Shopaholic is back with a Minnie-me

By Wayne Agramon

“OK. Don’t panic. I’m in charge. I, Rebecca Brandon (née Bloomwood), am the adult. Not my two-year old daughter. Only I’m not sure she realizes this.”

Mini Shopaholic is the sixth book of the Shopaholic series, a hilarious saga of Becky Bloomwood’s life and her obsession with shopping. It is set two years after the events in the last book (Shopaholic and Baby) showing Becky and her exploits as she settles into married life and motherhood.

The “Mini” in the title refers to her daughter, Minnie who is two years old and is showing signs of being a shopaholic like her mother.

The Shopaholic series tells the story of Becky Bloomwood whose ultimate passion in life is shopping. She buys random things and comes up with outlandish excuses on why she should buy them even though she doesn’t need them. This obsession to shopping has led her to major debts and lots of trouble.

In this latest installment, Becky has to wrestle with raising a really willful daughter whose favorite word is “Mine!” and cutting back on spending because of a financial crisis. One can’t help but laugh at Becky’s antics, her delusional ideas and denials at every turn. 

Author Sophie Kinsella has once again brought another Becky Bloomwood story packed with adventure and comedy. What I like about Becky is that she’s not your typical heroine. She’s flawed, and gets into trouble all the time and yet you can’t help but love her because she has a big heart towards the people she loves.

Becky who’s supposed to be mature at this stage still hasn’t lost her penchant for maxing out her credit cards and her daughter also seems to inherit her “fondness” for buying things. Her motto,  “cross the bridge when you get there” instills consumerism among readers. It also encourages readers to deal with credit card bills later. 

After reading six books of Becky’s quirky charm and shopaholic tendencies, one would think that there wouldn’t be any story to tell. Yet Kinsella delivers a new plot, a new challenge to face at every book that keeps the story going instead of just giving the characters a happy ending. Kinsella still hasn’t lost her flare for making her readers laugh. This may not be my favorite book from the series but I enjoyed it quite a lot.