The Shelf by Helly Acton

Everyone in Amy's life seems to be getting married (or so Instagram tells her), and she feels like she's falling behind.

So, when her boyfriend surprises her with a dream holiday to a mystery destination, she thinks this is it - he's going to finally pop the Big Question. But the dream turns into a nightmare when she finds herself on the set of a Big Brother-style reality television show, The Shelf.

Along with five other women, Amy is dumped live on TV and must compete in a series of humiliating and obnoxious tasks in the hope of being crowned 'The Keeper'. Will Amy's time on the show make her realise there are worse things in life than being left on the shelf?

A funny, feminist and all-too-relatable novel about our obsession with coupling up, settling down and the battle we all have with accepting ourselves, The Shelf introduces the freshest new voice in women's fiction.

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I'd like to believe that a show like this could never happen in real life, but I'm pretty sure some TV exec somewhere is already filing the serial numbers off, ready to present this idea for filming. After all, who wouldn't watch to watch women dumped live on air, forced through challenges and relentlessly subjected to other people's thoughts about them via the Wall, a huge screen broadcasting their Twitter handles day and night?

I'm being sarcastic, by the way. I can't think of a worse idea for a show. But, brilliantly, it works in this book. Helly skewers toxic masculinity beautifully; although there are a couple of decent male characters, given the premise here, most of them are awful. I was most angry at the men who came on to teach women what men want; don't let yourself go, you'll look lazy and his friends will laugh at him, but don't wear too much make up, you'll look easy and his friends will laugh at him. Don't date too many men, you're a slut, but if your man strays, you probably weren't experienced enough to give him what he needs. Don't complain, moan or nag, but don't be a doormat. It went on and on and the men genuinely couldn't see what they were doing.

I liked most of the women. I agree with Flick that if a woman chooses to stay home and be a house wife, that should be respected just as much as choosing any other career. I liked Jackie's strength and courage to be herself. I loved Amy's realisation near the end.

The only thing I wasn't sure about was the Wall. Even on a show like this, would the producers allow a completely unmonitored, unsantized stream of all the darkest parts of the internet into the living room, 24/7? Surely that's bad for the contestant's mental health? Especially considering some of the tweets we read.

Otherwise, I really enjoyed this clever, witty read, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else Helly comes up with.