Shopaholic Ties The Knot by Sophie Kinsella

What is it with Becky Bloomwood and completely unrealistic scenarios?  I desperately want to slap her and bring her screaming in to reality and at points in this book I thought Luke or her Best Friend (who's name somehow has escaped me right now) were actually going to sit down with her and get her to face up to reality.  Her fantastical appraisals of each event used to amuse me, they are now beginning to grate as it is no longer just a fun and frivolous take on how life is treating you.  Becky has serious mental health issues that need addressing and they are starting to impinge on the joy of the story.  I know, I know this is fiction and fiction of a certain genre but SERIOUSLY?  Nobody who claims to love this woman would allow her to exist within this dangerous fantasy would they?

Becky's materialism really gets a work out in this book once Luke proposes to her.  So much so that where it was quite adorable and, to some extent, relatable her shop, shop, attitude did entertain.  During certain sections of the book it becomes actively uncomfortable as you watch the greed swell within her.  Then she will go and do something charmingly Becky for someone and you forget about her monstrous side.

The main plot point of the book settles around the Wedding Preparations and where it will be held.  Naturally, her family want her to marry in England and even offer to host the ceremony in their garden.  Becky is thrilled by this idea and so her parents start preparations - including what sound like major house renovations.  Then Becky gets the opportunity of all opportunities - a top Manhattan Wedding Planner and the Plaza Hotel as the venue.  Who could resist?  Certainly not Becky and she leaps at that option too.

Basically the rest of the book is all about the scrapes she gets into trying to decide which to go for in the end - yes, she plumps for the one you expect her too right from the start.  There is a decent amount of humour but mostly about Bridezilla behaviour so it feels more than a scad uncomfortable.

My real problem with this book is how unlikeable Becky is becoming and how narcissistic her character suddenly seems to me.  Even worse, I have the rest of the series already purchased and I am NOT looking forward to reading them if they are going to infuriate me this much. 

Initially I gave this book 3 Stars when I finished it back on the 12th April.  Now I've sat down to actually review it and started to think about the characters I have downgraded it to a 2 Star.  Mainly because the only things that have stuck with me are everything that was bad about the book and little about what was good.  Yes, I am thinking about a fictional character in situations that are egregiously overstated for literary effect far too deeply.