Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista [Paperback]

Yes, the cover looks like chick-lit, and yes, it is chick-lit - but I really enjoyed this read. The term 'chick-lit' is often dismissed as second-class writing which annoys me a bit to be honest, I dont think the book covers do any favours either. If you want an enjoyable read, with likeable characters, a bit of humour and some soul-searching, then 'Confessions' is just the ticket.
Cassie - the heroine of the book is a great character, likeable but daft, dizzy but loyal and although you'd like to strangle her for spending her last few pounds on £170 jeans, you cant fail to back her all the way. The other characters range from the hateful, city trader Dan to peace-loving, vegan, hippy Jude, and not forgetting Ali - Cassie's best friend who is so cool and glamorous it's hard to see just how come they are best mates.
Everything that can go wrong for Cassie does go wrong, from losing her well-paid job as a city PA, to being dumped by her boyfriend, to having to attend a society wedding in (shock horror!) a dress from the High Street no less. But Cassie is one of those characters that although really you should just hate her, the reader ends up backing her all the way - she puts a funny positive spin on everything. There are some real laugh out loud moments, the story-line is bang up-to-date with tales of failing banks, redundancies and recession - yet still it's a hopeful and happy read.
There are similarities to Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series - but Cassie is a much more likeable character than Becky Bloomwood. A really good debut novel.

Cassie Cavanagh has a great job, a great boyfriend and earns enough money to keep her in shiny new shoes and fabulous clothes. What Cassie doesn't reckon on is being sacked from her job due to the recession. Not only that but her boyfriend dumps her for an older woman. Cassie also seems to be spiralling into debt and is forced to listen to flatmate Jude's advice on money. Can Cassie claw her way out of the recession and stop spending money?

As I mentioned I was easily sucked into Cassie's world and it's easy to see why she spends so much money. Truth is, Cassie doesn't know any other way. She's always had her well-paid job as a PA to fund all of her spending habits so it comes as a complete surprise once she's out of a job and thus broke. Cassie tries a number of ways to make money. Most notably by walking dogs. Cassie being a dog walker had me laughing out loud. I have two dogs and struggle sometimes to control them so I could imagine what it would be like to have 5 or so to walk at the same time. I like that after Cassie got over the shock of being out of a job and out of a boyfriend she eventually pulled herself together to try and find herself new employment. I also loved how Cassie's flatmate Jude helped her to try and cut down on her spending; it wasn't always completely logical but Jude had her heart in the right place. I loved both Cassie and Jude and found them incredibly likeable. They seemed polar opposites to each other; Cassie being a spendaholic and Jude being a bit hippy-like yet I found their friendship totally believable.

The book is very in the "now" not only with the recession but with Cassie and Jude having Sky Plus, each chapter starting with a Facebook update (Cassie Cavanagh loves her louboutins, for example) and it seemed very modern which I enjoyed. It's nice when authors can weave things like that into a book to make it more up to date. The book is told entirely in the first person, which was absolutely right for this novel. We didn't need anybody else's perspectives; Cassie was more than enough! Amy Silver wrote quite a bit about what it's like to work in the City (as a PA in Cassie's case and as a dealer in Ali's case) but it was easy enough to understand and even I enjoyed learning about it.

I have to admit that the ending was pretty open. I sincerly hope that means Amy Silver is working on a sequel. Cassie Cavanagh could become the anti-Becky Bloomwood and I'd happily read more of Cassie's adventures. She's just so incredibly likeable and it's difficult to dislike her even when she was ignoring Jude's advice. Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista truly is a great read and I wholly recommend it, it's definitely one of the best debuts around.

Don't be fooled into thinking this another run of the mill chick-flick. I was so surprised when I read this book because there's what you think is going to happen and then what actually happens. It took me by surprise. Cassie Cavanagh is a girl with a serious spending problem which only gets worse after being paid off. 'Confessions of a Reluctant Recessionista' is Cassie's story to finding stability in her life through friends, family and a lot of hilarious slip ups. I would highly recommend reading this. Just be warned that once you've read the first page, you won't be able to stop until you're done.