Buy Buy Baby by Helen MacKinven

Buy Buy Baby by Helen MacKinven
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Publisher - Cranachan

Pages - 298

Blurb from Goodreads

What price tag would you put on a baby?

Set in and around Glasgow, Buy Buy Baby is a moving and funny story of life, loss and longing.

Packed full of bitchy banter, it follows the bittersweet quest of two very different women united by the same desire - they desperately want a baby.

Carol talks to her dog, has an expensive eBay habit and relies on wine to forget she's no longer a mum following the death of her young son.

Cheeky besom Julia is career-driven and appears to have it all. But after disastrous attempts at internet dating, she feels there is a baby-shaped hole in her life.

In steps Dan, a total charmer with a solution to their problems.

But only if they are willing to pay the price, on every level...



My Review

Two women living in Glasgow, Carol who, life as she knew it halted after her son's death and is now filled with Ebay impulse buys and talking to, and for, her dog Jinky. And Julia, a career driven woman with disastrous online dating attempts and a ticking biological clock. The two women could not be more different but both have a longing for a baby and one man could be the answer to their prayers.

I don't often comment on book covers, although to be fair, of late, I have found myself drawn to or passing comment on some. Buy Buy Baby sports the face of a doll with piercing blue eyes which I think most people would stop for a gander passing it on a bookshelf. It catches your eye and draws you to it, not giving much away to what the genre or content could be, kudos to the designer & team, it certainly deserves a mention. My copy is the exact same as the picture featured on this review & synced picture on Goodreads, if you normally scroll past have a wee scroll back up and check it out, eerie and eye catching!

This is MacKinven's second book and sports her trademark humor stamp but also having, a deeper, more adult feel to it. The themes cover grief, loss, love, relationships, abuse, friendship and many more infused with Glasgow humour whilst tackling some dark subjects. Looking at how one woman tries to cope with the loss of a child and get through everyday with the other coming to realise something is missing in her life and just how far each will go to obtain their goal.

I think this book may stir up a host of emotions for many readers, the content addresses some brutal aspects of adult life that many readers may have experienced or identify with. Buy Buy Baby is a story that will make you snort with laughter & well up as you go on an emotional rollercoaster with two ladies desperate for a baby. Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review, 4/5 for me this time. I look forward to more from this author and you can get a copy for yourself from 7th July 2016 from any good retailer.

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Review - What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Publisher - Penguin

Pages - 487

Blurb from Goodreads


Alice Love is twenty-nine, crazy about her husband, and pregnant with her first child.
So imagine Alice’s surprise when she comes to on the floor of a gym (a gym! She HATES the gym) and is whisked off to the hospital where she discovers the honeymoon is truly over — she’s getting divorced, , she has three kids, and she’s actually 39 years old. Alice must reconstruct the events of a lost decade, and find out whether it’s possible to reconstruct her life at the same time. She has to figure out why her sister hardly talks to her, and how is it that she’s become one of those super skinny moms with really expensive clothes. Ultimately, Alice must discover whether forgetting is a blessing or a curse, and whether it’s possible to start over.


My Review

Alice has had an accident in the gym, not that she remembers, she has fallen and hit her head. As she slowly comes back to conscientiousness she thinks about her pregnancy and if thats why her head hurts. Upon examination it becomes clear that Alice has last 10 years, the last thing she remembers is being pregnant with her first child and being 29 years old. Everyone she knows is different, in physical aspects as well as personality. People are cold towards her, she has three children she cannot remember and her husband is abrupt, rude and showing no concern when she speaks to him. What follows is Alice trying to peace together the last ten years of her life and come to terms with everything she learns.

The story kicks off straight away with the accident happening immediately. You can't help but feel frustrated a tad when reading it as you, the reader are in the same boat as Alice in that your relying on others to tell you what you don't know. Her sister has diary entries dotted throughout the book as well as online blog entries from their older fun next door neighbour whom they consider family. From these you get snippets of additional information as well as an insight into who they are.

The story evokes a few responses, my biggest one was thinking back to where I was ten years ago and how would I feel. You also feel sorry for Alice stumbling along, not knowing whats going on but watching her personal growth as she tries to fit back into a life she has no recollection of is interesting to say the least.

I couldn't put this book down, I had to know what was happening, where Alice would end up, what would she found out and does she ever get her memory back. The few last chapters were a little up and down for me but overall I thought it was a great wee read and would pursue this authors other books, 4/5 for me this time.

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