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rebecca321's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Not the best, not the worst, but ultimately not for me.
Note: vague spoilers ahead.
I'm gonna be very honest. There aren't many things I enjoyed about this book. At first I thought that I might grow to enjoy it, or at least be fine with playing the audiobook in the background while doing laundry. In the end I was counting the minutes until it was over. Let me explain.
The humour was not for me. Like, not at all. There’s slap-stick comedy, fart jokes, and a lot of stuff at other people’s expense that I just couldn’t laugh at. I think I laughed one time and I don’t even remember at what.
The language in general kept pulling me out. The protagonist is supposedly 33 but the entire time I felt like this was my 50-something year old mum talking at me, using words that I’ve only ever heard 50+ people use. Which isn’t great when the narrator keeps rambling about genitals.
The guy is fine. He’s okay. He’s a guy.
The other characters, however, were so, so much worse. I’ve never seen such annoying people. Boundaries don’t exist. Random strangers are divulging their lacklustre sex life. The staff at the hotel is so pushy about the main couple’s potential romance it feels like they’re breaking a law. But nothing shocked be like the protagonist’s utter entitlement when it came to personal information about the love interest. He kept private information about himself private and she goes ahead and pries it out of his coworker and stalks some random person online to get more info. There’s a lot of stalking in general. The guy wasn’t even angry when he found out the protagonist had gone behind his back to dig into his past and unearth hurtful events, which she ended the relationship over without telling him. The protagonist never faced any consequences for the truly wild shit she pulls on so many of the other people. Instead, she gets rewarded and praised every step she takes. I don’t know why she ended up being literally applauded on so many stages that she had no business being on. Her ex-boss hunts her down because her feedback on the company was so wonderful that he needs to rehire her, and promote her, and take her unbelievably inappropriate advice about firing his own brother. She keeps lying to the entire hotel staff about her diet, causing enormous stress and effort for them, and they never find out. Other people’s distress is generally played for laughs, or to “inspire” the protagonist to “seize the moment” and “live her life”. This was pure insanity. The guy deserved so much better. I hope he realises that in therapy. I’m honestly still shocked. What the hell.
The breakup was painful. It wasn’t even a misunderstanding, it was pure stupidity, and when the couple reconciles and the guy finds out the reason for his six months or agony (the time between her ending things and her changing her mind), he’s like “okay cool”. I would have screamed had I not been dead inside at that point.
I appreciate the mention of burnout and therapy, which turned out to be handled moderately well. That’s honestly the entire two stars for me.
What I didn’t appreciate was the relentless insistence that PEOPLE NEED TO HAVE SEX. The allonormativity was seriously painful at times, including gems like “finally, I’m normal again” when the protagonist regains her libido after years of stress. And I get it, she was probably used to having a libido??? I guess??? But honestly, there are other ways to phrase this stuff. The best part of this is that, when the couple finally ends up having sex, after a lot of unnecessary stalling, we see none of it. Nothing. We do, however, have multiple strangers witnessing the morning-after situation, just so the protagonist could show off that she’s finally one of the normal people again. Having sex. So happy for her.
I think there was more and I just finished two minutes ago and immediately started writing this but I remember bits and flashes of the book like a fever dream and can’t put any of it into words. There was a lot about surfing. And a nun. And a weird mystery that ended up being two mysteries that I kept forgetting existed. I think this is my brain protecting me so I’ll leave it at this.
I like to think I learned something from this. Like, not to trust free audiobooks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia
Minor: Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
purplepenning's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
My first Sophie Kinsella book! Other than being a bit longer than I anticipated (and probably more than a bit longer than the story needed), it was a solid pick! A funny, lighthearted, hopeful British romance with a good dose of "women's fiction" running through it and a even a smidgeon of mystery.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol
callidoralblack's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
tangerinecutie's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
gemloukay's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Sasha has reached the end of her tether with work. Her team is understaffed, the emails keep piling up and the joyfulness programme and mood board are a corporate joke. When she gets told that another person has quit, she loses it and after a series of weird (and yet believable) turns of events, promptly puts herself in hospital from walking head first into a brick wall. Literally.
When Sasha’s mum decides that a break to her favourite childhood holiday spot would do her good (complete with a 20 step wellness plan, kale smoothies and yoga), she embarks on a journey of self discovery. Finn also has found himself back at the beach of his childhood and is self medicating his woes with whisky, pizza and sarcasm. They also find themselves staying at the once swanky and now dilapidated hotel, with quirky staff and 1970s decor. Will they find themselves or maybe even find each other?
I absolutely loved this book! The characters were believable, the hotel was like Fawlty Towers and I was left with a feeling of wanting to visit the beach and learn to surf. Surfing guru Terry’s words of wisdom had me in tears and the ending was just perfect.
When Sasha’s mum decides that a break to her favourite childhood holiday spot would do her good (complete with a 20 step wellness plan, kale smoothies and yoga), she embarks on a journey of self discovery. Finn also has found himself back at the beach of his childhood and is self medicating his woes with whisky, pizza and sarcasm. They also find themselves staying at the once swanky and now dilapidated hotel, with quirky staff and 1970s decor. Will they find themselves or maybe even find each other?
I absolutely loved this book! The characters were believable, the hotel was like Fawlty Towers and I was left with a feeling of wanting to visit the beach and learn to surf. Surfing guru Terry’s words of wisdom had me in tears and the ending was just perfect.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Dementia, and Grief
thebookishowl4's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dementia and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Alcoholism and Injury/Injury detail
aseel_reads's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This has some full on aloud laughing moments, it was also pretty adorable at times, especially the stuff with Terry. I'm also glad she got her payback with that annoying work person. Of course, this was a typical work related depication of burnout, which is important but if only mine was so easily fixed with going on holiday and having work life balance 😔
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Death of parent
jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Sasha is burned-out, to the point of fleeing her workplace and pleading with a nun to let her join the convent (despite the fact she isn't Catholic). When her family finds out how far she has spiraled, then arrange for her to go to the seaside town they went to every summer when she was a child. In February.
I enjoyed this book more than I expected to, as I never wanted to read Kinsella's Shopaholic series. The quirky characters at the hotel and the surrounding community were fun, and once Sasha started connecting with the people around her she became much more interesting and relatable. The romance was equal parts funny and sweet, with the challenges common to the genre.
I predict an adaptation, probably on Netflix or Hulu.
I enjoyed this book more than I expected to, as I never wanted to read Kinsella's Shopaholic series. The quirky characters at the hotel and the surrounding community were fun, and once Sasha started connecting with the people around her she became much more interesting and relatable. The romance was equal parts funny and sweet, with the challenges common to the genre.
I predict an adaptation, probably on Netflix or Hulu.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
A character with dementia is portrayed with compassion, although the word dementia isn't used.katrinaward's review against another edition
emotional
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Dementia and Grief
bringmybooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Thank you to NetGalley, The Dial Press, & Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book before it's publication date! This in no way affected my review, opinions are my own.
B̷R̷I̷N̷G̷ ✨ 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗢𝗪 ✨ B̷Y̷P̷A̷S̷S̷
Ahhhh, Sophie Kinsella. Love it or hate it, there’s no in between (for me). This wasn’t one of my more recent favs (see: Party Crasher, which I LOVED), but I think for some of her die hard fans it’ll be just fine.
A couple notes:
The first 10% is classic Kinsella and I loved that
There’s a tiny bit of instalove, meh
A big part of the subplot is just that … sub(par)
This would make a fantastic movie but novelization didn’t hit right
If this gets made into a movie I will watch it for Herbert alone and that is not a lie
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol