I purchased The Mummy Bloggers on a whim last Christmas (yes, a little gift to myself!). It lived in my To Read pile for a few months but I finally read it… It was a thick, pretty pink book with a picture of a delicious looking ice cream cone on the cover, all covered with bright red strawberry syrup. It was beautiful.
That day, I did judge a book by it’s cover and… I was not disappointed!
There have been very few books in my life that I could truly describe as “un-put-downable’. This is one of those such books.
I found myself reading a page then literally needing a break; I would put the book down and just sit there, staring at the wall for a solid 30 seconds thinking “Oh. My…”
Where to begin…
I’d like to start off by saying that I have never really been a fan of the Chick Lit genre – I can’t even stomach a good ol’fashioned romantic comedy movie! No ‘The Notebook’ for me. The only, and I mean ONLY Chick Lit author I have ever been interested in was Marian Keyes, one of my all time favourites of the genre thanks to her unique sense of humour and style of story telling. Holly Wainwright, you have changed me. I will now add the incredible Holly Wainwright to my list of Favourite Chick Lit Authors – A list comprised of only two people – high praise!
If you loved The Other Side of The Story by Marian Keyes, The Mummy Bloggers is a MUST READ!
The Mummy Bloggers tells the story of three very different ladies, each with her own incredible blog and social media following larger than the population of a small country. The three blogs are each nominated for a prestigious blogging award, triggering the competitiveness of each nominee…
And then shit starts to really hit the fan…
It was at that point that I got out a bag of chips and sat there, glued to this book, eyebrows raised, tiny judgmental giggles spilling out from the side of my mouth (along with a few potato chip crumbs) at the absolute war unfolding on each page.
It was incredible. And it was golden!
Each chapter is narrated by a different blogger, their partners or sometimes a few other interesting characters… But I will not be giving out any spoilers here by divulging just WHO these ‘others’ are and what they’re role in this twisty tale is!
This style of writing has always been a favourite of mine – I love the idea of being able to get into not just the lead character’s head but inside EVERYBODY’S heads, hence my relating this book to The Other Side of The Story by Marian Keyes.
I found each of the ladies to be truly inspirational in their own individual ways: Leisle for her incredible realism and her heroic forgiveness. Abi for her yearning to create a new life for her and her family, one filled with love, laughter and nature. And then there’s Elle.
Where to begin with Elle…
I guess I could say I admired her strong determination and drive but other than that, Elle became the character in any book that you simply LOVE to HATE! Her attitude, her ideas (seriously, I won’t give it away but just wait until you see What Elle Did). One could describe Elle as your typical Rich Bitch; The one with the “perfect” home, the perfect family, the hair, teeth and nails. But just like every other Elle out there, when you look a little bit closer you’ll notice the cracks. The pure hatred and lack of any sort of moral compass lies in the hearts of every Elle and it’s nasty!
Set in Australia, it was lovely to be able to recognise the places mentioned in the book and to apply your own preconceptions of the TYPE of people that live in the suburbs mentioned. Don’t lie, we all do it!
Written in good spirited fun the book does however, also touch on very serious current issues: online bullying, harassment and even assault. The stress, guilt and unfortunately, the judgement that comes along with being a mother, especially God forbid, a WORKING mother.
Forgiveness and redemption, love and understanding. Drug addiction and recovery. The importance of maintaining not just your physical health but your mental health and just how delicate we can all be when going through trauma and heartache. It’s all here.
At times I’d find myself laughing uncontrollably and at others I would be on the verge of tears.
All in all, I would give this book a solid 5 stars (out of 5 of course!) – It was RIGHT up my alley!
Interested? Well I hope you are! Click here to purchase your copy of The Mummy Bloggers; I hope you love it just as much as I did!
