Five give up the booze by Enid Blyton/Bruno Vincent

‘Maybe you’ve been hitting it a bit hard over the Christmas period?’ suggested George.
‘No more than usual,’ he replied – a statement that gave them less assurance than he thought.

George, Dick, Anne, Julian and Timmy confront a new challenge: give up the booze.

Give up alcohol you say? Why, of course they can! Talk about an easy challenge!

Five old friends set about this simple task and find all of a sudden that: the days are longer; they get to see each other for who they really are; the empty laughter of ordinary conversation is so much harder to fake.

Yes, they're saving money and losing weight, but the world itself seems to take on a slow, dreary inevitability.

Soon they begin to snap at each other, and then fight - until they begin to wonder, have the Five at last found the challenge that will defeat them?

The perfect gift for anyone who has woken up and promised themselves that they will never drink again… At least until next weekend.

Enid Blyton's books are beloved the world over and The Famous Five have been the perennial favourites of her fans. Now, in this new series of Enid Blyton for Grown-Ups they’re about to discover that the trials of being an adult are even trickier to handle than a gang of smugglers.

I think it’s time for another ginger beer…

Publisher: Quercus Publishing
ISBN: 9781786482266

I absolutely adore Enid Blyton books. As a child I had the complete set of Famous Five books, they had been passed down to me by older cousins and were a complete set with the covers taken from the television adaptation. I really regret when I passed them on to younger cousins and would love to replace them, but I want the orginal books before they were modernised and made PC.

When I heard that Quercus books were publishing five new Famous Five books I was excited but also dubious. How could someone take over from Enid Blyton and recreate the fantastic adventures that Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy went on, solving mysteries, crimes and having lots of fun with lashings of Ginger Beer.  Of course, this new series of five books are 'Enid Blyton for Grown Ups' and in my honest opinion, they are books which have been written using Enid Blyton's popular characters about modern day problems. The writing, although the author has tried to recreate Blyton's own style, is not as good as Enid Blyton's, but are a good laugh. The cover does not even mention Bruno Vincent as the author, instead having Enid Blyton's name prominently displayed on the cover. They are perfect stocking fillers, secret santa gifts or as a 'joke' present but not for serious, die hard Blyton fans. 

One thing that I did find distracting were the illustrations throughout the book. By themselves they are quite good, I could see them as a picture on a wall, with their clever one liners, but the pictures have been dotted throughout the book and, most, are not even in the correct chapter.

A great jokey present but not for those who want to reminisce with their favourite characters. 

Thank you to the publishers, Quercus Books, for sending me the book to review in return for an honest review.