The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic

I accidentally read this twice. The attitudes people in this book have about consent and careers is stunningly outdated and skeezy. Rachel, by chapter three, had established herslef as a twelve-year-old in a grown woman's body. She had friends and various enablers who were equally immature. Rachel is whiny, flighty, can't focus, can't bear rejection, supremely classist, willfully naive and can't feel empathy. She is -so- unpleasant She cannot accept negative consequences, is beyond petty--and I am petty--and considers humility a weakness. She is utterly shallow, even as she's surrounded by the cardboard cutouts that are other characters in this novel. There's an intelligence underneath all that tween behavior. She could be smart and show more responsible if she wanted to be, but she doesn't. I had a good friend in high school who liked fashion and technology. She bought stuff as frequently as Rachel did. When she turned eighteen, she got a credit card and quickly went into debt. She was nothing like Rachel, who is an inane Mary Sue of a protagonist. I remembered this book being shallow overall, and had forgotten that I read it, let alone reviewed it, as recently as 2020. Coming back to it now, it's practically high fantasy with incredibly unlikeable characters. For some reason, I couldn't put it down. No clue why. I'm glad I wasn't bored, though. show less

Confessions of a Shopaholic was a pain in the ass to read. I never learned to like the lead character, Rebecca Bloomwood. When we first meet Becky she is living far beyond her means, recklessly spending money she does not have. She constantly lies to family, friends, coworkers, strangers, anyone who gets in her way of a good shopping spree. She is the epitome of irresponsible. As the debt continues to pile up and the phone calls and letters from credit card agencies and banks become more frequent Becky starts to make feeble, half-witted attempts to remedy the situation. She has her pride so she cannot admit to anyone she is in financial trouble, at least not right away. She also has the ability to rationalize every extravagant show more purchase.
As her situation worsens she remembers something her father once said about saving money. She first tries the tactic of Cutting Back. Packing lunches instead of always eating out, going to museums instead of trendy clubs, and so on. But after one failed attempt at making dinner at home - a complicated curry - she moves onto Plan B (another of her father's euphemisms) - Make More Money. Her scheme is to either land an eligible millionaire bachelor and learn to like him later, or get another job - something that would allow her to get an employee discount and do minimal actual work. Needless to say neither of those schemes pan out either (pun totally intended). She fails miserably at every halfhearted effort to straighten her life out. The smallest setback allows her to abandon the effort with great relief and, like a true addict, she is able to rationalize her continued spending. She isn't bothered by the fact she's a fake to her friends, a fraud at work and a farce to her family. When the truth is finally revealed to her roommate she allows her roommate (and only obvious friend) to work at a side job in Becky's name just so that Becky can have the extra income. When really pushed at her own job Becky doesn't know what she's talking about (ironically working as a financial journalist). She let's her parents think she is being stalked when really it's the bank manager's relentless debt collection pursuit.

The problem with Rebecca Bloomwood's plight is that it quickly loses appeal early in the story. In the beginning her situation is comical. Her justifications for spending are humorous. Yet, the longer she tells lies, the longer she disregards the seriousness of her situation the less likable she becomes to me. Her character development is shallow and superficial and it stays that way throughout the entire story. The final disappointment is that Becky doesn't really change. There are no great epiphanies, no lessons learned. I bet it made an awesome movie, though! show less

I was loaned this by a very sweet niece who found the series very funny. I knew by the title and cover this wasn't my thing, but read it over the weekend in a sense of obligation, and also curiosity because the Shopaholic books are so successful. I suppose I was hoping for a fluffy 'Bridget Jones' every girl sort of novel. I know I should have been amused, but I think my sense of humour took a hike over the weekend. The two stars are for the writing. The subject matter, Beckie, actually disgusted me with her moronic materialism and 'I'm worth it' mentality. Actually, Beckie, you're not. I was actually angered by her shallowness and self-obsession, and hoped that at some point she would be mugged, hopefully hit on the head, painfully, show more and when she came out of the coma become a more worthwhile human being. It didn't happen. I'm still seething, and appalled that so many women should find this shallow, selfish person a fun character they are willing to spend time with.(less) show less

My negative preconceptions of books like this have been turned on their ears. Yes, it's 'chick-lit'. It's also well written, with a - mostly - believable main character.

Rebecca Bloomwood is a financial journalist, who managed to bluff her way into a high-powered job, without knowing anything much about finance. Moreover, she has a serious addiction to shopping, and no idea about budgeting. She's scatterbrained and highly impulsive, judgemental about appearances, and thinks nothing of embroidering the truth... or even telling outright lies if it serves her purposes..

She's also surprisingly likeable. She's humble, she has a sense of humour, she cares genuinely about her family and friends, and she has a deep sense of integrity; a moral show more code that runs deeper than her frivolous nature.

I am amazed at how very enjoyable this book was, charting Rebecca's descent into ever-increasing debt, peppered with letters form her bank manager and others. She narrates the story with frequent irony and clever self-revelation; the eventual solution to her problems arises mainly from her own abilities.

There aren't even any detailed love-scenes, and only a few expletives. Highly recommended, unless you dislike irresponsible characters and prefer books with more depth.

Longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2026/05/the-secret-dreamworld-of-shopaholic... show less

Becky Bloomwood is in serious trouble. A savvy consumer with a flair for fashion, she can’t seem to stop buying the fabulous clothes she sees in the shops. It’s not just clothes, either: she’ll also hand over her dough for shoes, makeup, groceries, books, cooking utensils, and just about anything else, especially if it’s on sale. In short, Becky is a shopaholic. Ironically, she’s also a reporter at a financial magazine called “Successful Savings,” where the utter boredom of her going-nowhere career is only alleviated by her shopping sprees. Her credit card bills are piling up, and she’s even starting to get ominous, hostile letters from her creditors and the bank. But the only way Becky can deal with her rising panic is show more to hit the stores once again. Will she ever be able to jump-start her career, change her behavior, and face reality?

Having read a few other books by Kinsella, I knew she wrote good chick lit, but Confessions of a Shopaholic is definitely at the top of her game. Becky’s breezy voice was both hilarious and endearing – I especially liked the elaborate fantasies she’d concoct in her head about how to make her debt magically disappear. Initially I was annoyed by her as well, though, because she didn’t realize how utterly frivolous and deluded she was. Fortunately, she grows and matures throughout the novel – and in the meantime, it’s just fun to laugh with (and at) her. I also liked the fact that the love story was actually secondary to Becky’s own character development. With most chick lit novels, the romance is the focus, and it often becomes overly dramatic or saccharine. Here, I think it was extremely well done: there were just enough details to let me know that something was brewing, but it’s also quite restrained (which just adds to the tension and excitement, in my opinion). Anyway, for chick lit fans, I would definitely recommend this – it’s more substantial than many other offerings in the genre. show less

I find Sophie Kinsella books to be absolutely hilarious. Rebecca is such a relatable character with her not particularly exciting job, shopping addiction, and lack of boyfriend prospects. Every time she tries to stop spending, she winds up needing a little pick me up as she gets down in the dumps—a feeling many can relate to. I found the comedic situations she found herself in to be Bridget Jones-esque and absolutely hilarious. I couldn’t stop laughing every time she got herself into another fix and Luke would coincidentally happen upon her. Sophie Kinsella has a gift for comedy and her books are my go-to when I need something light to read to cheer me up. Can’t wait to read the next in this series.

Please excuse typos/name show more misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

I picked this book up on a whim at the thrift store. I had heard it was fun and hilarious and that I'd love it.

It wasn't, and I didn't.

In fact, I only made it 25% into the book before I decided that reading more just wasn't for me. For starters, the main character gives me a bad name. What a vapid, delusional, hypocritical mess. She's bad at her job, she's completely self-centered and selfish and annoying, completely focused on outward appearances and and seems to think that the universe owes her a sweater. When she got to the part about paying 80 GBP (which is approximately 130 USD) for a decorative bowl that she initially thought was hideous and overpriced simply because it was featured in a magazine, and then started lying to show more herself about how SHE had spotted its worth all on her own and internally preening, I had to put the book down.

Honestly, is this kind of stuff supposed to be funny? I have a great sense of humor, and usually find many things funny that I probably shouldn't, but this wasn't funny to me. I find idiotic people like Rebecca Bloomwood's type to be frustrating and annoying, not funny. Plus, did I mention that she gives me a bad name?

When I discovered that there was no Aha! moment for her, and no growth or anything in her character, and that somewhere down the line she marries The Guy, I decided to stop reading for good. The Guy seems intelligent and rational, so why he would hitch himself to a financial disaster in Prada heels is beyond me.

In other words... I'm just not buying it.

(See what I did there? Take a lesson, Bloomwood.) show less