Review: Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Title: Finding Audrey 
Author: Sophie Kinsella
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publish Date: June 9, 2015
Source: Library

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "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."

My Two Cents:

"Finding Audrey" is the first Young Adult offering from Sophie Kinsella, author of the Shopaholic series. In this book, we meet Audrey, a teenager who has faced bullying at the hand of some bullies (who she thought were her friends) which has manifested itself in a case of major anxiety. Kinsella seeks to use fiction to shed some light on mental illnesses such as generalized anxiety disorder and depression. It works and it doesn't. Keep reading for more details!

When the book opens, Audrey has been facing her demons for a few months and doesn't seem to be getting any better. She meets one of her brother's friends and he begins to press her to confront some of her anxieties. In the midst of all of this, she begins to fall for him as she begins to come out of her shell. I appreciate what Kinsella was trying to do here. Anxiety and depression affect many teens and they are important topics to talk about. Audrey's story is incredibly simplified and straight forward. It over simplifies things that can be quite complicated; things that aren't necessarily going to be fixed by a guy. Yes, Audrey is seeing a psychologist in the book but it really seems to be Linus that takes her out of her anxiety and depression.

That being said, the humor that I have loved in Kinsella's Shopaholic books and several of her standalone books is there. Kinsella does a great job of coming up with characters that are fun to follow. I loved Audrey's crazy family, especially her mother. The scenes with her family were a lot to read.

Overall, while I see what the author was trying to do, it fell a bit short for me. The humor kept me reading though!