Firstly, please ignore the terrible picture, I really need to start getting decent cover images off the internet and perhaps looking at a new Blogger layout, but for the time being this method will have to do.
SO, where to begin? Well, first of all I'd say for anyone who isn't a fan of Made in Chelsea, or indeed Binky herself, this may be a slightly pointless read for you. Now that that's said, I can get on with a proper review!
I've previously reviewed 'Confessions of a Chelsea Boy' (see here) by Spencer Matthews, and although I enjoyed the read as a whole, I found the actual writing rather lacking, and was expecting something similar of Being Binky, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the writing actually very good.
She drew me in, rather unexpectedly, from the very first page, and I actually whizzed through the book in just over a day. I loved hearing all about her childhood and her close relationship with her Mother, which we see quite a lot on the show, and as a huge Made in Chelsea fan I loved hearing about how she actually got on the show, and the real truth about her friendships off screen.
I also loved that she included hair, beauty and lifestyle tips at the end of each chapter - and I found things like her anti bullying tips particularly relevant. I think it was a really nice touch, and it's something that will definitely help younger fans of the show who may be going through things like that themselves.
I actually found quite a lot of the book quite emotional, especially how up-front she is about the breakdown of her parents marriage and the bullying that she experienced at school.
It also gave me a whole new found respect for how hard Binky has worked in her life to overcome challenges, and how perhaps life in the glare of the cameras isn't always what it's cracked up to be.
Ok so, I have a (not so) secret obsession with Made in Chelsea, which for all of you who haven't had the pleasure of viewing it, is a scripted reality show following a group of young, wealthy individuals and their experiences living in our vibrant capital city.
Spencer Matthews is often portrayed as a Lothario, leaving a trail of heat break and chaos wherever he goes. He is ultimately one of my favourite characters on the show, and not only because of his dashing good looks, therefore I was quite keen to give this a read as I suspected that a lot of his character is wrongly represented on the programme.
I will take a minute to say that if you're wanting perfectly constructed sentences, spot on grammar and an engaging narrative then this really isn't the book for you, and you are definitely going to be disappointed! Equally, if you're not a
fan of the show or Spencer himself I can't imagine you wanting to purchase the autobiography, but for those who are, it is definitely worth the read.
I think it goes a long way into helping you understand what actually goes on in Spencer's head to make him act the way he appears to with regards to relationships, and it certainly reveals more about his past than I expected, leaving me to wonder how much of his personality is just bravado to cover up experiences he hasn't dealt with.
I was curious to find out why exactly somebody of his age and life experiences would feel the need to write an autobiography, being as he's only a few years older than myself and I definitely would not have anything of worth to write about. I did however, find myself thoroughly enjoying the read, which I'm not exactly sure is something I should be enthusiastic about as I supposedly somewhat of a literary enthusiast and I would not describe this as fine literature!
To summarise, Confessions of a Chelsea Boy was a quick and easy read, no literary genius and not particularly well written; however, as a fan of Spencer Matthews and Made in Chelsea as a whole, I enjoyed it and would recommend it to like minded readers
