What does an It girl do if she loses all her money? Sophie Chesterton is a girl about town - she knows all the right people, goes to all the right parties, and wears all the right clothes. But deep down she suspects that her best friends are actually rather nasty, and that her lifestyle doesn’t really amount to much.

Her father wants her to make her own way in the world, to make him proud. But after one shocking evening her life is changed for ever. Scraping a living as an assistant to a ‘glamour’ photographer; living in a hovel on the Old Kent Road with four smelly boys; eating baked beans from the can - this is one spectacular fall from grace.

Sophie is desperate to get her life back - but does a girl really need diamonds to be happy?

After reading West End Girls a while ago I saw the synopsis for Jenny Colgan’s new book, Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend and loved the sound of it. I got my hands on it a couple of weeks ago and have just finished it.

Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend tells the story of Sophie, an IT girl living the high life until one day it all comes crashing down around her. Twisting the old rags-to-riches tale on it’s head it tells the story of Sophie falling flat on her face and trying to make her way in the world after years of being looked after.

I absolutely loved Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend and found it just as easy a read as West End Girls. Diamonds was written in first-person which worked brilliantly as there was only Sophie as the main main character.

I loved the fact that the novel was about someone rich losing it all and having to pick herself up. I think it was very cleverly plotted and a very good read. Jenny Colgan’s writing style is easy, the book actually has laugh-out-loud moments and she made Sophie, a spoilt rich girl, very sympathetic.

Sophie was a great character and I loved reading how she coped after losing all the money and having to live on her own two feet. Reading about her looking for a flat and a job was great and realistic.

I liked the male characters; Eck, James and Cal. I liked the dynamic between the three and how Sophie moving into their flat affected them. I can’t forget Wolverine either who is barely human - I’m still rather confused about whether he was an animal or an actual human! I thought all 4 of them (Eck, James, Cal, Sophie) got on really well and it was easy to see how they all got on so well.

I found Sophie’s IT girl “friends” irritating, Carena and Philly. I understand why they kept popping up but found them irritating and a bit mean to Sophie and wished she would just tell them to get lost.

The ending was surprising but the one I wanted - which surprises me as at the start/middle of the novel I wanted a different ending… But that’s how Jenny wrote the novel - changing our opinions on all of the characters. Sophie’s transformation was great but was also portrayed realistically - cleaning loos, dead end job, etc.

It was a really great read, very enjoyable and I can definitely understand why Jenny Colgan is a very popular author!

Rating: 4/5

Tags: jenny colgan

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