Life at the Shallow End

Electra Brown #1

by Helen Bailey

Electra Brown can be very shallow. Her dad is having a mid-life crisis, her mom's given in to her daytime TV addiction, her little brother (aka The Little Runt) has been caught shoplifting Tampax and even Google the guinea pig's gone mental. But despite life going pear-shaped around her, all Electra can think of is whether green eyeliner complements or clashes with blue eyes!

Genres: Young Adult, Childrens, Novels, Fiction, Chick Lit

296 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2008

About the author

Helen Elizabeth Bailey (22 August 1964 – c. 11 April 2016) was a British author who wrote the Electra Brown series of books aimed at a teenage audience.

Reviews

[Tabby · Rating 1 out of 5]

***If you are thinking about reading this book, please please please go & read Louise Rennison's series Confessions of Georgia Nicolson. These books are absolutely hilarious & have been out since the 90's.***

Life at the Shallow End is a blatant rip off of the Georgia Nicolson books & I wouldn't waste time reading something which isn't even half as funny. I managed to finish the book, but it was seriously painful & I'm regretting the wasted hours.

I would never normally leave a review which is so too the point, normally I'd try & find some redeeming points of the book but there are none.

[TheBirdNerd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book because a few of my classmates said it was a funny read, and I have got say it did make me giggle a few times, but mostly cringe. I knew this book was going to be a bit of a trashy read, but It is just so... hollow (or should I say shallow), and doesn't even contain any sweet meaning or anything. Firstly, Bailey depicts Electra (the main character) as being not very nice (a 'catty' type) and TOTALLY boy obsessed. I mean totally. But she only likes handsome, popular boys and is really horrible to the not so popular boys, like 'Freak Boy' (that is what she calls him, his real name is Frazor). She ends up kind of liking him/not being so nasty to him, but only when he sees him looking a bit more handsome, not because she realizes that he is actually a nice person. . Her friends aren't particularly nice either. She stays like this throughout the whole book. And you're meant to like her. :/
Secondly, I also found that Bailey kept repeating things she said in her writing earlier which I thought was a bit weird. And the writing is just (I hate to be so judgemental!)... dull.

I hate to be so cruel towards books, but I do really think this book is not good and certainly not inspiring - Electra is displaying all the issues/stuff teens have and then solving/ dealing with them them in not the best ways. And the whole thing is just a bit... boring. :(

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very cool and funny read that took me back to my teenage years. I found this book very enjoyable even if it did take me a long time to finish it. It's quite similar to the 'Angus, thongs and full frontal snogging' books which i did read around the age appropriate time. I will defiantly look into reading the rest of this series for when i need a pick- me- up kind of read.

[Clare Tissiman connolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not going to lie I only read this because of the authors untimely death And I felt I sort of needed to read one in her memory. RIP Helen I might read the rest in the future if I was a teenager I would absolutely love these but atleast I can suggest them to my friends kids.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book, also really funny. Would 100% recommend.

[Alice]

Don't usually enjoy contemporarys but I thought this one was fab!

[Imi Godwin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Life at the shallow end has been on my list of 'to reads' for a while so I finally got round to picking it up. It is a classic young adult fiction and is based around Electra Brown who is a teenager and is sensitive about her looks and desperate for a guy called Jags to notice her. Electra has two best friends: Sorrell and Lucy. Sorrell is a forced vegetarian and spends all her money on buying meat and Lucy has the perfect home and family and is forced to be very tidy. Electra's life goes into meltdown when her dad announces he is leaving: but why? She has to find out!

I found this book a bit tedious at times. I couldn't help but compare Electra to Georgia Nicholson from 'Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging'. In my opinion the plot and characters are too similar to Louise Rennison's books. Even down to the fine details like in Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging there is a snog scale, In Life at the Shallow End there is a snogability scale which is more metaphorical. Also there is the whole 'Dad leaving' scenario which also occurs in both books. I know I probably shouldn't compare the two but they are too similar for my liking. But on the other hand it did have a few laughs in it - and made me smile.


I found this book funny but I got really bored in some parts I'm afraid. I give it One star.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay. The characters were fairly good but the plot didn't always make me want to read on and I put it down quite a lot and picked up something else. You could absolutely tell from the start what was going on with Electra's Dad and her Mother was very over the top and annoying. Her self-obsession with her life is a bit boring and the only one of her friends I liked was Lucy as Sorrell was also a bit irritating. I think I will probably try the second book in the series just to see what happens and see if the books get any better.

[Raquel Costa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those books when I'm like "Yeah but um...meh I don't know". This was given to me as a present from someone who usually really undermines my taste in books and to be honest, I didn't expect much of it. I'll give this book the credit for being a nice girly read for a holiday but apart from that, I just thought it was a bit too childish for me. However, if you're 11-13 then I guess you might really enjoy it because it's really soft and girly and quite considerably funny at times! :)

[Abbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved it one of the funniest books I have ever EVER read! Can't wait to see the sequel in my library, or even purchase them myself! I could relate to Electra unbelievaly loads! She is what I call a classic 13 year old in britain (not meaning to stereo type!) So excited to read the second book! ^.^

[Sall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A light hearted amusing take on what it is like coming from separating and divorcing parents. The skeptical side of me thought this wouldn't take into account the serious issues but I was wrong it does and it does them well. Worth a read regardless of if you're from divorced/separated parents or not.

[Too Many Thoughts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, was one of those books that you can pick up and easily read without really having to try to take anything in.
I would've cut out a few bits from the end though, it started to get a bit repetitive and go over the same points over and over again.

[seher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a middle grade/tween(?) book, I'm not sure, and when I first read it, I really enjoyed it. Upon rereading it, however, I realised just how unlikable the main character is although I guess she's meant to be at least a little unlikable since she is living life 'at the shallow end'.

[lily-ella mcenhill · Rating 2 out of 5]

i think this book would have given me joy when i was a 13 year old girl but it didn’t really give me what i wanted now.

it was a quick read but i felt it didn’t really have a storyline or anything to really show for it.

[Sian · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was wrote 4 me ..apparently ... and i agree everything in this book
relates to my life its so scarily weird... such a gd book

[Davina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book!!!!!! It's the first book in the series and I'm looking forward to read the other books. I love Helen baileys books I find them very interesting.

[Edacheeky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this series :)

[Kate Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard to get into but very VERY relatable

[Millie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for people aged 14 and under. Any older and you may find it a bit boring. As you read through the whole series is does get far better and personally I really enjoyed all of the books.

[Eve · Rating 1 out of 5]

EHH... I'm too old for this book.

[Natasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was quite a good book might read the next one.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and hilarious, also relatable.