Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella + a Giveaway

Happy Sunday, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the blog tour in honor of Sophie Kinsella's very first teen release, Finding Audrey! This book has been blowing up the blogosphere and I am so very happy to be part of the tour.

Audrey has had a rough go of it lately. Being the target of school bullies has led to an all out breakdown, but she's recovering - slowly. Social anxiety and depression have left her all but housebound and uncomfortable with contact of any kind. Except with her own family, that is. But when Audrey meets Linus, she has a solid reason to want to get better. Linus gets her. He talks to her. And he encourages her in a way her family can't. 

I'd say Kinsella's first teen outing is a great success. The book is issue-y but in subject only. Audrey's experience is never really explained because it's not the point of the story. Her anxiety issues are laid out in a way that's both eye opening to those who have never experienced it but funny as well - in Kinsella's signature style.

The humor is what makes the story so accessible, I think. Bullying has been a hot topic of late but I'm not sure that anyone has handled it or the possible results - or mental health issues - in quite this way yet (I could be wrong about that, but in considering my own reading experiences I've not seen it).

And Audrey is a normal kid in every possible way except for her anxiety. Utterly and painfully normal. Her family is quirky - much of the book focuses on her mom's efforts to pry Audrey's brother away from video games (something controllable where her daughter's issue is not) and the parents' attempts to bond with their kids - but their relationship is healthy. She genuinely wants to get better but her lizard brain just won't cooperate. I think Kinsella illustrates that battle and the complete illogic of anxiety perfectly.

Frankly all of this is to say that Kinsella deftly handles a weighty topic in a way that will broadly appeal to readers.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to the publisher, I have a handy hardcover copy of Finding Audrey to give away to one of you lucky readers today! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, June 29. US only and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway