I'm jumping the gun on this review a little bit. The book doesn't come out until February 5, but I really want to talk about it now, so here we are.
First things first - I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Now, on to the good stuff. I Owe You One is the latest book from author Sophie Kinsella. I liked this one. I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads, but it was really more like 3.5 stars for me. Definitely better (for me anyway) than last year's Surprise Me, it didn't quite live up to my love for 2017's My Not So Perfect Life. Honestly though, the only thing holding me back from a higher star rating is that the book made me so mad at times!
Fixie fixes things (hence the nickname). She's a capable, reasonably intelligent doormat to her truly awful family. Seriously, these people are horrible. Her brother is a self-important ass and her sister is a vapid wannabe Instagram influencer who is quite possibly the most selfish character I've ever encountered in all of my years of reading. Fixie's biggest flaw is that she puts up with these people and somehow thinks she is inferior to them. I spent a good portion of the book yelling at her to just tell them off already.
Frustrating as it was at time though, this book has a great heart and a fun story that I did enjoy. Once it gets going (which was in a matter of the first few pages for me), you won't want to put it down. I highly recommend it to all lovers of rom-coms and anyone who has enjoyed Kinsella's previous work.
Showing posts with label sophie kinsella. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sophie kinsella. Show all posts
Friday, January 18, 2019
Monday, February 5, 2018
Surprise Me
Oh Sophie Kinsella. You're killing me.
After last year's fantastic My Not So Perfect Life, I had such high hopes for Surprise Me. It seemed like Kinsella has shrugged off the absolute disaster that the Shopaholic books have become and gotten her groove back. I was so excited to read another fun, fabulous, old-school-chick-lit, fluffy masterpiece and instead, I got, well, surprised.
Surprise Me tells the story of Sylvie and Dan, the happiest couple who never communicate that ever did exist. It all starts out when they go for an insurance checkup and the doctor tells them they can both expect to live another 68 or so years. Worried they'll get bored with each other, they decide to start surprising each other with random gifts and activities to keep things fresh. Along the way they have to work out the wallpapered-over cracks in their marriage and learn to be honest with each other.
I wanted to love this book but just couldn't. Sylvie is so... I don't know. She's just such a waste for most of the book. I found myself wanting to scream at her. If it had been possible to reach into the book, take her by the shoulders and shake her, I would have. And Dan. Dan's not much better. Dude. If you're going to have a secret cell phone and be moody and defensive and never tell your wife anything, you can't get pissed if she accuses you of having an affair.
The entire plot of the book could have been dealt with in less than 10 pages if these two characters had been half as in-sync as Sylvie spends the first few chapters wanting us to believe they are.
Still, the end was nice and there is a lot of character development which is always good when the characters have been so incredibly frustrating for most of the book. I still love Kinsella and (most of) her books.
Legally required disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
After last year's fantastic My Not So Perfect Life, I had such high hopes for Surprise Me. It seemed like Kinsella has shrugged off the absolute disaster that the Shopaholic books have become and gotten her groove back. I was so excited to read another fun, fabulous, old-school-chick-lit, fluffy masterpiece and instead, I got, well, surprised.
Surprise Me tells the story of Sylvie and Dan, the happiest couple who never communicate that ever did exist. It all starts out when they go for an insurance checkup and the doctor tells them they can both expect to live another 68 or so years. Worried they'll get bored with each other, they decide to start surprising each other with random gifts and activities to keep things fresh. Along the way they have to work out the wallpapered-over cracks in their marriage and learn to be honest with each other.
I wanted to love this book but just couldn't. Sylvie is so... I don't know. She's just such a waste for most of the book. I found myself wanting to scream at her. If it had been possible to reach into the book, take her by the shoulders and shake her, I would have. And Dan. Dan's not much better. Dude. If you're going to have a secret cell phone and be moody and defensive and never tell your wife anything, you can't get pissed if she accuses you of having an affair.
The entire plot of the book could have been dealt with in less than 10 pages if these two characters had been half as in-sync as Sylvie spends the first few chapters wanting us to believe they are.
Still, the end was nice and there is a lot of character development which is always good when the characters have been so incredibly frustrating for most of the book. I still love Kinsella and (most of) her books.
Legally required disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Monday, June 26, 2017
My Not So Perfect Life
I know I said I'd be posting a lot more going forward only a few weeks ago, but you know how it goes nonexistent readers... if only intentions counted as actions. If only thinking was as good as doing. If that were the case, this blog would be updated daily and my to-be-read stack wouldn't be quite so towering. (Side note: my house would also be immaculate, I'd speak several languages fluently and, well, you get the idea)
At any rate, I have managed to collect my thoughts on a book I read recently. My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella is classic Kinsella at her best. It was with some trepidation that I grabbed this one off the shelf at my local library. I've been a fan of Kinsella for years and years (ever since the first Shopaholic novel) but her more recent books have been, well, meh. While the Shopaholic books seem to be getting worse with every installment, Kinsella's standalone novels are almost always good and this one was no exception.
My Not So Perfect life gives a great light and fluffy take on our society's current obsession with documenting our too too fabulous lives via social media and reminds us that things are not always what they seem.
Katie Brenner, our protagonist, is attempting to live out her dreams as Kate Brenner in the big city. She's ditched her accent, straightened her hair and landed a glam job. From the outside looking in via her perfectly curated Instagram account, she's got it made. Or does she?
Katie is a typical Kinsella heroine - smart and sassy with a few confidence and reliability issues. The book overall is a fast, fun read - it's basically the epitome of the perfect beach read. I highly, highly recommend this one. If you've written off Kinsella because of what has become of the Shopaholic mess, give her another chance with this one -you won't be disappointed!
At any rate, I have managed to collect my thoughts on a book I read recently. My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella is classic Kinsella at her best. It was with some trepidation that I grabbed this one off the shelf at my local library. I've been a fan of Kinsella for years and years (ever since the first Shopaholic novel) but her more recent books have been, well, meh. While the Shopaholic books seem to be getting worse with every installment, Kinsella's standalone novels are almost always good and this one was no exception.
My Not So Perfect life gives a great light and fluffy take on our society's current obsession with documenting our too too fabulous lives via social media and reminds us that things are not always what they seem.
Katie Brenner, our protagonist, is attempting to live out her dreams as Kate Brenner in the big city. She's ditched her accent, straightened her hair and landed a glam job. From the outside looking in via her perfectly curated Instagram account, she's got it made. Or does she?
Katie is a typical Kinsella heroine - smart and sassy with a few confidence and reliability issues. The book overall is a fast, fun read - it's basically the epitome of the perfect beach read. I highly, highly recommend this one. If you've written off Kinsella because of what has become of the Shopaholic mess, give her another chance with this one -you won't be disappointed!
Monday, December 7, 2015
Shopaholic To The Rescue
The Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella has long been a guilty pleasure of mine. The books tell the fun, yet often cringeworthy adventures of Becky Bloomwood, The Girl With Impulse Control Issues.
Becky loves to shop and hates to face up to the financial messes her addiction to consumption causes. Repeatedly. Becky is often irresponsible, sometimes delusional and yet, somehow, always irresistable.
The first three books in the series, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan and Shopaholic Ties the Knot, are fun, quick, fluffy reads that I find myself going back to over and over again when I feel stressed and want something to take my mind off things. After the third book though, things started to go downhill in the series.
Kinsella (a pseudonym for the always entertaining Madeleine Wickham) decided sometime in the last decade or so that even though Becky's life was pretty well wrapped up in a nice, neat bow by the end of Shopaholic Ties the Knot, people would want to keep reading about her adventures. The problem with this decision is that, well, you can only read about a person growing up for so long before you want to throw the book across the room and yell, "Enough already!"
In each book Becky has some sort of epiphany about her behavior, her shallowness, her relentless need to consume and you cheer for her. Finally! She's grown a clue! And then! A new book comes out and it turns out that, no, Becky hasn't learned a damned thing. She's just found a new mental loophole to justify why this time whatever bad decisions she's made are ok. Until it comes time to grow up yet again.
By the time Shopaholic To The Stars came out, I was beyond ready to call it quits on this series. I couldn't imagine how it was possible to drag yet another book out of this girl's life. And yet, because I am just that masochistic, I read it. Note: I didn't purchase it - I stopped purchasing these books somewhere along volume 5. But I tend to be one of those people who has to see a thing through to the end. So, much as I might dislike that these books are still, endlessly being published, I have to read them.
Shopaholic To The Stars was a massive disappointment. The book was full of book 1 Becky at her worst. And then it ended with a cliffhanger! Dammit! So of course I knew I was going to have to read Shopaholic To The Rescue as soon as I could. And I knew I was going to HATE it.
Imagine my surprise when I didn't. Hate it, that is.
Shopaholic To The Rescue was adorable. Becky at her best. And I might just be getting suckered here, who knows, maybe there'll be 8 more books and I'll be right back here in a couple of years... I don't think so though. I think this was it. I hope so because if it is, it will have almost redeemed the series for me.
I hesitate to give any substantive details of the story in case anyone hasn't read the previous 7 novels in the series. If you haven't, I highly recommend that you read books 1-3, skip book 4 (ugh - such a mistake that one was), then read book 5, skip 6 and then skim 7 and finish off with Shopaholic To The Rescue. Trust me, it will be better that way.
Becky loves to shop and hates to face up to the financial messes her addiction to consumption causes. Repeatedly. Becky is often irresponsible, sometimes delusional and yet, somehow, always irresistable.
The first three books in the series, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan and Shopaholic Ties the Knot, are fun, quick, fluffy reads that I find myself going back to over and over again when I feel stressed and want something to take my mind off things. After the third book though, things started to go downhill in the series.
Kinsella (a pseudonym for the always entertaining Madeleine Wickham) decided sometime in the last decade or so that even though Becky's life was pretty well wrapped up in a nice, neat bow by the end of Shopaholic Ties the Knot, people would want to keep reading about her adventures. The problem with this decision is that, well, you can only read about a person growing up for so long before you want to throw the book across the room and yell, "Enough already!"
In each book Becky has some sort of epiphany about her behavior, her shallowness, her relentless need to consume and you cheer for her. Finally! She's grown a clue! And then! A new book comes out and it turns out that, no, Becky hasn't learned a damned thing. She's just found a new mental loophole to justify why this time whatever bad decisions she's made are ok. Until it comes time to grow up yet again.
By the time Shopaholic To The Stars came out, I was beyond ready to call it quits on this series. I couldn't imagine how it was possible to drag yet another book out of this girl's life. And yet, because I am just that masochistic, I read it. Note: I didn't purchase it - I stopped purchasing these books somewhere along volume 5. But I tend to be one of those people who has to see a thing through to the end. So, much as I might dislike that these books are still, endlessly being published, I have to read them.
Shopaholic To The Stars was a massive disappointment. The book was full of book 1 Becky at her worst. And then it ended with a cliffhanger! Dammit! So of course I knew I was going to have to read Shopaholic To The Rescue as soon as I could. And I knew I was going to HATE it.
Imagine my surprise when I didn't. Hate it, that is.
Shopaholic To The Rescue was adorable. Becky at her best. And I might just be getting suckered here, who knows, maybe there'll be 8 more books and I'll be right back here in a couple of years... I don't think so though. I think this was it. I hope so because if it is, it will have almost redeemed the series for me.
I hesitate to give any substantive details of the story in case anyone hasn't read the previous 7 novels in the series. If you haven't, I highly recommend that you read books 1-3, skip book 4 (ugh - such a mistake that one was), then read book 5, skip 6 and then skim 7 and finish off with Shopaholic To The Rescue. Trust me, it will be better that way.
Thursday, December 3, 2015
November Wrap-Up and December TBR
Slacker slacker slacker. That's me.
It suddenly struck me today that it's already December 3 and I still hadn't posted my November wrap up OR my December To Be Read lists so here we go with a combined post.
November was kind of hectic for me. Between holiday preparation, a busy workload at my day job and a little traveling (not to mention a fabulous ice storm that knocked out our power for 3 days...) I have barely had time to read, let alone write about reading.
Still, I did manage to get a little bit accomplished.
I finished off the Anne of Green Gables series. I'm so glad I took the time to re-read these books. They are such gentle, peaceful reads. I have to say, the final book in the series, Rilla Of Ingleside, is possibly one of the better books I've read about World War I. I'm a little surprised that this one isn't taught in schools alongside the WWI history unit. There's lots of detail and it really brings the events of the war, the different battles, the effect it had on the folks back home, etc, into focus without getting mundane or boring.
Along with the Anne books, I worked my way a little way down on my stack of books for review. This month I had the pleasure of reading Now That She's Gone, by Gregg Olsen as well as Coal River by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Now That She's Gone was ok - I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read the first book in the series (imagine that!) and Coal River was great, even if the ending was a little... implausible.
I also read some Rainbow Rowell: Fan Girl (not such a fan) and Landline (loved it) to be exact. I still can't quite put my finger on what it is that keeps me from just going nuts over Rowell like so many of my fellow bloggers, but there's just something...
For December my plan is to just get to the end of this year in one piece! I had originally set a goal for myself this year of reading 150 books. Well, that's not going to happen. According to my tracker on Goodreads, I'm 98 books. Given that I have a full time job, a side business (I dye yarn! check it out here!), a social life and this blog... I'm calling it good if I get to 100 for the year.
Now that I'm done with the Anne books, I've started on the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. If you've never read them and have only seen the movie, I highly recommend you check them out. They're fantastic, silly, wonderful little books that are great distractions from the heaviness that day-to-day life can bring.
I'm determined to finish up Avenue of Mysteries in the next week or so. This latest work by John Irving was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I didn't get it until the day before it published (11/3) so I'm a little late with my thoughts on it. I'm liking the book a lot... that's all I can really say for now.
It suddenly struck me today that it's already December 3 and I still hadn't posted my November wrap up OR my December To Be Read lists so here we go with a combined post.
November was kind of hectic for me. Between holiday preparation, a busy workload at my day job and a little traveling (not to mention a fabulous ice storm that knocked out our power for 3 days...) I have barely had time to read, let alone write about reading.
Still, I did manage to get a little bit accomplished.
I finished off the Anne of Green Gables series. I'm so glad I took the time to re-read these books. They are such gentle, peaceful reads. I have to say, the final book in the series, Rilla Of Ingleside, is possibly one of the better books I've read about World War I. I'm a little surprised that this one isn't taught in schools alongside the WWI history unit. There's lots of detail and it really brings the events of the war, the different battles, the effect it had on the folks back home, etc, into focus without getting mundane or boring.
Along with the Anne books, I worked my way a little way down on my stack of books for review. This month I had the pleasure of reading Now That She's Gone, by Gregg Olsen as well as Coal River by Ellen Marie Wiseman. Now That She's Gone was ok - I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read the first book in the series (imagine that!) and Coal River was great, even if the ending was a little... implausible.
I also read some Rainbow Rowell: Fan Girl (not such a fan) and Landline (loved it) to be exact. I still can't quite put my finger on what it is that keeps me from just going nuts over Rowell like so many of my fellow bloggers, but there's just something...
For December my plan is to just get to the end of this year in one piece! I had originally set a goal for myself this year of reading 150 books. Well, that's not going to happen. According to my tracker on Goodreads, I'm 98 books. Given that I have a full time job, a side business (I dye yarn! check it out here!), a social life and this blog... I'm calling it good if I get to 100 for the year.
Now that I'm done with the Anne books, I've started on the Oz books by L. Frank Baum. If you've never read them and have only seen the movie, I highly recommend you check them out. They're fantastic, silly, wonderful little books that are great distractions from the heaviness that day-to-day life can bring.
I'm determined to finish up Avenue of Mysteries in the next week or so. This latest work by John Irving was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately, I didn't get it until the day before it published (11/3) so I'm a little late with my thoughts on it. I'm liking the book a lot... that's all I can really say for now.
At the library the other night I couldn't help but pick up the latest in the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. Sigh. All I can really say about this guilty pleasure book is that, as much as I enjoyed the first few books in the series, please stop writing them Ms. Kinsella. For the love of god. Please. Stop. Writing. These. Books. I started off loving Becky Bloomwood and now I'm just so disgusted by her inability to achieve real, lasting maturity that I could scream. And yet I can't quit reading these awful crack books! I'm about a quarter of the way through Shopaholic To The Rescue and I just want my life back.
I've got big plans to read a few more books for review (and even get the reviews published on time this month!) and a few more new releases picked up at my local library. Last but not least, I've started on the Mark of the Lion trilogy by Francine Rivers. These books are Christian Fiction classics that have somehow been recommended to me several times (if you knew me in real life, you'd know how funny it is to see me reading Christian Fiction). The first book is good so far. Some of the history is suspect, but the overall view of ancient Roman culture is right up my alley.
I've got big plans to read a few more books for review (and even get the reviews published on time this month!) and a few more new releases picked up at my local library. Last but not least, I've started on the Mark of the Lion trilogy by Francine Rivers. These books are Christian Fiction classics that have somehow been recommended to me several times (if you knew me in real life, you'd know how funny it is to see me reading Christian Fiction). The first book is good so far. Some of the history is suspect, but the overall view of ancient Roman culture is right up my alley.
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