Book Review #87: The Shelf by Helly Acton

 

I think the first time I heard about this book was in an Instagram Story from Carrie Hope Fletcher (who provides one of the cover quotes). Since I liked the idea of the premise, I looked it up and saw that it had a lot of good reviews, so I moved it to the top of my to-read list.

When Amy's boyfriend of two years plans a surprise holiday, she thinks that she's finally getting the proposal she's been waiting for. However, Amy soon discovers the truth - she has been dumped on live television, on a reality show called 'The Shelf'. There, Amy and five other women must compete to be crowned 'The Keeper'. 

I could not stop reading this book, but at the same time, I'm not sure if I loved it.

It took me quite a while to get into the narrative voice. While I prefer reading books written in the first person, I don't mind the third person. However, I found the narrative voice in this story really jarring, and I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been written in first person. But ultimately this is something that I got used to, and in the end, I did start to like it.

I really liked the way that the story began. The build-up to the main plot was great, and it didn't take too long to get into what we really wanted to see.

I really loved the mix of characters - they were all thought out and created really well, and they all had distinct personalities. There were some characters that I actually liked more than Amy!

The book is a really easy read. Not only because of the way that it's written, but because it's so entertaining. There are points when it actually feels like you're watching reality TV while you're reading it.

One thing I'm not sure about was the way that the general public were portrayed in the novel. I am completely aware that it is intentional for some parts of the book to be frustrating and infuriating, but in some cases, this made me not want to read on. The amount of sexism and misogyny was overwhelming, and there were really only one or two of the contestants who pushed back against this. There was not one male character with any redeeming qualities, and even the women on the outside world weren't combating this. I feel like, if this show was to take place in the real world, there would be a wider mix of comments. Seeing the constant bashing of these women felt a bit too much for me at times.

Having said that, this book was an escape for me, and it was one of the best escapes I've read. I usually escape life with thrillers, as I find it hard to find other genres that are easy to lose myself in. But this book was perfect for that.

What was good?

I'm not a huge fan of reality TV, but there are a few reality TV shows that I watch religiously (hello Love Island), and this book portrayed both the behind-the-scenes, and the viewing of a reality TV show really well.  I would definitely watch The Shelf if it was on today.

What was bad?

I felt like some of the characters were stereotyped a bit. For example, Kathy was older than the rest of the contestants, and this became her personality. For the most part these stereotypes were turned on their head, but for some characters, there wasn't enough time to get to know the characters outside of their boxes. And this is especially true of the male characters, who all had very similar arsehole personas.

Overall

I really enjoyed this book. As I said, it was a perfect escape for me, and I couldn't put it down. I added it to my Favourites post before I even finished it because I liked it that much. Of course, I had some problems with the story, but overall it was fun, light, and I'd definitely recommend it.

3/5 Stars