Book Review - The Temp by Emily Benet - Harper Impulse Fortnight

Amazon UK

Title: The Temp

Author: Emily Benet

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Harper Impulse

Publication Date: 23rd October 2014

Rating: 4 Stars

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Twenty-something Amber is fresh out of university with a degree she has no clue what to do with… so she temps in order to earn enough money to cover the cost of living the good life in London.

While scrounging free wine from a wacky modern art gallery (her favourite life-hack) she looks at the ‘art’ and thinks ‘if they can do it, why not me?’. Enter a drop-dead gorgeous gallery promoter and a bunch of unlikely friends, including her housemate Egg (short for Egbert), to help – and hinder – her crazy idea to unleash spray painted bananas across the capital.

Laugh out loud with this fun romantic comedy and follow Amber as she literally spray paints the town red – and blue – and yellow – and pink… .

This book is bananas! Completely bonkers, utterly entertaining and definitely bananas!

Amber has been working as a temp since she graduated university, and she is fed up of temping, and wants to do something with her life to make an impact. She loves attending art gallery openings with her best friend Farrell and at the first opening we see, I loved how they were taking the mickey out of modern art installations. They only attend the openings for the free wine.

It is at one of these art galleries and thinks she should become an artist. After all some "modern art" does look as though anyone can create it, so why not Amber?

While she is temping at a catering company, and typing up label after label for goujons, she acquires a huge amount of bananas, or at least saves them from being thrown out, for smelling like bleach.  These bananas become key in her quest to become an artist.

There is a whole host of characters and a couple of subplots, including the unlikely love affair of Amber's slightly oddball house-mate Egbert (known as Egg), and a kitten they buy, as everyone loves youtube videos of kittens, and Amber thought she could at least become known for her cute kitten videos if nothing else. 

I can't stress how much I enjoyed reading this story. It is light hearted, it makes fun out of art, and doesn't take itself too seriously either. The Temp is inspiring too, as if you are fed up with your life, then why not try and do something not matter how seemingly small, to make an impact on people. 

Of course this has been billed as a romantic comedy, and it definitely has romance. There are three main men in this story, but I won't tell you too much about any of them! Egbert is her geeky housemate, Farrell is the writer/poet and Amber's best friend. And there is Elliot, who is a rich patron of the arts, and does he want more than just helping out Amber with her artistic quest?

The Temp is wacky and zany and so much fun. It is a true romantic comedy and I loved reading it so much, I was smiling the whole way through.