Okay so Becky is unlikeable and the book is a monologue or awful things. Have you read vanity fair and enjoyed it? Here is the mode used version. I couldn’t get on with Becky but I loved her book.

I absolutely loved this book from start to finish. It wasn’t even like a story with a plot but I was sucked up into Becky’s world and on the journey with her. I felt her highs and lows. Such an easy read.

I knew this had to be a retelling of Vanity Fair as soon as I read the name of the heroine. However, it's been years since I read it at university, and my memory of the classis was patchy at best. But Becky is not "just a retelling" (and I think we've all ready a few disappointing ones), it tackles a big task and makes it its own while staying true to the spirit of the original.

Like the original Becky Sharp, this Becky is not a likable character - nor is she supposed to be. Likeable is what society wants us girls to be - and Becky won't have none of that. She's a women who knows what she wants out of life and is prepared to do what it takes to get it. She is, dare I say it, leading a man's life?

We follow Becky's path through the cutthroat publishing world (I've worked in publishing, and let me tell you, that part is spot-on) to glory - and beyond, sketching her eventual downfall. And the book does not spare us any details. If you are sensitive about any kinds of issues, it would be best to look up a list of trigger warnings for this book. I'm not too sensitive about most things, but even I had to swallow a couple of times.

Part chick-lit, part mystery, part societal criticis, Becky, like the original, spans a wide range of topics and its pages are necessarily peopled with a host of side characters that can become a little confusing at times. I believe these things are owed to its relationship to the original, but modern reading tastes tend to run to somewhat shorter books with fewer characters. Actually I think that is what I liked best about it, however; the fact that this book dares to defy the publishing industry's expectations of what a book is supposed to be like and breaks out of the genre corset prepared for it. Much like Becky herself, it is not to be contained within the conventions of its time.

Did I like it? It's difficult to say. Becky is not my typical kind of book. But I think it took a difficult topic and ran with it very well, and is absolutely worth giving a read.

I want to thank Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here expressed are my own.

An entertaining book, but it didn't really grab me. I found it rather long, with very unlikeable characters (Becky Sharp for all her faults is actually very likeable to my mind!) so it was a bit of a struggle to finish. It's an interesting take on a classic though.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

⚠️ Content warnings: prostitution, overdose, drowning, pregnancy, death, car accident, terminal disease, cannibalism, fat-phobic comments, shoplifting, sex (including S&M), alcohol and drug use, profanity, blood, child pornography, vomiting, child abuse, mental health illnesses (depression, panic attacks, antidepressants, PTSD, suicidal thoughts and sleeping tablets), murder, sexual harassment, rape, derogatory language, suicide, abduction, mentions real life serial killers, cheating, gun use, bullying, abortion and miscarriage ⚠️

this story takes you through the journey that is Rebecca Sharp’s life, through the rise and the fall of it all. It follows her through her childhood, where she was raised by a single mother who had things that she was also trying to deal with within her life. Her mother worked as a cleaner for a girls boarding school, when Becky starts going with her mother every Saturday to play the piano, whilst her mother cleans. Becky’s mother begins an affair with the piano teacher, who begins to give Becky piano lessons. The book begins by going through Becky’s CV as she’s interviewing as a job to be a nanny, where she ends up being the nanny to the Crawley family. However, she had an ulterior motive behind taking this nannying job - she had her sights on the Mercury newspaper, which Pitt is a part of. Soon her wish is her command and she gets a job at the Mercury newspaper, however she soon finds out that it’s a male dominated world and she will stop at nothing to make herself stand out from the rest. Arguably, she does do this but at a cost.

Becky is a character that you will either love, hate or have admiration for - I had all three as I was reading this book. She is a very cut throat individual, who is cunning and will stop at absolutely nothing to get what she wants, with a dream to make it big within the publishing world. She has truly took herself from being invisible to being a person that everybody knows, for better or worse. However, when she gets to the top, is it all she thought it would be? Was it worth the sacrifices that she made along the way in order to get to where she is? If you’re looking for a book full of drama, this is definitely one that you will enjoy!

Although, throughout the book, the narrative would shift without any indication which made me confused at times. Furthermore, there were some characters who were featured within this book who were truly forgettable or their name would be mentioned, but you wouldn’t find out who they actually are until later, which also added to the confusion experienced through reading this book. There were times where I actually had to search the character’s name as I couldn’t remember who they were or at the time that the character was first mentioned, their relationship to Becky hadn’t been revealed yet, which left you unsure as to who they were.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher, Pan Macmillian, Picador for the opportunity to read this book!

I have posted this review to my NetGalley and Goodreads accounts. I will also post a review on my Instagram and Tiktok a week before the publication date (26th January 2023). This book will be available to purchase as a hardback for £14.99, an e-book for £7,99 or audiobook for £11.99.

Really enjoyed this modern take on a Classic story. Very cleverly executed and shows that life and the situations we find ourselves in will emulate themselves throughout the decades. We have love and infidelity; hope and heartbreak as well as rags to riches and back again. This book has it all, wrapped up in a modern packaging. Very well worth reading.

An interesting take on Vanity Fair Not a bad read .. Whilst I didn't much like the characters in either book this does fall short of the classic. Maybe it's unfair to compare the two but unfortunately the book sets itself up to be compared.. Re working of classics often come a cropper. It's why classics are classics after all .Just missed the mark for me

Having never read Vanity Fair, so I have no basis of comparison for how true to the characters and story line are to the original, but this is a book that totally stands on its own merits as an absorbing and clever character study.

I have never been a fan of those popular books with really unlikable protagonists, but while Becky is certainly unlikable in many ways there are reasons for it which are clearly shown in the flashbacks to her past. There are many unlikable characters in this book and all have their stories. The setting of the media world and the scandals of the 90's is the perfect medium for exploring ambition and power.

Will now look up her previous novels.

This Becky Sharp is a hungry young journalist with a flexible arrangement with the truth. She is hugely ambitious and determined to climb the ladder to the top whatever the cost. The novel charts her meteoric rise in the 1990’s and dramatic fall in the 2010’s, shining a light on her own background as well as how she obtains her news scoops. The author weaves fact and fiction in this updating of the much loved classic ‘Vanity Fair’ which takes some bravery and guts!

I cannot believe how long it took me to twig who this is based on and it’s only as the final scandal explodes it dawns on me and then my admiration for what Sarah May has achieved here shoots up several notches! I thoroughly enjoy the intrigue, scandals and shenanigans at the newspapers and the lines that are most deformed crossed in order to achieve that headline grabbing story and increase the reader circulation. The context of the period covered is done extremely well with some fascinating storylines including ‘The Princess’.

The characterisation of Becky is excellent with her ambition, goals and search for the next big thing conveyed well. She’s strong, she’s powerful but is she likeable??? Probably the answer is in the negative. There are a lot of characters in this as there are in the original with many of the same names used but this inevitably means that some are not well fleshed out. I don’t see this as a particular problem as the author is trying to give a modern flavour yet stay true to the original.

At times it’s funny, at others it’s quite dark and there are some very immersive mysteries to keep you reading on. I enjoy the constant changing mood that is created.

My only reservation lies in its length as I feel it’s overlong but it is a clever, contemporary retelling of a classic and Sarah May has certainly done that justice and so I have total respect for the result.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Pan McMillan, Picador for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

A modern take on Vanity Fair. We have the same characters, the same names and the same Rebecca Sharp, street smart, ambitious,, callous, ruthless. Our Rebecca is a nanny to the Crawley family and becomes friends with fellow nanny Amelia. Although very different characters, they become friends and through Amelia, Rebecca begins to realise her ambition to become a journalist! Pitt Crawly is editor of The Mercury Newspaper and through her own ruthlessness Rebecca achieves her goal destroying lives along the way! The story very cleverly mirrors many of the events of the early turn of the century. As in Vanity Fair, none the characters are particularly likeable but the story evolves imaginatively and Rebecca keeps us on our toes throughout! Well told!

Becky Sharpe had a difficult childhood. Although extremely bright, she was dogged by a downtrodden mother and an absent father she never knew. Determined to better herself, she reinvents her past and fabricates a history to impress. A manipulator, without any conscience or morals and totally driven to succeed at all costs, Rebecca, as she is now known, forges ahead to make herself a powerful woman, both feared and revered. A definite “anti-heroine”, as in the original book.

Loosely based on Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, this is a story of power and success, along with downfalls and disasters. I am a big fan of VF, and looked forward to this book, in anticipation that it would be a tribute as well as a good story. Although the names and the ideals are the same, thankfully it does not exactly parallel the original, and whilst an enjoyable read, I did find it hard going as it is far too long.

An interesting read.

Thank you NetGalley.

The heroine of this story is called Becky Sharp like the character in Vanity Fair, and it's a modern version of a social climber. Becky is from a poor background and lies about her past to become the nanny for a newspaper editor and later becomes the editor herself. There are a lot of characters who resemble real people from the 1990's. At some points, it seems to be the story of Rebecca Brooks. A lot of the people in the book, including Rebecca, are either unpleasant, or don't seem to have much personality, apart from as appendages to Becky. The book seemed very long.

A fantastically addictive read which follows the ambitious Becky who has oversold herself somewhat, and landed herself a job with the editor of The Mercury newspaper. The story weaves back and forth from her rather grim childhood to the current day (2012). This helps the reader understand how Becky became the ( rather unpleasant) woman she is today!
Thank you to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan, Picador for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Becky's childhood is pretty miserable and her adulthood is fraught with bad decision making, being taken advantage of and fighting to get where she wants to be.
A clever look at society in the vein of Vanity Fair but with all the horrors of the 90's and with a nod to the biggest scandals of the era surrounding the death of Princess Diana and the phone hacking scandals with Becky slap bang in the midst of the worst of it.
I really disliked adult Becky but as more of her past was revealed through the childhood chapters I could understand how she became the woman she is and although she was still pretty detestable could empathise with why.
The rest of the cast of characters flit in and out bringing colour and trouble with them as they come and go through Becky's private and work life, often reappearing and making things worse for her.
A great read!

“Becky” is like a modern retelling of “Vanity Fair “, which I haven’t read, but it isn’t required to read that book in order to read this story. The story unfolds in two different eras - 1980 and 2012 - telling the rise of Becky who is determined to get to the top regardless of who she hurts getting there. Becky is one of those “strong” modern women so prevalent in books these days, but to be honest, here that word just means “unpleasant and unlikeable”. The character elicits some sympathy due to her traumatic childhood, but on the whole it is difficult to side with Becky as she is a very horrible person. If you like stories about horrible people, you will enjoy “Becky”.

A fun retelling of a classic reminds me of Wife After Wife…classic story set among the modern world which despite being modern and a different time setting explores the same issues that are as relevant today as they were then. This is wrapped up in a fun, gossipy read that will make you laugh and cry in equal measures. A fun read with a good underlaying message and a great modern take of the classic Vanity Fair. I have given it three stars as it’s not really my type of book but I can see the appeal if you like books like this. I think I expected something a little more daring and tasking from description but it is a good quick light read all the same. Think it would make an great tv adaptation.

Becky is an extraordinary read, a modern day version of Vanity Fair .Told in two timelines 1980 to 2012 Becky is an ambitious woman and is determined to claw her way to the top not caring who she hurts on the way .Despite having a dreadful childhood I didn't feel any empathy towards her at all and really didn't like her .I also found the book rather too long .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

Becky is entertaining, vicious, disloyal and will do anything on her climb to the top of the publishing world. As her name suggests, she is sharp, clever and knows how to reinvent herself when it’s called for.

She emerges from the dead-end town she was born in to become the darling of London aristocracy and on this journey, you will both love and detest her.

The novel flows quickly and the character development is succinct yet thoroughly explored and developed. With themes of loyalty keeping friendships intact, how formative experiences shaped family relations, and the gaining and losing of power, it’s a novel that will have a broad appeal.

If you enjoy a quick moving family (and friends) saga with lots of juicy gossip, you’ll love this one!

#netgalley #becky #sarahmay #panmacmillan

Wow, what a roller coaster of a read and a character that you can really go on a journey with. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.

I absolutely loved this modern re-telling of Vanity Fair set during the 90s and early 2000s. It was particularly powerful reading it during the week the queen died - as much of the book related to royalty and celebrity activities reported by the press.
I really enjoyed how Becky would do anything to get to the top and I respected her for being absolutely cut throat and dedicated. I think women who do this are often pilloried and abused - but the same behaviour is accepted in men.
One of my best reads of the year!