Who's That Girl?

Who’s That Girl? By Mhairi McFarlane

Originality: ♥♥♥♥♥
Quality of writing: ♥♥♥♥♥
Plot: ♥♥♥♥♥
Setting: ♥♥♥♥
Character: ♥♥♥♥♥
Overall: ♥♥♥♥♥

When Edie is caught in a compromising position at her colleagues’ wedding, all the blame falls on her – turns out that personal popularity in the office is not that different from your schooldays. Shamed online and ostracised by everyone she knows, Edie’s forced to take an extended sabbatical – ghostwriting an autobiography for hot new acting talent, Elliot Owen. Easy, right?

Wrong. Banished back to her home town of Nottingham, Edie is not only dealing with a man who probably hasn’t heard the word ‘no’ in a decade, but also suffering an excruciating regression to her teenage years as she moves back in with her widowed father and judgy, layabout sister.

When the world is asking who you are, it’s hard not to question yourself. Who’s that girl? Edie is ready to find out.

My Verdict:

I loved Edie’s character – she is perfectly flawed and so real that it is easy to relate to her. Her character brings out the best and the worst in all those around her and although it was written in third person, at times it felt like it was Edie who was narrating herself! The story flowed easily and despite the number of pages, I read it quickly and found it impossible to put down.

Edie’s relationship with her sister, Meg, was like a firecracker – sparks seemed to fly as their squabbling became deeper – hate, jealousy, resentment are none of the emotions explored between the siblings, but rather loneliness, grief, and the lack of communication between Edie and her loved ones. The love interest, actor Elliot Owen, provided an insight into the life of a famous person and how the ways in which we view them effect their lives. Edie and Elliot’s love is slow-going but it is always there – I just wished they’d realised their true feelings sooner – especially Edie!

The theme of cyber-bullying is very important in this book. These scenes made me cry as I realised the vindictiveness of people hiding behind computer screens, and how easy it is to judge over social media. Edie’s interactions with Jack, Charlotte, and Louis tie in closely with social media and office politics – through her experiences with these three people she learns to find out who she really is and what she knows is best for her.

Overall, I loved every bit of this book and was sad to have finished it. I laughed and cried all the way through and was glad to have chosen something out of my comfort zone to read!

5 stars.