Hollys Inbox - Holly Denham > Reviews > Unputdownable

Author's product rating:   

Would you listen to it again?	Absolutely
Story	Outstanding
Characters	Outstanding
Listenability	Once you start it, you won't be able to switch it off!
How does it compare to similar audio books?	Not applicable
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?	Not applicable

Advantages:	relatable characters, fun story
Disadvantages:	-

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

It has been a long time since I have had any time to read a book, which is quite ashame as I used to love a good book especially under the 'chick lit' category. Being nearly summer and with me going away soon, I ventured into my nearest Waterstones to have a look at the latest girly reads for the summer, to see what I have missed. I know the saying goes never judge a book by its cover but can't help but pick up books which are pretty colours with a great illustration or quite fun look to them. I also scan the blurb to see what appeals, after reading the backs of many books, I finally found two worth having a further look at and of these was Holly's Inbox.

So, I was unsure at first about Holly's Inbox, because I noticed the author was Holly Denham, so I then thought it was the writer trying to be funny using an alias to make the book seem like a real person's Inbox. It wasn't tell I read the first few pages of thank yous and notes that it seem like Holly Denham is real and that a few years back she started a website www.hollysinbox.com which she used to submit her e-mails on which internationally was getting around hundreds of thousands of hits which then got her the publishing deal. I am still not quite sure if these e-mails are based on real characters or not but either way it makes for a great read.

The layout of this story is in e-mail form so it is headed by subjects, sender, recipient and their e-mail address then the story is told like this. The story follows around Holly Denham, she has just started a new receptionist job at a big London bank and has a few colleagues who she really doesn't like, it all seems tough for her at first but what to me makes the story funny are her e-mails from her two best friends, Jason and Aisha who are always giving relationship advice as well as life advice. She also communicates with her parents and sister and granny who all live out in Spain. Holly has a few secrets from her past which no one knows about and she intends to keep it that way.

Holly also has her work colleague Patricia who is really likeable; they e-mail each other constantly of office gossip and about the regular customers. Holly is such a likeable down to earth character, she's not perfect has a job she doesn't love and is just trying to find the right man and the right place in her life. She has an office fling which she is happy about but then an ex flame of hers starts working at the same company as her which could prove to be quite problematic.

I have to say I do like reading but it's rare that I get to just sit and flick page after page. With this book it made me see it as less writing because it is in e-mail form but it is still 730 odd pages long and I read it in 2 days I just couldn't put it down I had to know what happened next. It is well written and the fact it is written in e-mail makes it clever that a story can be told this way as it is a good point to show how much people tell to each other electronically these days rather than face to face. You'd think being in e-mail form a lot of big story parts wouldn't be covered but this is not the case at all.

The characters are ones which most woman can all relate to and for once I like the fact she is a receptionist, a normal job because in a lot of these books they tend to always make the characters high up career women with never ending bank totals and she is not like this at all.

I think this is a great read for any chick lit lover like me who likes a Bridget Jones style leading character. She is so fun that I found myself feeling like the characters were my friends for two days that I was sad when it was over but hopefully she will write another book. I have never been this hooked on a book for a long time and have already thoroughly recommended it to friends and family. The plan was to take it on holiday with me but I read it already so will have to find another.

If you are bored and want a great read then go to eBay and look for this you might get it cheap, look at your nearest library or purchase at £4.19. After looking online also I have noticed she has a follow up book coming out in June which I am already excited for.