Buy Buy Baby by Helen MacKinvenMy 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.
Funny you should mention the cover as it was the first thing that came to my mind. Incredibly spooky I thought, if it wasn't for the title which I thought was a huge giveaway I would have taken this book for a horror story.
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