Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella | REVIEW & DISCUSSION

Hey, guys! I’m coming at you with a review of a book that I really enjoyed, Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella. This is a book that I did read as an audiobook, and I really enjoyed it. The voice actress was great, and really conveyed the thoughts and emotions of every character really well, in my opinion. This is a book that I am really glad I decided to pick up. Its a really quick read, and I really, really enjoyed it. But let’s just jump right into the review!

Synopsis:

“An anxiety disorder disrupts fourteen-year-old Audrey’s daily life. She has been making slow but steady progress with Dr. Sarah, but when Audrey meets Linus, her brother’s gaming teammate, she is energized. She connects with him. Audrey can talk through her fears with Linus in a way she’s never been able to do with anyone before. As their friendship deepens and her recovery gains momentum, a sweet romantic connection develops, one that helps not just Audrey but also her entire family.”

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book! I audiobooked it, and even though there wasn’t an entire cast of narrators and voice actors, I definitely really enjoyed this. I thought the narrator was on point, and I love that she was British, considering this story is set in the UK, I’m pretty sure. I was sucked into this story from the start.

I thought Audrey’s anxiety disorder was really relatable to me personally because I suffered from extreme anxiety for many years (not as bad as her anxiety, though). Many of the things that she thought when she was having anxiety attacks (“You’re a failure! Everything is your fault!”, for example) are things that I have thought when I have my anxiety attacks, though I also believe that was part of my depression as well.

Her anxiety with going up to people and just talking to them was really relatable to me as well because I still can’t do that. I freeze up and I don’t know what to say, and it just isn’t great. Just like Audrey, I have my comfort people, the people I can talk to with no problem, and that consists of a few close friends and my family, of course. The mental illness side to this story was just so relatable, which definitely contributed to me loving this book so much.

The humor, ultimately, is what made me love this story so much, however. Her mom with the Daily Mail was absolutely hilarious, how she believed all of that stuff. And she ultimately ended up taking it out on Frank, Audrey’s brother. Those scenes were some of my favorite because they just made me laugh out loud.

And I absolutely loved the love story in this novel. I definitely felt there was some chemistry between Linus and Audrey, and I just loved how supportive of her he was, and how he was pushing her out of her comfort zone in order to get her to start to really work through the anxiety. That’s the only way she would ever get better. He knew that, and I think she needed the nudge. I don’t really think he ever pushed her too far. He knew the limits, and knew what she could and could not do. He recognized that her mom and dad just weren’t going to be able to help her get better, so he began helping her, and when they kissed for the first time, it was so cute and just…FEELS.

Overall, I think this was a solid contemporary that dealt with serious issues in a very realistic, but humorous, way. I loved all of the characters, the story line, the love story, and the representation of mental illness. The writing was on point as well, and I am very excited to read another Sophie Kinsella book in the near future!

4.5/5 stars

And there you have it! That was my review of Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella. What’s your favorite book about mental illness? Comment down below! And that is going to be it for this post today. Thank you so much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it, and I will see you next time.