Justine's Thoughts: Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Twenties Girl
By Sophie Kinsella

Source: Library
Pages: 435
Rating: 5/5
Book Description:

Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they?

When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie -- a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance -- mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is floundering, and she’s just been dumped by the “perfect” man.

Sadie, however, could care less.

Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from each other along the way. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.

A quote:

The worst thing a girl can do is trail after a boy when a love affair is dead.

Any thoughts:

Oh gosh! I’ve been a huuuuuge fan of Sophie Kinsella for a long time. I miss reading her novels and that escape-y feeling I get when reading them. And as always, I cried my eyes out, laughed like a lunatic, and giggled like the hopeless romantic I am. That’s what Sophie Kinsella’s novels do to me. This one was no exception.

Initially, I thought Lara seemed like a vulnerable heroine who always finds herself lying to get out of situations so she could fix them while panicking every single second. Yes, it was quite annoying and sad at the same time, especially with her amusing obsession with Josh, the supposed “perfect” man. When she meets Sadie, her life goes on for a crazy ride. Lara learns numerous things from Sadie -- some outrageous, some from the 1920s, and some with a bit of wisdom. In this, Lara changes and comes to terms with things such as her business, her best friend, and Josh, taking responsibility more like a mature adult...although she always has her funny moments.

Sadie, Lara’s great-aunt who appears to her as a ghost in her twenties, is quite the rebel. She’s determined and forceful and likes to interfere. A lot. She can be annoying as well, with her shrugs and waves and oh-well looks. Oh, but my heart goes to her. She’s a ghost who likes to scream in people’s ears to “hypnotize” them, and she has such a captivating history involving a lover and a painting.

All in all, it was a fun, riveting book. Lara’s new romance is just a subplot but it was enough to satisfy me and give me the giggles. Lara and Sadie grow to become attached to one another, and although I’ve read books that deal with the paranormal, Twenties Girl definitely has a unique take on it, with family and friendship issues. Sophie Kinsella wrote it with her awesome, famous style and I’m always going to be a huge fan.

Justine's Thoughts: Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Remember Me?

By Sophie Kinsella

Pages:

389

Book Description:

When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident -- in a Mercedes no less -- Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.

Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband -- who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she...well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably dishevelled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.

Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?

A quote:

How can anyone live in a house that’s more complicated than NASA? Why does a house have to be intelligent, anyway? Why can’t it be nice and stupid?

Any thoughts:

I loved the concept Sophie Kinsella decided to take on in Remember Me?. She places Lexi, a young woman with amnesia, into a life and works backwards from there. It is one I have never come across before, and it is fascinating and exhilarating at the same time to join Lexi on her journey to try and remember the life she has been living.

The creative plot certainly captured me from the start. I was intrigued, willing to know more about everything. It also helps that Lexi is an enjoyable and loveable character -- spirited, caring, hilarious, smart, and who always seems to do everything wrong but in a funny way. You can’t help but giggle at some situations she gets herself into and the way she reacts.

But beneath all the fluff lies the seriousness of amnesia. Lexi suddenly awakes one day with three years of her life missing. I can’t imagine how tough it is to get back into that life and try to relearn everything you’ve been doing for the past few years, knowing that you’ve never done it before. Especially when you’re a totally different person. In Lexi’s life, a lot has changed. She finds herself in a life one has always dreamed of...and realizes it’s not so perfect after all.

Remember Me? is a perfect read to escape reality and enter a fun, light world which is guaranteed to entertain and get a few laughs from you. Because it certainly did to me.

Justine's Thoughts: Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

The Undomestic Goddess
By Sophie Kinsella

Pages:

576

Book Description:

Workaholic attorney Samantha Sweeting has just done the unthinkable. She’s made a mistake so huge, it’ll wreck any chance of a partnership.

Going into utter meltdown, she walks out of her London office, gets on a train, and ends up in the middle of nowhere. Asking for directions at a big, beautiful house, she’s mistaken for an interviewee and finds herself being offered a job as housekeeper. Her employers have no idea they’ve hired a lawyer - and Samantha has no idea how to work the oven. She can’t sew on a button, bake a potato, or get the #@%# ironing board to open. How she takes a deep breath and begins to cope - and finds love - is a story as delicious as the bread she learns to bake.

But will her old life ever catch up with her? And if it does...will she want it back?

A quote:

“What do you call five thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?”

“A start!” The words jump out of my mouth before I can stop them.

Any thoughts:

• The beginning was very creative and it made me want to keep on reading. Then it led to lawyer-related things, which I didn’t understand very well so I got confused. I had to read it carefully so I would actually get it. Eventually, I got the main gist.
• The hardships Samantha had to go through as a housekeeper were meant to be humorous, and it did quite make me laugh. She’s a great heroine.
• Food is mentioned. And it will make you starving in a jiffy.
• Yes! Romance! It almost made me cry in the end but of course, I won’t give anything away.
• The plot flowed very nicely and I thought it was very young adult-y. It was perfect and I really, really loved it.

Justine's Thoughts: Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

Can You Keep a Secret?
By Sophie Kinsella

Pages:

372

Book Description:

Meet Emma Corrigan, a young woman with a huge heart, an irrepressible spirit, and a few little secrets:

Secrets from her boyfriend:
I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

Secrets from her mother:
I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom with Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben-Hur.

Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world:
I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.

Until she spills them all to a handsome stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger...Until Emma comes face-to-face with Jack Harper, the company’s elusive CEO, a man who knows ever single humiliating detail about her...

A quote:

The bouquet is unbelievable. Roses, freesias, amazing big purple flowers, fantastic dark red pom-pom things, dark green frondy bits, pale green ones that look just like asparagus.

Any thoughts:

Sophie Kinsella is known to have written the famous Shopaholic series featuring Becky Bloomwood, which was made into a movie and I really loved it even though I cried tears of happiness. Yes, it was really good.

It was fun to read Emma Corrigan’s thoughts throughout the story. She’s the typical chick-lit character: hilarious, smitten and irrepressible, but I enjoyed being in her mind. It was a laugh-out-loud kind of funny and I also couldn’t help but squeal and giggle at some parts.

The plot is a pleasurable one, easy to enjoy, but it became predictable. It was like a fairytale in which the heroine gets her ‘perfect man’, however, it wasn’t boring. This book was actually hard to put down. It’s also a light read and once I was gripped, I couldn’t stop reading.

All the while while reading, I thought, “Hey, it wouldn’t be so bad if this book was made into a movie.” So I googled. It turns out that it’s a possibility because this was over a year ago and nothing has been done since. Kate Hudson is also rumoured to star as Emma. But who knows what’s going to happen, right? (...though it would be really awesome if it did happen!)

The novel had me thinking about secrets in the end, which I suppose is what Sophie Kinsella’s aim was. Is it a good idea to keep secrets from others or to share them with everyone? Ah.

(It contains mature content and coarse language.)