Shopaholic Takes Manhattan

When I first started reading Shopaholic takes Manhattan I have confess that I was a little disappointed in the beginning, so I stopped reading it. But last week with the arrive of Shopaholic Ties the Knot from Amazon/UK I decided that it was time to start reading Shopaholic Takes Mahanttan again. And I was glad that I did. I forgot how much fun Becky could be. I also realized that there is a little of her in each of us! So, if the beginning of the book seem slow, don't stop like I did because there is a reward at the end!

Becky Bloomwood, heroine of the novel "Confessions of a Shopaholic," is back! She paid off her bills, got a killer job as a financial advisor on her favorite morning TV show and has a wonderful boyfriend, Luke! When he tells her he is contemplating moving to New York, she is a little unsure. They decide to take a two week trip there to check it out and once Becky arrives, she is in love with the city!She finds Bloomindales and Barneys and sample sales and Vera Wang, she thinks she's died and gone to heaven! She starts spending money like crazy .. and ends up getting herself in even bigger trouble than she did last time back in London.I absolutely loved this novel. I read it the same night I read Confessions of a Shopaholic and I thought they were both hilarious. Becky is a very likeable character with thought processes we can ALL relate to! The writing is fast paced and I managed to read this entire book in a couple of hours.My only problem with the book is that I wish the author (Sophie Kinsella) had spent more time on the relationship between Luke and Becky and a tad bit less time on shopping mishaps. Even so, it was a fun novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. I highly recommend reading it! It's one of those books that's so fun and fast, its hard to put down once you start reading!

... If you have ever written a check that bounced, tried to charge something on a card that was over the limit or worried about bills you pretended didn't exist but persist on coming to your doorstep each month, this book will make you giggle in delight. It stars the penniless but charming Rebecca Bloomwood. She's a financial advice guru who is in debt up to her eyeballs but can't pass a store without going in and buying something. I have to say this book had me laughing so hard, I had tears in my eyes and was glad that Rebecca was still struggling with her incessant need to shop after the fairy-tale happy ending of the first novel. (I was worried she'd turn into a nonshopper!!!) Thankfully she's back with more wacky antics. Buy this book or pick it up at the library, it's too funny to miss!

Becky Bloomwood has become a bit unbearable. It was quite disappointing to see that she really didn't learn anything after the first novel. "Confession's ..." left one thinking that Becky had finally gotten a clue as to how self economy works. As the book opened with a series of collections letters we see that nothing at all changed, and if anything that she regressed in intelligence and spending. I would have understood losing control in Manhattan but she never had any control.The other thing that bothered me is that Becky seems to be quite the liar. It could easily have been titled "Pathological Liar takes Manhattan". As a reader, I found all of her lies just about unbearable and I simply could not sympathize with her. She seemed to lie without purpose and at the drop of a hat. SHe lied to everyone and then we are supposed to feel sorry that her neighbors thought she had made up Luke. Her lies only get worse in Manhattan.And my final urk... What was with Suze and Tarquin hooking up? Totally bizarre and unneccesary. Oh well!Overall, there were enjoyable episodes, but not nearly as satisfying as Confessions, or other novels in the Brit Girl genre.

(Very faint spoilers ahead) I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars for the same reason another reviewer did: It's an extremely entertaining read, but it doesn't have much depth to it - it's not great literature. I know some people have not liked this one as much as Confessions of a Shopaholic because they feel Becky did not learn anything from the first book and is just repeating mistakes. Yes, she does run up more debt, but at the end of this novel, you really do get the feeling that she has learned a lesson (and we can see this trend continue, to some extent, in the following novel).Becky does not undergo a personality change by any means. She's still the same, quirky, Bridget Jones-esque, pathological liar that she's always been. But she once again saves the day, learns a bit of a lesson about shopping, and continues to entertain her fans all the way through to the end.