Jaffareadstoo is delighted to host the first day of the blog tour for When I Grow Up
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| CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform My thanks to the author and Anne at Random Things Tours for my copy of the book and the invitation to be part of this tour |
"You need a plan B,"
said Alicia’s mother when at five years old she told her what she wanted to be
when she grew up. Thirty odd years later, Alicia is on plan D: sharing a flat,
no tangible savings, and working for hateful Julia, whose sole purpose in life
is to make her existence utterly miserable. Good thing she has Oscar and the
girls to make the long hours at work bearable. But when a series of events
tears the close-knit group apart, putting friendships and motives under
suspicion, will Alicia be able to restore balance and set things right? More importantly,
will she ever be able to upgrade her life to at least plan C?
My thoughts...
Alicia works as a corporate personal assistant to the brilliant lawyer, Julia, at the law firm Fernandez & Associates. Her work is busy but humdrum and her relationship with Julia is fraught with difficulties, but Alicia has good friends amongst the rest of the corporate assistants and together they have a good moan about their work and what's going in the office. When something bad happens to one of the associates, Alicia and her colleagues try to discover just what's going on and who in the office is playing a devious game plan.
I enjoyed this story of office intrigue and I think that the author has done a good job of bringing the characters, with all their faults and failings, to life. I think anyone who has ever worked in an office will see similarities among the intrigue and gossip and how, when something unexpected happens, work colleagues can either draw closer together, or be pushed apart, as friendships are spoiled by suspicion and doubt.
The author knows how to tell a good story. Her characterisation is lively and the Spanish setting feels nicely contemporary, and even though I didn't find some of her characters particularly likeable, I did enjoy trying to figure out just what made them act in the way they did. I especially enjoyed seeing Alicia and her friend, Ebele's reaction to the exclusive dinner club they go to with the enigmatic, Alejandro. The food descriptions were lovely, especially the Japanese Matsutake mushrooms with white truffle sauce and lobster, which made me feel quite hungry 😊
The overall presentation of the book is quite quirky and once I was used to the different style of font, it could be Comic Sans, I really enjoyed the informal feel of the text.
The overall presentation of the book is quite quirky and once I was used to the different style of font, it could be Comic Sans, I really enjoyed the informal feel of the text.
This is my first book this author and I would definitely be interested in reading more of her work.
Author of I stand corrected, When I grow up..., Rewind, Balou uncensored, Bienvenidos a gatos anónimos, Pasarse cuatro Pueblos and Sesenta segundos dan para mucho, Patricia Asedegbega Nieto was born to a Spanish mother and a Nigerian father in Madrid. As a child, she relocated with her family to Nigeria and later returned to Spain, where she acquired her BSc and master´s degree. She is currently living near Madrid with her family and her very stubborn cat, Merlin Mojito.
Twitter @Patricias_Space #WhenIGrowUp
Blog Tour runs until the 14th March - do visit the other stops for more exciting content
Thank you so much for your continued support Jo x
ReplyDeleteThanks for the invitation to be part of the tour, Anne x
DeleteThank you so much for having me :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story with us. Much appreciated.
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