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Jump to navigationJump to searchMy So-called Life: The Tragically Normal Diary of Rachel Riley by Joanna Nadin (view source)
Revision as of 13:44, 14 September 2020
, 13:44, 14 September 2020no edit summary
A lovely book, this only really loses out on 5 stars because of a serious chocolate faux-pas early on in the story. I'm not going to spoil it for you, though. You'll have to read it yourself to work out what factual inaccuracy horrified me so much I docked that half star. And I hope you do read it because. I enjoyed it and I think you would too. Other recommended reads if this sounds good include [[Planet Janet In Orbit]] (also a teen diary) or [[The Illustrated Mum]] if you want to discover the kind of life Rachel dreams about having.
Thank you to the publishers to sending this book. We also have a review of [[My (Not So) Simple Life (Rachel Riley) by Joanna Nadin]].
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|comment=I got this book out of the library for my 10 -year -old daughter before deciding she needed to be 2 years older to appreciate it. Meanwhile , my 18 -year -old stepdaughter wants to read it! I thought the novel was very lively and enjoyable on the surface, though at times the rip-off of Adrian Mole was so obtrusive, that it spoiled my enjoyment. Joanna Nadin has none of Sue Limb's inclusivity. Non-white characters stay on the margins. When the heroine's young brother acquires a best friend who is a Muslim girl, we never get to meet her. Classmates who are from working-class backgrounds are called - with a stunning lack of originality - Fat Kylie and Thin Kylie. It's no surprise that in Joanna Nadin's former career she worked with Tony Blair. She has all the previous PM's contempt for, and suspicion of, those who don't subscribe to middle-class values. So despite it's energetic inventiveness the book leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth.
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