Finding Audrey

I can really relate to Audrey as I have an anxiety disorder.. a severe social anxiety disorder called selective mutism. It means I can't talk to basically anyone, ive spoken to only 6 people in my 20 years of life, other than that, never spoken outside my house. After I finished school, I stayed home and grew a big fear of the outside world and the sun (dad passed away from skin cancer and ive been cautious ever since)
You now how Audrey wears her sunglasses everywhere? Well I do the same thing but with winter clothes, I wear winter clothes in every season. Australia heat is unbelievable and its currently winter but still hot enough to spend the day at the beach, so I do suffer for wearing winter clothes but I can't stop it. Its my comfort. It has nothing to do with covering my body, I would love to show off my body bc I work hard on keeping myself fit but winter clothes are my comfort.

So I really relate to her.

Other than that, the whole story plays out like a Disney show. Other than the anxiety parts, it was so unrealistic. It felt like a middle grade book.
I liked the story but didn't at the same time.

Ahhh such a fantastic read! Review to come.

Books intended for young adults tend to be more direct. There's not as much beating around the bush or tediously in-depth descriptions of the bush that grows outside the jail door to overtly-covertly hammer the theme into your head (I don't much like you, Nathaniel Hawthorne). Instead, the story lives or dies on its own merits.
And that's refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I can enjoy a good literary novel, but they often come off as possessing an excess or distinct lack of plotting. So it's nice to have a writer just tell a story.
Finding Audrey is about Audrey's “reawakening” after an bullying incident triggered anxiety issues. Along the way, her interactions with her mom (crazy), older brother (addicted to gaming), dad (out of it) and little brother (hilarious) provide lots of fodder for a solid book.

I have so much love for this book I can barely contain it. This book is hilarious, touching, and an excellent depiction of anxiety. It is so much fun to root for this dysfunctional family. The main character is witty and insightful. The audiobook was one of the best I've ever listened to with quality of voice acting and mood.
I loved it! Instant favorite.

I loved it.
The relationships with her brothers, her parents, Linus and even her friend Natalie were perfect.
I've never been diagnosed with anxiety but I could relate to to Audrey so much I loved reading about her jagged progress throughout the whole book her strides and her set backs and how she felt through all of it.
This books was also hilarious.
You want a cute, funny, summer read? Pick this up!

This book hit a lot closer to home that I was expecting, but I loved it. I've never read (or seen?) a book that centers around a main character with severe anxiety, and I think it's handled very realistically and positively here. Really well done on audiobook. Don't listen to your lizard brain, just keep going.

DNF at 17%

Original de: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Sophie Kinsella es, en mi opinión bastante ligera, una de las mejores escritoras de chic-lit. La serie Shopaholic es conocida mundialmente, lamentablemente la adaptación cinematográfica fue... bueno, me gusta creer que no existe. ¿Sería Sophie Kinsella igual de buena en Young Adult que en Chic-Lit? La respuesta a esa pregunta es un rotundo SÍ. Finding Audrey es una novela con la que me conecté mucho tanto como lectora como de manera muy personal.

Los que ya hemos leído a la autora sabemos que es una maestra de la comedia, siempre fiel creyente de que no tienes que hacer la mega escena para que sea divertido, las cosas más sencillas son las que te sacan las más grandes carcajadas, Finding Audrey es un gran ejemplo de cómo puedes tratar un tema tan complejo de manera divertida. Ya que no hay mejor forma de educar a alguien si lo entretienes mientras lo educas. Y digo educas porque Sophie durante el libro hace diferencias sobre las enfermedades mentales, en como la depresión es una cosa, la bipolaridad otra y como a la vez puedes tener varias al mismo tiempo. La salud mental, lamentablemente, es algo que por lo general no se toma en serio hasta que es demasiado tarde.

Me sentí conectada con Audrey porque las dos tenemos lo mismo, al leer cada una de sus peculiaridades, no podía de dejar de asentir y asombrarme porque podía sentir el esfuerzo de Audrey. Cuando en una parte dice que no puede mirar a las personas a los ojos, nunca me sentí tan conmovida porque es algo que yo tampoco puedo. Cuando dice que tocar a las personas es sumamente difícil para ella, no tienes idea la tortura que son para mí los cumpleaños o alguna fecha donde tengas que demostrar afecto exactamente por mi pequeño problema. El tocar y mirar a las personas directamente es una completa tortura para mí.

Pero Finding Audrey es más, mucho más, tiene personajes sumamente encantadores, la familia de Audrey es extremadamente loca y divertida y Linus es de otro mundo, tanta dulzura no de este planeta. Además el papá de Audrey es DILF #ggg

No voy a hablar más del libro, simplemente léelo, en serio, hasta el favor de leerlo, porque Sophie Kinsella está de vuelta, podrás leer todo su encanto en su primera novela Young Adult, Finding Audrey.

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The squeal that just came out of me. The movement my body just made. Idfk. But that was cute as hell, that was SO CUTE I DON'T EVEN WHAT ELSE CAN I SAY. IT WAS SO HEARTWARMING AND AUDREY WAS GREAT AND THERE WAS A CUTE BOY AND REALLY NICE FAMILY DYNAMICS AND I JUST- THAT WAS SO CUTE OMG I LEGIT SQUEALED WHEN I FINISHED BECAUSE THE HAPPINESS IT GIVES IS SO PURE

Resenha no blog Sincerando.com, escrita por Sarah Sindorf

Audrey é uma adolescente que passou por um grande trauma e sofre de ansiedade e depressão (eu li em inglês, que era “Social Anxiety Disorders, General Anxiety Disorder and Depressive Episodes”). Ela mora com seus pais e seus dois irmãos, e não sai de casa há meses. Tentando voltar à sua rotina normal e à escola, ela acompanha o dia-a-dia da família, lê e assiste televisão.

Um dia, seu irmão mais velho traz um amigo do colégio, Linus, e Audrey acaba se isolando em mais um episódio de ansiedade, pois ela tem muita dificuldade de interagir com as pessoas à sua volta, principalmente as de fora da família. Ela passa o dia inteiro usando óculos escuros e se refugia em lugares com pouca luminosidade. Envolvida em uma briga familiar sobre jogos de computadores, ela se torna uma das razões para Linus parar de frequentar à casa. Incomodada por não poder fazer contato com o menino e a pedido do irmão, ela começa lentamente a ter mais contato com ele e se abrir para novas amizades e talvez um novo amor.

Queria ler esse livro há muito tempo, e foi na viagem para os EUA que eu finalmente comprei um volume hardcover. Acompanhamos a história de Audrey (e sua nada convencional família) e o seu crescimento durante o livro, e apesar de tratar de alguns temas bem sérios (bullying, ansiedade, depressão), e consegui me divertir muito em vários trechos.

A família de Audrey é bem diferente do normal. Seu pai, muito apaixonado pela mãe, acaba cedendo em muitas coisas e não se impondo muito, além de estar sempre distraído. Sua mãe virou dona de casa depois do problema pelo qual Audrey passou, e acaba ficando um tanto neurótica com as publicações de seu jornal favorito, o que acaba perturbando a vida da família. Seu irmão mais velho é focado em videogames e gostaria de futuramente viver disso e seu irmão mais novo de 5 anos é adorável.

Audrey não fala com detalhes do que aconteceu no passado, mas temos várias dicas no livro e podemos perceber que houve um caso de bullying na escola que a afetou profundamente. Ela perdeu o contato com os colegas do colégio e está esperando melhorar da ansiedade para começar a frequentar uma nova escola.

Fiquei muito feliz com a seriedade e ao mesmo tempo leveza que a autora usou para explorar o tema. Audrey tem contato com uma terapeuta (o que é muito importante pois muitas vezes vemos personagens que declaram sofrer de depressão e até comentam uma vez que vão a um terapeuta, mas isso nunca aparece) que a ajuda a entender o que passou e mudar algumas atitudes que a atrapalham a ter a vida que ela tinha e quer voltar a ter.

Link: http://www.sincerando.com/2015/12/finding-audrey.html

Cute, fun story that attempts to tackle some series mental health issues and most of the time succeeds. At least as far as it can in a story that uses humor and family chaos to tell a story. This book is at it's best when it focuses on the crazy yet normal (c'mon, we've all had those moments with family where we don't know whether to run and hide or roll our eyes and laugh) events in the every day life of Audrey's family.

My one issue with this book is the giant elephant in the room - what brought Audrey and by extension her family to the point where the book begins. It's talked about/mentioned continuously but never explained. I don't know that I needed every minute detail about whatever happened with those girls at school, but a little more explanation might have been helpful. It would have let me connect with Audrey a little bit more.

It had to be her to write a book about a teenager who's in the middle of a crisis and not be a moron. She didn't try to overexplain, to delve into diagnosis, to suddenly cure the girl, to find villains and heroes in the bullies. She had her home most of the time. And still, it's sad and sweet, and it's FUNNY. Sophie Kinsella, you are my Khaleesi.

I had no idea this was a YA novel when I picked it up, but hey, I love a good YA book, so my slightly negative review isn't based on that at all. It just that, for a story about social anxiety and depression, this book seemed far too simple. Kinsella's usual fun chicklit books have more layers than this one, and that doesn't feel right. I didn't want it to be morbidly miserable and depressing, but you hardly get any sense of how debilitating mental illness can be, since it all seems to be so easily solved in this story. It's not quite so simple as “Audrey gets a boyfriend and hey presto, she's cured!”, but it veers close to that.

Having said that, the family and Linus (the boyfriend) were really well-drawn and interesting. Kinsella's a good writer. But I had to go for two stars (It was OK) on this one because I just had too many problems with it to say “I liked it”, though I enjoyed it while I was reading it.