Jessica Bradley has it all: the perfect boyfriend; influential healthy-eating blog; successful PR company and wonderful daughter, Anna. Or at least that is what her thousands of followers believe.
The truth is, her boyfriend just broke up with her in four words on a post-it; her zest for healthy-eating has all but disappeared; her PR success is all reliant on her now not-so-honest online-life and she just got caught eating her daughter's Coco-Pops.
So as they say: fake it 'til you make it. A few little white lies and phoney smiling selfies and Jess can keep up appearances. But when her real-life starts to spiral out of control how can Jess tell the truth from the lies? And will she be able to seize real happiness when it is right in front of her?
I always feel a bit strange reviewing books like this online. After all, the overall message is 'don't worry too much about being a fake self online, be a real person offline'. So maybe instead of posting this review, I should just stand next to the bookshelf and recite it?
I enjoyed this read. And unlike a lot of this type of book, I could see the reason that Jessica was so desperate to keep her lie going; it kept her business, which not only kept her afloat but employed two other people, active and engaged. It's a much more relatable reason than is usual in this type of book.
I didn't like the way Jessica treated Anna, though. She was very concerned about Bea and spent time with her ... as she should! Bea's storyline was heartbreaking. But Anna was obviously upset and at several points looked for attention and was brushed off. It's easy for me, of course, on the outside of the story, but even after warnings from other people Jess wasn't paying enough attention to her.
Otherwise, though, I really enjoyed this story, with its quirky cast and situations that manage to balance on the line between 'crazy' and 'brilliant'. One for fans of Sophie Kinsella without a doubt.
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