#LizzieReads
Sophie Kinsella has done it again with her latest novel, The Party Crasher, all consumed in just 48 hours!
Effie Talbot is a young, headstrong woman who is struggling to comes to terms with her step-mum, Mimi, and dad breaking up so ‘suddenly’. As ever in true comic yet serious Kinsella style, truths are revealed that maybe not everything is as rosy as Effie thought they were, not to impose on her hatred for her dad’s new (younger) girlfriend, Krista.
Like most of Kinsella’s characters, Effie is a walking hyperbole. She is stubborn, witty, funny and everything is a drama, contrasting with her older brother and sister Gus and Bean who maybe aren’t as ‘together’ as she thought – that’s family for you!
But why and how does she become a party crasher? Krista and her dad have listed the childhood home up for sale and are having a goodbye party and brunch. In true Effie style, she is adamant she will not attend after receiving her passive aggressive self-invite-invite-anti-invite (you’ll understand when you read it!) from Krista. Is Krista truly the new ‘wicked stepmother’?
Until you think all is done and sadly done as Effie goes to sleep – her dolls.
She remembers her beloved Russian dolls.
It’s non-negotiable. Effie must complete her mission and retrieve her dolls from her house, from the inside chimney in her room. In and out, without being noticed. Easy enough, right?
But it doesn’t just stop there. More fool me for thinking she this would be a quick job! Of course Effie gets in a tizzy and finds herself hiding about the grounds of her own home and acting as a spy, overhearing things she perhaps shouldn’t nor wants to hear, with the help of old flame Joe, and eventually Bean and bewildered Gus who’s having troubles of his own.
You can just picture some of the people invited to the party, including old flame Humph along with Krista’s incredibly irritating and entitled ‘friends’.
Truths are revealed. Revelations uncovered. Couples split. Some come together. Maybe the Talbot household isn’t as blissful as they ever thought it would be…
I loved reading this – as the timing speaks for itself! A Kinsella novel never fails to put a smile on my face and leaves me wanting more each time! A great novel once again where loose ends are tied up neatly and comically.
Rating – 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre – comedy, chick-lit
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