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The Personal Shopper tells us the story of a woman named Annie Valentine, who works as a personal shopper (surprise, suprise) in a fictional London department shop called The Store. Annie has a massive client base, from Russian millionairesses to mothers at her daughters school to WAGs ... Read review
Meet Annie Valentine a multi-tasker extraordinaire - juggling her job as a personal ... more
shopper in a swanky London department store with life as a single parent to sulky teenager Lorna and cripplingly shy Owen. But helping women shop isn't the half of i...
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Advantages: It was okay in places Disadvantages: Not keen on the whole thing really
...so it went straight to the top of my "To be read" pile. I finally got around to starting it last weekend, and let's just say I am more than a little disappointed with it now I have got to the end.
The Personal Shopper tells us the story of a woman named Annie Valentine, who works as a personal shopper (surprise, suprise) in a fictional London department shop called The Store. Annie has a massive client base, from Russian ... ...style a few men at The Store too.
However, don't be fooled into thinking this book is going to be completely about Annie as a Personal Shopper because it isn't. The book actually focuses on Annie's personal life, with her 2 children, teenage Lana and shy Owen, and her struggles to keep them at their private school, her financial troubles, and her broken relationship with husband Roddy, as well as a few more romantic prospects for ... more
I actually swapped this book because I had read a review on this site about how fantastic this book was. So I eagerly tried to get hold of it and was really pleased when I did, so much so it went straight to the top of my "To be read" pile. I finally got around to starting it last weekend, and let's just say I am more than a little disappointed with it now I have got to the end.
The Personal Shopper tells us the story of a woman named Annie Valentine, who works as a personal shopper (surprise, suprise) in a fictional London department shop called The Store. Annie has a massive client base, from Russian millionairesses to mothers at her daughters school to WAGs (footballers wives and girlfriends). She knows her fashion inside out, and is able to find an outfit to suit any woman, with any shape. And she has been known to style a few men at The Store too.
However, don't be fooled into thinking this book is going to be completely about Annie as a Personal Shopper because it isn't. The book actually focuses on Annie's personal life, with her 2 children, teenage Lana and shy Owen, and her struggles to keep them at their private school, her financial troubles, and her broken relationship with husband Roddy, as well as a few more romantic prospects for Miss Valentine. As you can see, the book has a lot of threads running throughout it, but I must say they are all easy to follow and not too difficult which is a good thing.
To be honest, it wasn't the main character that I didn't like, it was just the whole book! I felt that it started quite well, introducing us to Annie and her job, as well as a few of her clients and showing us how well she could interact with different people. But after a few chapters, I found that the pace slowed down, then sped up, and carried on like this, making some parts really interesting to read and others were down-right terrible. I couldn't find a consistent feeling for myself about this book, and I found that I had to really push myself to pick this one up and read a bit more, something I never usually experience with books.
By about halfway through, I was actually not enjoying this at all, but I wanted to find out what was going to happen with Annie, why her husband was barely mentioned in the book, and who, if anyone, Annie was going to end up with. Consequently, I don't think I was reading it for the right reasons which also impaired my enjoyment of this book. I just found it hard-going, and I was really disappointed after really looking forward to reading it.
I suppose one positive thing I can mention about this book is the well-written characters. Each of the characters are very unique, and work well together within the novel. Even the minor characters, such as Annie's clients as The Store, all have a good story and pop up throughout the book, giving you some continuity as you are reading, and are all quite believable characters living their lives as normal people, some with more money than others! My favourite characters had to be Svetlana, a Russian lady married to a Russian Millionaire who spent ridiculous amounts on clothes just to keep her husband interested...hilarious!
To be honest, I wouldn't recommend this one, but that is just a personal opinion, I am sure there will be many who will enjoy this one! But this is my first Carmen Reid book, and I am not sure that after this one, I will be bothering with any others, and that is a pity! However, I have heard that this isn't her best book, so I may give her the benefit of the doubt. It's bright pink, chick-lit looking cover appealed to me, but sadly its contents didn't!
ISBN: 978-0552154819. The book is published by Corgi Adult, and contains 432 in the paperback edition. RRP is £6.99 but Amazon are selling it for £5.19. You can find out more about the author Carmen Reid and her other books on her website, http://www.carmenreid.com. Oh, and I generously gave it 3 stars as I don't think it is bad enough for just 2 stars!
Advantages: A feisty, funny, memorable heroine plus a great story Disadvantages: It came to an end
This review refers to the printed book - not an audio book which, for some reason, is given within the specific criteria choices.
*****
And to think, I very nearly passed this book by! Why? Well, the saying that you should never judge a book by its cover has never been so true. Pretty though the cover is - Barbie pink with the image of a glitzy high-heeled shoe and sumptuous shopping bags - I did assume that this was a definite chic lit offering. ... ...although I didn't much rate the one-and-only Shopaholic book I read - and Lisa Jewell) but most chic lit is written in a formulaic way and doesn't grab my attention at all. As an older woman, I try not to turn my nose up at such offerings, but really, what do books about sex, drinking, hangovers from hell and man-hunting have to offer me? I sooo can't be ars*d and much prefer a good book.
Generally, the kind of books I like have a strong feel-good ...
Louizalass 24.10.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Personal Shopper - Carmen Reid
Advantages: Readable, great characters Disadvantages: Makes you want to go and spend a fortune on clothes!
...why. I suppose I read the authors I liked and didn't stray far from them. Now I have read all my favourites offerings and have been looking around for other authors. I was spending a voucher on Amazon and the pink cover caught my eye. I found that Carmen Reid has written quite a few books and she looked right up my street so I bought this book and its sequel 'Late Night Shopping' hoping that I liked the first! ~Carmen Reid~ Carmen Reid has written ... ...the others for grown ups (urgh I suppose thats me then!) She has a lovely website www.carmenreid.com which I love looking at since I am very nosy and like to know as much about the author as I do about the book! Carmen lives in Glasgow with her husband and two children, after working in London as a journalist. She is a bestselling author and deserves the title. There is a little quote on the back of each book 'A fabulous read. A sexy read. A Carmen ...
chantelly 23.03.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Personal Shopper - Carmen Reid
...LOVED this book.
Annie is the kind of charachter any girl can relate to. she is ordinary, but not in a bad way. she is a single parent, two children and so the empathy you feel for her is apparent straight away. working as a personal shopper is not as glamarous as it sounds and we also learn this pretty soon. However, this story, i feel, is more about Annie's search for love. she is ready to look again for the first time since her husband left her.
...
smh21 09.09.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Personal Shopper - Carmen Reid
Advantages: And funny, stylish, and surprising book Disadvantages: Couldn't put it down!
...want it. I looked at the cover and the blurb, and i thought it looked ok, but nothing special. So i just left it on the shelf.
A couple of weeks later i was about to go on my summer holiday when my mum picked me up one day and told me she'd got me some books to read. When i got home i saw this book and another two. I really didn't like the look of the other two at all so i read this one...
...And i am really glad i did. It was absolutely fantastic. ... ...believable storyline. Annie who was the main character was really easy to relate to even thought i am nothing like her in real life. You can really understand what she is feeling.
I would usually pick a book like this. I like the Chic style books which are usually aimed at about my age group i suppose, maybe older as well, so i suppose the chances were i would find it good.
But i really didnt expect to find it as good as i did. I have read a few ...
alix.xx 21.12.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Personal Shopper - Carmen Reid
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Advantages: Improved characters Disadvantages: Not the best in the category
This is the second in CarmenReid's series about personalshopper Annie Valentine. We start here where the second book left off - with Annie living with her two children and the man of her dreams in her dream home. But doesn't this all sound a little too perfect? Of course it does!
Annie Valentine is ambitious to a fault. Her passions are shopping and making money - two things that don't sit together very well. However, she is determined to make a success of her life whilst pandering to her passions, looking after her two children, keeping her relationship going strong and being there for her family.
She is hectic to say the least, but this is what she thrives on and is why she ends up on a romantic Italian getaway with her entire extended family in tow and acquiring mountains of shoes, bags and clothes that she can't afford but ...
Advantages: Good story, more likeable than the first Disadvantages: Annie's still annoying!
Every week, I always pop into WH Smith to see the latest books that have been released and also the half price bargains of the week. Although I have a massively full bookshelf which I can't seem to stop from growing, I was pleased to see that they had the new CarmenReid book on half price offer this week, and although I wasn't all that keen on the prequel to this book, I thought it was worth £3.49 and decided to buy it and give Ms Reid another read!
This book is a sequel to CarmenReid's bestseller, The PersonalShopper. We return to the character of Annie Valentine who is where we left her at the end of the pevious book. She's loved up with Ed, a handsome teacher, and her 2 children Lana and Owen. Annie's job as personalshopper is still going well, but Annie is determined to branch out on her own, even though Ed isn't too keen ...
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