Welcome to the blog tour for
   FINDING AUDREY by Sophie Kinsella!

I am VERY thrilled to be on the blog tour for FINDING AUDREY today! A big thank you to Random House for asking me to be a part of this tour, especially since I’ve been reading Sophie Kinsella for quite literally almost half of my life. This book holds a special meaning for me having gotten into young adult in the past two years!

Today on the blog tour, I’m sharing my thoughts on the book with my review! I’m so happy to have read it so I hope you’ll take the time to read it and hopefully it stirs up some interest for you to pick it up! I thought it was a really great read but… I’ll let the review do the talking!

Title: Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
Publishing Info: June 9, 2015 by Random House Publishing Group
Source: Edelweiss
Genres: Contemporary, Psych/Mental Health, Young Adult
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: May 17, 2015

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Shopaholic series comes a terrific blend of comedy, romance, and psychological recovery in a contemporary YA novel sure to inspire and entertain.
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.

FINDING AUDREY was a really interesting read for me! It was meaningfully complex and yet still maintained the trademark Sophie Kinsella humor and wit. I really enjoyed meeting Audrey and finding out more about her story and it was just so nice to read Sophie Kinsella’s work again!

FINDING AUDREY primarily deals with a teenager named Audrey (of course) who is currently in the midst of trying to get a handle on her anxiety. After a recent and tumultuous incident at school, Audrey ended up in a tailspin of emotions which eventually resulted in her current state of anxiety. FINDING AUDREY picks up her story after she’s returned home from the hospital and is currently seeing a therapist to help her overcome and push past her fears. I personally thought that this aspect of the story was handled so, so well. The reader gets to know Audrey and her personality while she’s in the safe space of her home and amongst her family but also gets to see how crippling anxiety and panic can be for a person. The smallest thing can trigger the biggest fear and my heart went out to Audrey as she struggled to retrain her brain to not immediately react to these things as panic-inducing triggers. It was very interesting and informative to see how her brain had her reacting and how much effort it really does take to not only stay afloat but to fight back. I think it’s great to have this mental health awareness and allow readers to see how anxiety affects people on many different levels and also how hard someone can work to overcome it.

It was really interesting to witness Audrey with her family as well. She and her brother seem to have a good relationship and I liked how there were a few key moments in which he wasn’t afraid to speak up to her when everyone else was too afraid to. Their relationship felt very natural and I really liked how they got along! Their mother, on the other hand, was a bit much for me sometimes. (Most of the time.) Audrey’s anxiety disorder is the focus of the book but I think her mother has her own form of anxiety throughout the book. She’s so OVERLY concerned with her kids — especially Frank and his video games — that it became very hard for me to read. She was so worried that she outwardly obsessed and overreacted for nearly the entire book and where I felt it was supposed to lend comedy, it ended up turning me off from her character quite a bit.

FINDING AUDREY was a really interesting read overall and it went through its fair share of ups and downs. I loved how the characters, especially Audrey, had to figure out the nature order of things after their lives got shaken up by this traumatic event. I was so happy to watch these characters strengthen their relationships by supporting each other to help each other grow. The little romance that developed was also so cute and heartwarming! I absolutely loved how it formed and evolved throughout the course of the book.
I did struggle a bit with the mother character as I had mentioned before and I was a bit frustrated at times with how much her struggle with Audrey’s brother took center stage. Sometimes it felt like Audrey got shoved to the background and this plot point took over, but it really was an important focus of the book as well. Really, that was the only (minor) downside for me because I just really enjoyed the book overall!

If you love Sophie Kinsella — YA reader or not —  I think FINDING AUDREY will be a really solid read for you! I was so happy with how well all of these elements blended together and I was left with a positive and happy feeling when I was finished instead of the heaviness I sometimes feel when I finish a book that deals with mental health and issues. I really hope readers enjoy this one and I hope Sophie Kinsella continues to write more YA because I’d love to read more books like this from her!

Kept Me Hooked On: A lighter side of mental health. I don’t mean that that mental health should be taken lightly, but I appreciated that I was able to read a book about a girl who’s struggling to overcome a serious anxiety disorder and there was still an overall levity throughout. I feel like people tend to steer clear of books with important issues because they’re too “serious” or “heavy” so I really liked that there was a lighter tone throughout FINDING AUDREY!
Left Me Wanting More: Of Audrey’s story. I was a bit sad that we didn’t seem to get the full story on exactly what happened to Audrey. It’s not necessary for the book — clearly it was a traumatic event — but it did leave me hanging a bit. I also wished there was a bit less focus on her brother’s story at times because it seemed to take away from hers.

Addiction Rating
Read it!

FINDING AUDREY was a really enjoyable read and I loved how well serious and comedy blended! Sophie Kinsella did a great job with these characters and bringing more anxiety awareness to YA.

BOOKS LIKE FINDING AUDREY

(Click the cover to see my review!)

    

GIVEAWAY

Random House is also providing a very fun giveaway for this blog tour! One winner will receive a copy of FINDING AUDREY and a promo coffee sleeve! (The coffee theme definitely comes into play so this will make more sense once you’ve read the book too!)
All you have to do is enter the Rafflecopter form below! US residents only, please! Must be 13 years of age or older to win.

     

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway