Shopaholic & Sister - Dark Publications

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Similar Items:

•	Shopaholic Ties the Knot
•	Shopaholic Takes Manhattan
•	Shopaholic & Baby
•	Confessions of a Shopaholic
•	The Undomestic Goddess

Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
What’s a round-the-world honeymoon if you can’t buy the odd souvenir to ship back home? Like the twenty silk dressing gowns Becky found in Hong Kong…the hand-carved dining table (and ten chairs) from Sri Lanka…the, um, huge wooden giraffes from Malawi (that her husband Luke expressly forbade her to buy)… Only now Becky and Luke have returned home to London and Luke is furious. Two truckloads of those souvenirs have cluttered up their loft, and the bills for them are outrageous. Luke insists Becky go on a budget. And worse: her beloved best friend Suze has found a new best friend while Becky was away. Becky’s feeling rather blue—when her parents deliver some incredible news. She has a long-lost sister! Becky is thrilled! She’s convinced her sister will be a true soulmate. They’ll go shopping together, have manicures together.…Until she meets Jessica for the first time and gets the shock of her life. Surely Becky Bloomwood’s sister can’t…hate shopping?

Sophie Kinsella is a former financial journalist and the author of the bestselling novels Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Can You Keep a Secret?, and The Undomestic Goddess. She lives in England, where she is at work on her next book.

Customer Reviews: Read 201 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Becky Bloomwood Is Back and Funnier Than Ever October 10, 2004
40 out of 45 found this review helpful

Becky Bloomwood Brandon is back and as funny, vulnerable, and lovable as ever. I am amazed that Sophie Kinsella can keep the humor and laughter coming with this ditzy character, but she does. Frankly, I felt this was the best of the series thus far.

We meet up with Becky and Luke in the 10th month of their round-the-world honeymoon. When an invitation to the christening for Suze's twins arrive, the travellers decide to head back to London. Of course, there are a couple of stops along the way, like Milan where Becky studies "local artifcacts" (Versace shoes) and lands the biggest fashion coup of the year by claiming a genuine Angel handbag thanks to a lot of help from a somewhat shady character who will, needless to say, be back for a proper thank you.

Becky's return is not what she envisioned, however. Not only has Suze acquired a new best friend, but her parents are acting very strange. For good reason as it turns out. A previously unknown sister has emerged from the past. Seems Daddy Bloomwood was quite the rogue before he met Mama Bloomwood. Becky immediately begins to fantasize about replacing Suze with this new sister. She dreams of watching chick flicks, eating peppermint creams, laughing, and most of all, shopping with her new-found sister Jess. Alas, Jess is not at all compatible with Becky. Not only is she a dedicated activist and rock collector, she is....dare we use the word.......FRUGAL! And she does not approve of Becky's addiction to shopping at all.

Their relationship makes for lots of laugh-out-loud moments and even a few misty-eyed ones. Following their relationship's development and explosion is a true trip into the heart of Becky Bloomwood and what makes her a character millions have fallen in love with.

So if you want to see Becky running barefoot over hot coals to get a 5-carat aquamarine at half price, interfering in Luke's business and placing him in an insufferable position, and taking the hiking trip to end all hiking trips, pick up the latest issue in this always-delightful series.

5 out of 5 stars

THE BEXTER IS BACK WITH A BANG!!! October 7, 2004
27 out of 32 found this review helpful

This latest in the Shopaholic series begins with the ending of Luke and Becky's "round-the-world" honeymoon. They've been everywhere, and Becky loves her new "laid back" husband. But some things never change--like Becky's spending habits. By the time the couple returns to London, Becky has all but forgotten about many of her purchases--until they are shipped home; in TWO trucks. The couple arrives back in London early, to surprise their loved ones (especially Becky's beloved Suze, who is about to have her new twins christened)--and are more suprised themselves. Becky's parents share some shocking news with her--she has a half-sister!! And in typical Becky fashion, she fantasizes about her sister--and pictures them getting their nails done, sharing sisterly secrets, and of course shopping together. The announcement of a long-lost sister comes none to soon--as Becky has discovered that in her absence, her best friend Suze has replaced her with the insufferable Lulu, who shares her love of horses and of motherhood.
But Becky's meeting with her sister does not go at all as she pictured; and despite Becky's best efforts, she fails to win Jess over. A disastrous weekend spent at Becky and Luke's flat results in a heated argument--and the sisters part ways.
A joy to read, this is just a tidbit of the fun that awaits fans in this fourth installment of the series. Becky's shopping obessessions become entangled in Luke's business ventures in ways that readers just cannot see coming. Laugh out loud FUN!!

DYB

1 out of 5 stars

Tired and Sad story of a Selfish Brat January 11, 2005
18 out of 30 found this review helpful

Becky, Becky. When will you ever learn? By the end of all the previous novels, Becky has come to a realization that shopping is not the most important thing out there. These lessons, however, are forgotten by the start of the next novel.
This episode is as trite and silly as the previous novels, however, Becky has begun to seriously get on my nerves. Behaviour that she considers cute is actually very immature and selfish. I find it very difficult to believe that a man like Luke could ever fall in love and marry a silly, flighty twit like Becky. She takes being spoiled to a new level, and she is so selfish and self involved that it boggles the mind. She is amazed that her new sister Jess is not more grateful for all the effort made when Jess comes for a visit. Well, if Becky would actually crawl out of herself for a while and actually notice other people and their feelings, it would have been obvious that her sister had different interests.
Becky is also a first rate liar, which she demonstrates again and again to her husband and family. We are supposed to believe that someone that is this dishonest has a good marriage. Would YOU want to be married to such a liar?
Becky is also shallow, and wrapped up in herself. Could you imagine her ever doing anything for charity? Not likely!
Finally, we are left with the ending where it is likely that Becky is pregnant. God help that child! A good mother is not someone who is as selfish as Becky.
I find it truly sad that Becky is held up as some kind of hero. God knows there are millions of people drowning in debt with scads of stuff they don't need. Do we need a character like Becky to encourage people?

1 out of 5 stars

Awful, just awful March 13, 2006
15 out of 23 found this review helpful

My wife gave this to me for Christmas "from" our young daughter. I'm not sure why. I'm not a big consumer of chick-lit, but then I don't think my wife even knows what chick-lit is (she's Chinese and doesn't read much English fiction). Anyway, I had to read it because my daughter got upset every time she saw me reading a book which wasn't Shopaholic and Sister.

I took it on a longish business trip to Beijing, and having read everything else I brought (Effective C++ and Natural Atheism being amongst my favorites), I finally picked up this piece of tripe. Is it lack of imagination or just sheer laziness that makes the author put the protagonist (the infinitely dislikable "Bex") into situations that even my five-year-old could see through as contrived and avoidable if Bex exhibited the slightest degree of common sense, honesty or decency?

Is a character so selfish, annoying and just plain dumb that you want to shake her and slap some sense into her on every page really supposed to be entertaining or endearing? And then we have the problem of a first-person present tense narrative. I guess this is supposed to be Bex's "inner monologue". If she's capable of the occasional insightful thought (and even the odd blip of humor), how the hell can she be so blissfully cloth-headed and unself-aware the rest of the time?

The rest of the cast were mostly ciphers. Luke was about as three-dimensional as the picture of the hero on the cover of a romantic novel. Kinsella could have done something with Jess, but apparently she was too lazy to invest her with anything beyond the usual trite "right-on" cliches.

Apparently some people liked the earlier books in the series better than the current one. I certainly won't be wasting any more of my time (or money) finding out if the earlier incarnations of Becky were any less fatuous and tiresome than this one.

Dreadful.

1 out of 5 stars

How on earth does a series about a ditzy shopaholic ... January 10, 2005
13 out of 18 found this review helpful

... become so popular? What is this teaching people? That it's okay to have a serious psychological problem provided that you're endearing and 'cute'? That you can easily buy love and companionship? Well, in the fourth part of Sophie Kinsella's 'Shopaholic' series, one realises that it's socially acceptable to do all this ... and more!

The main character, Becky Brandon, is the most irritating character ever put to paper. The 'novel' (if you can even call it that) begins with her and her husband, Luke, returning from a ten-month honeymoon. On the way back to Britain, they stop off in Italy, where Becky purchases a hideously expensive handbag. This impulsive purchase eventually leads to a relationship breakdown and other fun and one-dimensional plot elements.

After returning to the U.K., Becky meets up with her long-lost half-sister, Jess, who is frugal, plain and hates to shop. Becky attempts to buy her sister's love with expensive gift baskets. How shallow is that?

Becky is one of the least-likeable characters in any book I've ever read, and I've read a lot of books. Her stupidity may be percieved as endearing by some, but it's just sad that a grown woman can act like a spoilt five year-old and get away with it... even in a book. Hopefully this will be the end of the series, although the ending ensues that a part 5 may possibly be in the works. Oh, dear.

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