Review for Rockoholic by C.J. Skuse

"Jody loves Jackson Gatlin. At his only UK rock concert, she's right at the front. But when she's caught in the crush and carried back stage she has more than concussion to contend with. Throw in a menacing manager, a super-wired super-star, and a curly-wurly, and she finds herself taking home more than just a poster. It's the accidental kidnapping of the decade. But what happens if you've a rock-god in your garage who doesn't want to leave Jody's stuck between a rock-idol and a hard place!" I got this book to review on the Amazon Vine program as I’d heard lots of fab things about it from my blogger friends. I started reading this book when I was having a pretty miserable day and needed cheering up and boy did it do the job! Rockoholic starts off with main character Jody at her beloved granddad’s funeral her granddad was Jody’s idol. Not the typical grandfather figure he loved rock and roll, would moon bathe and wanted his funeral to be called a “body barbeque” and we automatically get to see just how barmy Jody is when in the middle of her mums carefully laid out funeral arrangements Jody starts a food fight because she knows it’s the kind of thing her granddad would have loved. I started this late one night and I had to literally clamp my hand over my mouth to stop my hysterical laughter at Jody’s expense from waking everybody up. Jody is a carefree, fun loving, free spirit and her crazy ideas and mishaps make for a side splittingly funny book. Jody’s funny without even realising she is, without even trying to be and I automatically liked her and wanted to know what crazy plan she’d come up with next. The strongest aspect of this book I think is definitely the characters. I can’t think of one character I didn’t like and who wasn’t well developed. I loved Jody and her best friend Mac, rock god and lost soul Jackson and Mac’s adorable baby sister Cree who has some of the funniest heart-warming lines in fiction. Even Jody’s granddad who we as readers never actually get to “meet” was a total legend and I could happily live inside this book forever being bffs with all of them. Although Rockoholic is by the majority a fun read it also deals with serious themes such as bereavement, drug addiction and let’s face it kidnapping! But C.J. Skuse never makes the book feel heavy or depressing handling the matters respectfully with a side of funny. But ultimately this is a book about living your dreams but not forgetting the people who hold you rock steady when you come crashing back down to earth. It’s a book about reaching for the stars but never forgetting your reality and where you came from, it’s about knowing it might be impossible but going for it anyway. Even if you’re not a huge music fan I still think everyone can relate to and enjoy this book. Whether you’re a fan girl of a certain author or if you’ve ever had a crush on a celebrity or someone out of bounds I think everybody can relate to that feeling of being so passionate about something but feeling like you’re just one in a million never having a chance to shine. Well Rockoholic is a story about a girl who MAKES her dreams come true something I think a lot of people can take inspiration from. I could go on about Rockoholic and how much I loved it all day. It’s the perfect mood boosting, funny, feel good read and is definitely one of my favourite books of 2011. I can’t wait to check out C.J’s debut novel Pretty Bad Things and will be recommending/forcing everybody to check out Rockoholic. My Rating 5/5 stars ***** Thanks go to the Amazon Vine program for sending me this book to review Synopsis taken from Amazon