesn't know what happened to her so it makes it kinda hard to connect with her. All we know is something REALLY BAD happened and everyone has to tiptoe to not trigger her. But as someone with severe anxiety, I get why it was written that way. I understand how damaging and dangerous it can be. But on the other hand, I feel like someone who doesn't have anxiety or depression won't understand it so it would be harder for them to connect with her.
I'm really hoping that makes sense. Lol
At some points, I hated all the characters except Frank. On the other hand, I loved them all. Because to me, they all represented some form of mental illness. Though I doubt the author meant for them to be that, that is just how I see them. OCD, Anxiety, Depression, ADHD, Bi-polar.... the works. Lol
And they weren't really ashamed of it. They were just "that" family. And I loved that.
Mental illness is such a sensitive subject. There is so much stigma. So it's always like a breath of fresh air when you read a book that hits the nail on the head that shows it's real. That is does happen. But it's also something you can work with and manage and overcome.
I really loved the ending of this book. I really hope everyone that reads it, finishes it. Because I admit there were times when I wanted to put it down for a while. (Mainly because of the mom and checked out dad) but i literally couldn't put it down. I needed to know how it would end. And the ending did not disappoint. This has got to be one of the most happiest endings I have ever read. Ever.
I would recommend this book.
***IN ADDITION***
(possible spoilers, be warned)
Because I know I will get some hate somewhere that she got "better" because of a "boy" and I would just like to say that is only part true. Here is my thought on it.
After what happened to her, I wouldn't doubt she has trust issues with girls. Even with her best friend. I think if Linus had been a girl, Audrey would still be in her din with her glasses on.
Linus was the key to helping her get better. Because her family and therapist couldn't. She said it herself that they were her safe place. So of course they wouldn't push her and if they did, she could easily ignore them or walk away.
At first I despised Linus. Because of all the things he said. I couldn't help but to hate him. But the more he came around, he helped set goals for her and she never had to do them alone. He also made them fun to do. He showed her "I can do it, you can too." and I think that is important to someone with anxiety. And if things went wrong, he helped. And by that, I do mean what he did in Starbucks. that was really awesome of him to do.
That's just my thought on it though.
I also loved the side characters. Audrey's mom's idiosyncrasies were hilarious and her brother, Frank, created many laugh out loud moments. His obsession with video games (and in turn, his mom's obsession of ridding him of them) was so relevant to today and creates great comic relief from what could have been an overly heavy book. I honestly wasn't expecting to laugh as much as I did during this book.
Audrey's journey to recovery is a constant battle and I loved how her therapist equates it to a graph that resembles heartbeats. Audrey so desperately wants her progress to be a straight incline, but like many things in life, it is a constant battle with lots of ups and downs.
Finding Audrey is a short, but very worthwhile read.
I didn't rate it higher
It was really funny and heart-warming without putting it's foot on the mouth.
I didn't like how they kept saying the Grandma with Alzheimer was crazy though, and Audrey's mom definitely has issues what with all the crazy things she did. Hello it's not normal to spy on kids and wreck their laptops because of a game.
All in all, a decent book with some issues but still enjoyable.
I did only give it four stars out of five- I think it was missing just that little bit of spark, poetry, depth needed to make it perfect (just for further clarity, my standard of "perfect" for this genre/style of writing would be Fangirl/The Fault in Our Stars, which is of course highly subjective).
Overall, a lovely book, which I strongly recommend.
Finding Audrey, though,
So in this novel, the main character, Audrey, is suffering from a severe anxiety disorder. She can hardly bear to leave the house and gets upset whenever anyone comes around. However, she does begin to establish a way of communicating through paper notes with one of Frank's friends - Linus. Who, by the way, is so freaking adorable, it was actually painful..! Their relationship blossomed, and this, in turn, helped Audrey as well.
BUT....! One of my main concerns when I started this book was that it would turn into another "love cures mental illness" tale. I hate that damaging and untrue message. But, though Linus offers support and friendship to Audrey, the author doesn't allow that message to come through. Kinsella shows recovery from mental illness as a long process of two steps forward and one step back. Even at the novel's close, Audrey has not been miraculously cured. And the most important message of all - DO NOT go off your meds without consulting your doctor..!!!!
I liked the characters, and their interactions. I liked that the book was a good balance of light-hearted silly humour and hard realism. It was really effective. This is a very enjoyable and touching book. I recommend all to read it, and soon.
Cute story and funny characters. A nice, light, fun read.