The Extra by Megan Walker and Janci Patterson

3.5 Stars

I actually really enjoyed this book, although it did feel like a guilty pleasure at times.  It emulates the very daytime soaps that it is, in many ways, parodying.  With plotlines that stretch credulity and characters that have either so many faces that you wonder if they have a multiple personality disorder or have just one stereotypical one.  Honestly, it is a daytime soap in paged format.

Our lead character is Gabby and she is a mess - physically clumsy, emotionally shuttered and add on a dose of middle child syndrome and there you have Gabby.  Somehow the authors made this work and whether it is her love for all things carb-y and calorific in an image obsessed town or her voice you do find yourself enjoying spending time with this character.  This is happen as well as she is our narrator.  She really does get put through the wringer in this book though - from family disasters (parental and fraternal), dating woes, career set backs it all happens to poor ole Gabby.

The plot is straight from the soaps though and has that overblown pseudo-reality to it, but it works.  It is honestly amusing and told in such a chatty style that you can't help but become engaged and find yourself thoroughly enjoying your time spent with the book.  That said, I never really got invested in the situations that Gabby found herself in as you know all the way through that somehow things will work out for her and those she cares about.

I have noticed that there are several books in this series but as much fun as I found this one I'm not invested enough to read on and I think the breathless skipping from disaster to disaster was fine for one book but could well send me loopy if I read more.

Fun and frothy but ultimately disposable - perfect holiday read.