Last night I finished reading Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was one of the forerunners of the Chick Lit craze and, while I had been curious to see what all the fuss was about, I wasn't curious enough to bump it to the top of my list. Well, here I am in Chile, and here it was too. And really, as desperation reading material, it was good. If that isn't a backhanded compliment, I should find out what is.

Rebecca, aka Becky, Bloomwood is an unwilling financial journalist at a London magazine. She wants to be a fashion journalist mostly because she´s shopping obsessed. Obsessed to the point of being several thousand pounds in debt. Through a series of bumbling attempts to escape (and I use the word intentionally) her debt, she not only winds up with a high paying job, but a millionaire too. (Don´t scream spoiler at me. Its romance novel at heart. Happily ever after required.)

I actually had no problem with the writing. The style was very conversational and written in the first person present as if Becky was telling you the story as it was happening. Becky has a good sense humor about herself which is good as she has a knack for getting into odd fixes like a less cartoony Bridget Jones. It had a fair share of laughs and òh no`moments that kept me reading, but no real heart strings were pulled.

I guess my issue was Becky´s lack of character development. She began the story with a shopping addiction. The only time she felt good was when she was shopping for, purchasing and bringing home new things. She referred to herself through her possessions often. I found it sad and a little unnerving. Her first attempt to fix her problem involved cutting back. In classic setting up for failure practice, she went cold turkey. Coffee from home, packed lunches, the works. This lasted until the weekend when at a museum she discovered the gift shop and decided to do all her Christmas shopping, in March, without a list. Her last act in the book was to purchase 3 pairs of sunglasses because they were such a bargain at 200 pounds and the ones she bought year are so passe. Yes, she got the guy and the super job, but the internal conflict remaiunsolved.

Given, the book is a franchise so too much character development isn't going to happen, but as a reader I felt cheated. I wanted to see Becky starting to change and what I got was a view of Becky sinking further into her psychological problem. With more money, she´s just going to acquire more stuff with bigger price tags creating a deeper hole. The thought of reading book 2 to watch Becky Bloomwood`s madcap adventures in mental illness and low self esteem actually makes me a little ill.

Recommended: No