Book Review: Me Blackberry Fool, You Apple Tart by Amelia Slocombe

Me Blackberry Fool, You Apple Tart by Amelia Slocombe
Release Date: 2nd February 2015
Publisher: Chillidog Publishing
Buy: Kindle
Rating:

Best friends Isla Butterfield and Rachel Ku are inseparable. Inseparable, that is, thanks to the wonders of modern technology and the humble smart phone.

Isla is a lawyer in a cutthroat city law firm, working 90-hour weeks in a job she hates. The rest of her time is spent dealing with her recently divorced father, worrying about premature ageing, wishing she’d followed her dream of becoming an actress and hiding her designer clothes’ receipts from her long-term boyfriend, Toby – a biologist with mild OCD.

Rachel is stuck in a dead-end 9-5 marketing job for a manufacturer of commercial sink units. Her life is troubled by her crazy thoroughbred horse Aristotle (who she can’t afford), her eccentric Malaysian mother with an internet shopping addiction, and her emotionally detached boyfriend, Spencer. Spencer never calls, is always late and prefers to spend his time at the beck and call of his best friend Alex Robertson, a well known and extremely good looking premiership footballer.

After a chance encounter with the notorious Alex Robertson, Isla is given a glimpse of a very different existence. But does she really want a life of money, celebrity hangouts and Harvey Nicholls’ stylists? And if she does, how much is she willing to sacrifice to get it?

Primarily told in email format; Me Blackberry Fool, You Apple Tart gives us a first-hand glimpse at the correspondence between BFF’s Isla and Rachel. Whilst Isla is a high-flying lawyer, Rachel works in a slightly tamer job as a marketer and although the two jobs might be pretty different the girls have one thing in common – they both hate what they do.
Isla finds herself practically living in the office without a minute to breathe (or shop) and Rachel fails to be stimulated by working on the marketing of toilet brushes. Of course, being unhappy with their jobs isn’t the only stumbling block of the two friend’s lives – Rachel has a loser of a boyfriend whose idea of a night in is inviting Rachel round for dinner WITH HIS MUM. Things aren’t much better for Isla who is worried about her relationship with Toby. They don’t seem to be getting on that well at the moment, plus there are all of the clothes she’s hiding from him at the back of her wardrobe. (Shh!)
Only things look set to change when premiership footballer Alex Robertson suddenly shows in interest in Isla. Despite Rachel’s warnings not to get involved, Isla sees no harm in spending time with a friend who happens to be male. Her boyfriend Toby spends lots of time with his female friends (they might have armpit hair but that’s irrelevant…)
With crazy parents, frustrating jobs and even more frustrating love lives, welcome to the world of Isla Butterfield and Rachel Ku…

I am a sucker for novels told in emails or letters. I’m not entirely sure why but I think it has something to do with a) me being a really nosey person and b) me feeling as though I’m snooping on someone’s real, private emails, which is always great fun, am I right!?
As far as I was concerned I COULD have been reading real-life emails between two completely crazy yet scarily realistic friends. The worry with these kinds of novels is that they won’t ‘feel’ like a story but Me Blackberry Fool, You Apple Tart completely demolished these fears and the clever way in which Amelia Slocombe has created this story enables it to strike the perfect balance between being a proper novel and also being a juicy insight into two people’s lives at the same time.
I knew right from the off that there was something special about this novel. Firstly I was howling with laughter and I hadn’t even got 3% into the story yet. Amelia really brought Rachel and Isla to life through their correspondence. They are two of my favourite fictional characters EVER, both for different reasons. Their friendship is sweet but ultimately realistic at the same time (i.e. they have arguments and fall out now and again.) Rachel is your average girl who wants her boyfriend to pay her a bit of attention and spends ages deciding which font to use at work; Times New Roman or Ariel? We’ve all been there! Rachel is just as loveable- she’s smart, kick-ass and loves a good old shopping spree. I also learnt a new insult from her…
It’s amazing that through these emails so many characters can be brought to life and I’m not just talking about Isla and Rachel. Isla’s Dad was hilarious, as was Rachel’s Mum. I took an immediate dislike to Spencer (and the Meercats that Rachel works with.)
My Blackberry Fool, You Apple Tart is such an exciting debut. Amelia’s writing is accomplished and enables to story to flow at a nice pace, which I imagine is difficult to achieve when writing a book in email format. It’ll keep you hooked and it’s one of those moorish stories that once you get into is impossible to put down.
If you’re half as nosey as me then you will adore this book, it’s just like snooping in on someone’s emails, but with characters you can so easily relate to making you genuinely care what happens.
A laugh-until-your-eyes-water novel navigating the ups and downs of carers, relationships, families, friendships and life (oh, and dodgy Christmas parties…)

*Copy purchased via Amazon. Click here to get hold of yours.