Thank you Little, Brown Book Group for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour for Jenny Colgan’s new novel Spandex and the City.

LOCAL GIRL SWEPT OFF HER FEET

Mild-mannered publicist Holly Phillips is unlucky in love.

She’s embarrassed beyond belief when the handsome stranger she meets in a bar turns out to be ‘Ultimate Man’ – a superpowered hero whose rescue attempt finds her hoisted over his shoulder and flashing her knickers in the newspaper the next day.

But when Holly’s fifteen minutes of fame make her a target for something villainous, she only has one place to turn – and finds the man behind the mask holds a lot more charm than his crime-fighting alter-ego.

Can Holly find love, or is superdating just as complicated as the regular kind?

IT’S NOT AN APOCALYPSE! IF IT WAS THE APOCALYPSE, WOULD THEY SHOW OLD FRIENDS EPISODES?

When I saw that this was written by Jenny Colgan, my mind immediately conjured up pictures of cakes and other confectionary based on the usual subject matter of Colgan’s novels. This made me a little hesitant as Spandex and the City is worlds away from Rosie Hopkins and her sweet shop. Yet,  Jenny Colgan can do no wrong.

Hilarious from start to finish, Spandex and the City is my top read for the summer and served as a fresh reminder that I must try to break out of my reading comfort zone more.

There are many reasons why this book shouldn’t have worked, yet Jenny Colgan managed to produce a novel that is not only a fun take on the superhero genre craze, but also really insightful.

One of the biggest draws to me was the dry, British humour from the main character Holly, but the reason I stuck around was because amidst the jokes and saving the day, there was a valuable sort of wake-up-call within the novel. The novel’s villain, Frederick Cecil (Yes, that is his name. And yes, the characters in the novel are just as surprised as you are), aims to shut down the internet and we see the chaos that it causes as people go mad without instant connection and access to social media. Even as I sit here connected to the glorious inter webs typing up this review, I shudder to remember the time my Sky Broadband was down for almost a week. Those were dark, dark times indeed – and I was someone who didn’t have the internet until their late teens! Could today’s modern society fare with the internet gone forever?

It is terrifying to see how the internet has shaped our world. In the novel, it is pointed out that the internet has done a lot of good. Yet, I can definitely see Frederick Cecil’s viewpoint especially when it comes to social interaction and how the internet plays a role in the lives of children who are growing up in this day and age. I’ve seen primary school kids with iPhones and even I can’t help groaning thinking of how those old fashioned LeapFrog Leapsters (yes, these bad boys) were all I had when I was their age. So, you know, I do sympathise with Freddie Cecil’s plight.

It’s definitely not your typical romance novel. It’s packed with action that would likely drawn in the casual Marvel and DC fans, but it’s also full of heart and laughs to sustain the non-superhero crowd. I won’t dive into too much detail for fear of spoiling, but THAT ending though! Please, please, please tell me there’s more caped crusades to come!

Be sure to check out the other blogs on the tour poster above to see what they have to say about Spandex and the City.

A really surprising change from what I usually see from Jenny Colgan, but still clever, witty and fun. Escapism at its best.

RATING
★★★★★