Becky, Luke and Minnie are moving to Hollywood. Luke will be helping to manage PR for his new celebrity client Sage Seymour.
Meanwhile Becky plans to make a name for herself by becoming a renowned Hollywood Stylist. Becky is even joined by best friend Suze, Tarquin and their brood. Oh and Becky’s dad who is in search of an old friend. What could possibly go wrong?
Well it starts with Becky seeing Lois Kellerton, Sage Seymour’s nemesis shoplifting. Lois swears Becky to secrecy, but Becky lets slip to Sage. Before Becky knows it, she’s at the centre of a press tornado as the only witness of Lois’ crime. Against Luke’s advice, she decides to make the most of the publicity while she’s ‘hot’ to try and promote herself as a Hollywood Stylist.
Every page of Shopaholic to the Stars made me laugh, often aloud and made me feel elated. Becky’s character is so optimistic and naive that she makes every book in the Shopaholic series a joy to read. Shopaholic to the Stars is no exception.
About halfway through Shopaholic to the Stars Kinsella adds another plot line (the one were Becky’s dad disappears) and it’s clear that this book is the first part in a two book story. Fabulous, it means another book in the Shopaholic Series. This new (and as of yet untitled) release will probably be published next year.
Take Shopaholic to the Stars as a lighthearted, comedic, chick-lit read and you’ll enjoy it. The plot of Shopaholic to the Stars is slightly predictable and if you overanalysed it you’d find the odd flaw in the storyline.
Recently, I’ve been a bad blogger. I’ve had so many things on that I’ve felt like I’m plate spinning. My daily creative play has stopped. My blogging and book reviews have stopped. But now I hope to get back to normal – whatever that is.
While I have been exceptionally busy, I have managed to listen to some new music, watch some good TV, re-watch some old films and do a bit of reading.
Musically, I’ve been enjoying Ed Sheeran’s new album X. I’m particularly fond of the first track, One. It’s sentimental and mellow. Perfect chill out music and believe me, I’ve needed to relax. I’ve had Sam Smith’s album In The Lonely Hour on repeat, appreciating the sound of his voice.
I bought Matt Fishel’s new album Cover Boy, but have to say that it was a disappointment. It was nowhere near as good as his first album Not Thinking Straight. I did like his cover of Finally, but I’m afraid that was all I liked.
I’ve watched season 2 of Under The Dome, well all but the final episode. It’s a brilliant show based on a short story by Stephen King. In Under The Dome the people of an American town are trapped under a giant dome. The plot is intricate, ever twisting and full of intrigue.
I’ve been watching the new series of Dr Who and have very mixed feelings about it. Peter Capaldi isn’t a convincing as The Doctor. Clara’s character feels a bit conflicted, not because of Mr. Pink (Danny) but because of the writing.
The Walking Dead has started again and I’m super-excited, thrilled and ecstatic during every episode. We’re only a few episodes in and it’s already my TV highlight of the week.
I’ve watched some old films like Jurassic Park 1, 2 & 3 as I love dinosaurs. In my mind, there just aren’t enough dinosaur films out there. The Adams Family 90s film has made me laugh, especially Cousin IT and thing who never fail to make me chuckle.
I’ve watched good triumph over evil through working my way through the complete collection of Harry Potter films. Mum and I are going to Harry Potter World (London) in November, so I wanted to be adequately prepared.
I got my essential hit of zombie versus kids by reading The Hunted by Charlie Higson. You can read the review I’ve wrote for The Hunted here. I felt elated reading Shopaholic to the Stars by Sophie Kinsella, which I will review soon. I’m currently reading the ridiculously funny Good Omens by legends Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman and the love story Us by David Nicholls.
The Enemy Series is a series of books by Charlie Higson about all adults becoming diseased sicko’s that like to eat children. The stories are about the kids survival (or not).
The first book in the series was The Enemy, which I reviewed here. The second book was The Dead, which I reviewed here. The third book was The Fear, which I reviewed here. The fourth book was The Sacrifice, which I reviewed here. The fifth book was The Fallen, which I reviewed here.
This review will be like the ones I’ve done for the other books in the series – it will give an overview of the storyline. So please be aware that this review contains spoilers.
The Hunted is the best book in the series so far! It starts with Ed finally getting small Sam to the National History Museum, only to find that Ella (Sam’s sister) left that morning for the countryside. Ed recruits a group from the Museum who set out to try to find Ella.
But the countryside is worse for disease-ridden adults than London. Ella and her group of children were attacked, but Ella was rescued by a grown up who she names Scarface. Ella is grief stricken after loosing her friend Monkey-Boy. Scarface hunts grown ups, can use weapons and takes Ella to a farm which is his home. The farm has boobytraps, chickens and there he takes care of Ella. She soon discovers that he can talk. He is like no grown up she has met since the disease came. Ella and Scarface become friends, but their routine is interrupted by some kids who are running away from an army of grown ups heading towards London. The army’s path will lead them straight through the farm.
Ella survives thanks to Scarface, but he’s injured and it’s her turn to look after him. He has a hiding place and Ella helps him there. Once there, as Scarface recovers he tells Ella his story. That he is not a grown up, only a kid that looks like one. Scarface is a kid called Malik Hussein, who went to Rowhurust School with Ed. He tells Ella how he became like he is and the mistreatment he’s suffered at the hands of a Dr Chris, a doctor who was looking after kids before he started suffering with the disease. Scarface tells Ella of mistreatment from kids who didn’t believe that he was a kid like them, yet knew wasn’t quite an ordinary grown up either.
Ella and Scarface decide they must move on from his hiding place. They’re running low on supplies and they decide that rather than just the two of them being together, that they need to be with a group of kids. Ella is rescued by The Golden Twins, but because Scarface looks like he does, they take him for The Races.
Meanwhile Ed and his group set off to find Ella. They come into contact with the Army of grown ups and have to abandon their car. Then they follow smoke to an old people’s care home. They discover elderly adults who’ve managed to escape the clutches of the disease. Amelia, one of the elderly explains that they are Scientists and were working on a cure before the collapse of society. She explains that she came to the old people’s care home to be with her sister Dot and ordered all the supplies they would need. Amelia explains that the army are merging on London to release disease spores, like a mushroom. To spread the disease to the next generation.
Amelia tells Ed and his group that without knowing where the disease originated it is difficult to create a cure. Luckily for Amelia, Trinity, one of the twisted kids has come along with Ed and knows the answers to all of Ameila’s questions. Trinity agrees to stay with Amelia and the other old people, while Ed and the rest his group continue on their search for Ella.
Ed and his group meet Josa and her group of kids who try to take their car off them unsuccessfully. Ed and his group then meet Ascot kids who tell Ed about The Races. Ed and his group go to The Races with a plan to win them. At The Races they catch up with Ella, who is worried about what happened to Scarface (Malik).
At The Races, the last event is an event were kids battle diseased sickos. The Golden Twins have kept Malik for this event. Malik uses the sicko grown ups as shields from the kids and kills many of the adults before mounting one of The Golden Twins horses. Ed recognises Malik and they are reunited, which is quite emotional. The book ends with Ed claiming his prize from the leaders of the other groups of kids. Ed wants all of the kids to come to London to fight the army of grown ups. The group leaders have no choice but to agree, as Ed won The Races. So the army of kids set off bound for London.
I’ve probably said it before, but this series has to many groups of kids to keep track of. That said, the main characters are well developed, well thought through and flawed like all good main characters should be. The telling of this story is superb using a good mix of show and tell, as it always is with Higson. Higson writes for children brilliantly, but his books can be enjoyed by both children and adults alike.
Higson got the pacing perfect, I absorbed every word and it left me wanting more. I do think that if one or two of the main characters died it would have improved how I felt in the action scenes. I didn’t feel any genuine fear for the main characters in actions scenes, as every time an action scene happened I just knew that the main characters would come out of it alive.
Higson has announced that the next book in the series will be titled The End and will be the last in the series. On the one hand I’m utterly devastated by this, but on the other hand I appreciate that he will have spent seven years of his life telling this story. I’m already excited for The End, which is likely to be published in September/October 2015.
If you’ve not done so already, you can buy The Hunted by Charlie Higson on Amazon. I highly recommend this book if you love action, zombies, apocalypse and survival type stories.
Journalist Benjamin Law is an Australian with Asian roots. In Gaysia, he takes us on a tour of Asia showing us all things gay across the continent.
Benjamin with his warm and engaging writers voice takes us to: Bali to meet the money boys and explore the cheap tourist destination; Thailand to see the world of trans Lady Boys in Miss Tiffany’s Beauty Pageant; China to interview gay men and lesbian women who often marry one another; Japan to explore the explosion of non-sexual Drag Queens on TV and the underground lesbian subculture; Malaysia to meet Christian and Muslim fundamentalists who claim they can cure homosexuality; Myanmar were HIV positive people are so poor that only one in five can get life saving treatment; India to interview people in the LGBT rights movement and to meet a man that claims he can cure homosexuality with yoga.
Benjamin’s description is perfect, covering the sights, smells, sounds, tastes and sensations of each place and experience. This makes the reader feel that they are sharing his adventure from start to finish. Benjamin documents his observations and interviews well; but for the majority of the book he holds back from experiencing first-hand what it is like to be gay in the countries that he visits. Whereas it wouldn’t have been practical or appropriate in some countries, it would have been great to see Benjamin dressed as a Drag Queen in an attempt to get on Japanese TV. Benjamin does make up for this, by attending his first Pride in India in the final chapter of the book. It would have been pleasing if he had included some glossy photos in the book of places he’d visited and possibly people he’d met.
Gaysia starts with relatively light-hearted subject matter but quickly moves on to more heavy subject matter. Emotive subjects such as: the lack of civil rights, the lack of access to HIV medications and gay cures all gave a negative impression of being gay in Asia. But this is a real and honest account of what being gay in Asia means, and was usually told to him by the gay people of Asia he interviewed.
Gaysia is travel writing, but not a holiday guidebook. Instead it is a captivating in depth look at Asian societies, cultures and subcultures of the gay sexual minority group. Gaysia is educational, enlightening and a must read for anyone whose interested in travelling to the Asian continent to experience gay Asia or anyone who loves Asian culture, food or places.
If you find my blog educational or entertaining, please consider making a purchase or donation on Ko-Fi.
Categories
Amazon
Antony Simpson is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk.
