The Shelf by Helly Acton

Ever feel like you're losing a race you never signed up for?

Everyone in Amy's life seems to be getting married, having children and settling down (or so Instagram tells her), and she feels like she's falling behind.

So, when her long-term boyfriend surprises her with a dream holiday, she thinks he's going to finally pop the Big Question. But the dream turns into a nightmare when, instead, she finds herself on the set of a Big Brother-style reality television show, The Shelf.

Along with five other women, Amy is brutally dumped live on TV and must compete in a series of humiliating and obnoxious tasks in the hope of being crowned 'The Keeper'.

When I read the synopsis for The Shelf by Hetty Acton it sounded like a fresh new concept for a storyline and I was eager to see how the idea of a reality show kind of Big Brother style was going to work as the base of a novel.

The storyline sets off at a brutal start when our main character Amy is dumped by partner Jamie in the most humiliating way possible by being left on a new reality TV show The Shelf along with a group of other women who have all been left their by their partners for various reasons from being needy or not showing them enough attention!

The storyline is an original and fresh idea for a novel which I loved and there was also a modern, witty feel which I feel we are lacking in the book market at present so this was an entertaining book but it also does challenge some of the shallow ideologies of what makes a woman a “keeper”.

I found this quite a thought provoking read towards the later half of the book too, underneath the humour it is actually showing us that you need to learn to love yourself before you can be happy in a relationship and that you do not need to be in a relationship to go and do all the things you have longed to do or places you have dreamed of visiting.

I loved the ending to this novel it shows self-belief, self-worth and strong determination as well as solidarity. This book definitely gets the thumbs up from me and is one I would recommend if you  are looking for a modern witty read unlike anything you are likely to have read before then this will be a real treat.

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