Finding Audrey

Reviewed by: Kara Reiman - Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: August 25, 2015

Review

Kinsella, best known for the Shopaholic series, takes her charming & quirky British characters and brings them to YA. At the beginning of this book, we meet Audrey, who has gone through some kind of trauma, and is currently out of school and in treatment. She can't stand human contact, even just eye contact, and so stays indoors and wears big dark glasses all day, every day. Only when she meets her brother's friend Linus does she start to come out from her shell. The book really focuses on mental health issues and could be very good as an easy way to introduce conversation or start education about mental health issues. It really shines a light on mental health in a realistic way. And by the end of the book we've seen Audrey show real strength, courage, and self-reliance. We see how hard it is for her to overcome those issues. Talking directly to the reader, Audrey is an authentic teen voice, and all of the characters are charming. Audrey never reveals exactly what happened to her, and while that can be frustrating for some, it's an interesting choice and puts the emphasis on Audrey's condition and recovery instead of the issues that got her there.

Overall Book Score: excellent