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Mifanwy is a Boffins Books YA Club member. Mifanwy blogs at Miffology.
Mental illness is one of those tricky topics that seem to be carefully tip-toed around by authors of YA novels, but not Sophie Kinsella, the author of Finding Audrey. Kinsella seems to understand how important realistic representation of characters can be to a reader, including realistic representation of a young person with a mental illness. I imagine writing a character with a mental illness sensitively is a daunting task, but Kinsella has created such a memorable and interesting character in Audrey, that to my mind, is right up there with Charlie from the Perks of Being a Wallflower. Finding Audrey was fairly short, at just under 300 pages, but boy it packed a punch, and I really enjoyed reading it.
Audrey is 14 years old, has social anxiety, and has been bullied enough that she stays home from school. She never leaves the house, and her dark glasses never leave her face. Her therapist suggests to come out of her shell a bit, she should make a documentary of her daily life. So, in a sarcastically named film called ‘My Serene and Loving Family,’ we are introduced to Audrey’s mum, the ‘queen of overreactions,’ her generally clueless yet caring dad, her angelic younger brother, Felix, and her computer-addicted older brother, Frank. One day, Frank invites over one of his gaming friends, Linus, who slowly but surely begins interacting with Audrey throughout his visits. Audrey and Linus strike up a meaningful, seemingly ‘therapeutic relationship,’ which, somewhat predictably, leads to them becoming involved in a romantic relationship. I thought I would be unhappy with this aspect of their evolving relationship, as it was too predictable and seemed to suggest that mental illness could be fixed with a magic kiss from her knight in shining armour, however, I wasn’t disappointed, as I really enjoyed the chemistry between Audrey and Linus, and their conversations were witty and humorous, which was refreshingly relatable.
The real beauty of Finding Audrey is that it helps to normalize the fact that mental illness can happen in any family. Kinsella tells us this by placing Audrey in a modern yet immediately identifiable family. This family could be anyone’s family, and Audrey could even be you.
Finding Audrey was a book that pulled off being deep, fresh, serious, and fun all at once impressively well, with humorous plot points and conversations blended smoothly into the serious tones of Audrey’s social anxiety. The book managed to be informative but also enjoyable, with no unnecessary filler parts just to thicken it up. It was a great, quick read and I’d give it 4 out of 5 stars.
