Emily Sparkes and the Competition Calamity - Ruth Fitzgerald

Having enjoyed Emily Sparkes and the Friendship Fiasco, I couldn’t wait to see what she would get up to in Competition Calamity, the second book in this new series. It is impossible to review this book without giving spoilers for Friendship Fiasco, so I recommend reading that before reading this review!

Competition Calamity, unlike its prequel, has a definite plot. Emily attempts to stop her mum from winning a competition that would put their chaotic family and home on TV. I was slightly disappointed as one of my favourite things about the first book was its lack of plot and slice-of-life feel. I also think the tight structure of Competition Calamity meant some of the potential for humour was lost. There definitely weren’t as many laugh-out-loud moments as in Friendship Fiasco. That being said, it did grow on me.

After her dramatic exit in the last book, the ridiculous Chloe is back and, contrary to Friendship Fiasco where she was just a pain, here she is actually really funny. One of my favourite moments was the arrival of her mysterious postcards to Emily and Zuzanna and their reactions. Zuzanna’s X Factor obsession is also amusing. The trio of Emily, Chloe and Zuzanna – a trio that was not formed intentionally and about which Emily and Zuzanna still have their doubts – is an integral part of the story and really works.

A second unexpected arrival is Emily’s Uncle Clive, a biker who moves in with the family and takes over Emily’s room after being thrown out by his girlfriend. He and his pet rat, Lemmy, seemed a bit superfluous to me and I think they take up too much of the book. However, both play key roles towards the end and the fact that Emily has to share a room with her baby sister is a great way for them to bond. I also loved the final twist involving Emily’s mum’s big project. I didn’t see it coming.

Much of the book is dedicated to Emily’s trio trying to make her mum trendier. As someone with little interest in fashion or beauty I found those bits rather tedious. I was totally on the mum’s side and not theirs! But then, I’m not 11. I also don’t think the online conversations between Emily and her friend Bella, who is living in Wales, added anything to the story. It’s good that Emily still makes time for her old friend as well as her new ones, but as we never actually meet Bella, it’s hard to take an interest in her.

However, Emily’s voice never wavers and is fresh, authentic and sweet. She can make the most mundane things seem funny and new. On a whole, while it would be very difficult to match Friendship Fiasco, this book did provide a satisfactory continuation of Emily’s story and I am looking forward to being reunited with Emily, Zuzanna and Chloe when the third book is released next year.


*This review was originally written for Cuckoo Review (New Writing North) and is reprinted with permission*

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Girl of Glass - Holly Webb

Image
Holly Webb has written a number of series for children – the Puppies and Kittens series, the Rose and Lily stories – and when a novel is part of a larger series it is tempting to suspect it may lack individuality. Indeed, having read some of Webb’s animal stories when I was younger I can confirm that they tend to be very alike, though well-written. Her Venice series, however, is something else. I reviewed its first instalment, The Water Horse , for Cuckoo back in 2015 and I was impressed by how Webb succeeded in making the setting of historical Venice – with some magic thrown in – seem so appealing to young readers. The writer’s passion for the city shone from the pages and the sights, sounds and smells of the palaces and canals transported me back in time. The Girl of Glass is the fourth book in the series, and I was hoping it would match the quality of The Water Horse while also covering new territory. It did – quite literally. We are taken out of Venice proper and instea
Read more

Run - Kody Keplinger

Image
Kody Keplinger is known for her excellently gritty high-school mean-girl novels, including The DUFF , which was recently made into a film. So my thoughts on beginning Run were that it would probably read along the same lines. However, to say it surprised me is an understatement. Run genuinely blew me away. Set in a small town in Kentucky, it transports the reader to an intense, beautiful but very flawed world which, as the book covers a year, we see in every season. Issues tied to the US South such as religion, family loyalty and the want for education versus a simple life are all held up to the light. Keplinger is clearly proud of being a southerner and has huge affection for her own small hometown, yet she also captures perfectly the frustration of the protagonists who just want to “get out of Mursey” and see something else of the world. Who are our protagonists? The narrative is split between Agnes, who tells the past, and Bo who brings us the present. Agnes is a kind, gentl
Read more

Songs About Us - Chris Russell

Image
From Westlife and Take That to The Vamps and One Direction, boybands will be a familiar part of life for most millennials. Even though I am personally more interested in folk and indie music than pop, the phenomenon of boybands and how they are so deeply adored does fascinate me. I was looking forward to finding out what Chris Russell had to say on the subject in Songs About Us . The sequel to Songs About a Girl , Songs About Us centres on Charlie Bloom, a gifted teen photographer who is asked to take backstage photos for the popular fictional boyband Fire&Lights. Charlie finds herself the object of two members’ affections, and is faced with the decision of whether to stick with misunderstood Gabe or take a chance on gentle Olly. If that all sounds cheesy and fan-fiction-esque, it is. However, fortunately there is much more to this novel than the romance, and it is the other layers of plot that make Songs About Us a success. Firstly, there is an emphasis on family, and how
Read more