Love Your Life, Sophie Kinsella – A Review.

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Hello fellow bookworms! I’m super excited to be bringing you my review of Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella today! You can check out the synopsis on Goodreads here.

Overall rating – 4 out of 5 stars.

As you’ll likely have seen, I am OBSESSED with Sophie Kinsella’s books, and Love Your Life was no different! In fact, I think it may be up there in my top 5 of hers…

Everything in this book worked together to just create the most wonderful story, that I happily devoured in a matter of hours, I literally couldn’t stop turning the pages!

To start with, Kinsella developed our two main characters, Ava and Matt perfectly, but it also felt as if she put the same amount of effort into creating both friendship groups as well. Every friend was different and it felt like there was a little bit of representation within the group as well, which was nice to see. Even the side characters, Matt’s ex girlfriend and his parents were well developed and had their own personalities that shone through the writing.

I cannot find a fault with our characters, they were all crafted so wonderfully and for me, they were the standout of the whole book!

As usual, Kinsella’s writing was excellent. She has this way of writing that almost puts you at ease, it’s so easy to slip into her books and just be taken away with the story and Love Your Life was no different. It made me laugh, gasp out loud and at points, I shed a few tears. Whilst it wasn’t exactly a rollercoaster of emotions (at points it was quite predictable) it definitely had me experiencing a range of different emotions throughout the story, a testament to the writing.

Whilst the atmosphere and intrigue certainly lacked I don’t feel that was entirely Kinsella’s fault, just the very nature of the books she writes imply a happy ending and don’t really relate themselves to having tense scenes or an overly relaxed atmosphere. I knew this when I started reading her books and so I can’t really see these as a fault of the book or the writing.

And the plot!!! Oh my goodness, I loved it! It had a really fresh feel to it, and I loved the idea of the writing retreat, and how that led Matt and Ava to meet. It was two of my favourite things, books and writing and holiday romances. I absolutely LOVED IT.

Kinsella also managed to weave some serious moments into the story, including a big focus around Nell’s health, she has lupus. It has certainly opened my eyes to more invisible illnesses and led me to do some research and reading around the subject.

There were also other equally as interesting plot lines and smaller plot lines… But I don’t want to give too much away except that everything wove together so well to form a truly interesting, different and refreshing read.

Everything about Love Your Life was the read I needed and I thoroughly enjoyed it, there is something about Kinsella’s writing that makes you feel as though she has wrapped you up in the fluffiest blanket, given you a hot chocolate and put you in front of the fire. Pure joy.

On the whole, I just loved this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a happy, feel good and easy read.

Until next time, Em xxx

The Shopaholic Series!

Hello fellow book bloggers and friends! I have decided to combine my posts on the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella and create one kind of review/rating post, because a lot of my thoughts and feelings are similar throughout the books and I didn’t want it to just be same-y!

My plan is to rate each book below, using the CAWPILE system and then do an overall review of the 5 books of the series that I read and the reasons why I only read 5 books in the series.

Confessions of a Shopaholic – 3 stars.

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan – 3 stars.

Shopaholic Ties the Knot – 3 stars.

Shopaholic and Sister – 4 stars.

Shopaholic and Baby – 3 stars.

As you can see from my ratings, Shopaholic and Sister was by far my favourite of the series, it was the one that I just thought stood out and offered something more than just a shopping addicted main character.

Character wise, I found all of the characters (with the exception of one, I’m sure you can guess who!) to be really interesting, I thought throughout the books that Luke was a shining star, and Suze was just the friend everyone needed.

But Becky, who the books were actually about, was just so frustrating. I know that was the point of her character, but I think the last couple of years have really weakened my tolerance for absolute DICKHEADS, which is what Becky was…

The one thing I will say in favour of these books is how easy they were to read, I adore Kinsella’s writing, it’s so easy to get caught up in the story and you just kind of float along whilst you read them. I can pass so much time with her writing style, I adore how she tells the story!

My evaluation of the plot changes for each book, but on the whole I did enjoy the actual story line too, the only one that I really started to get frustrated with was Shopaholic and Baby, it just seemed crazy ridiculous.

The entertainment value that I always get from Kinsella’s books, no matter how frustrating the characters or any other aspects, is so high. They are some of the only books that I will always pick up no matter what they’re about. And the Shopaholic series was no different, it brought me so much joy to read these books.

However, I did make the decision to stop after the first 5 books of the series. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoyed the Shopaholic and Baby book anywhere near as much as the others, and it kinda put me off reading the rest of the series 😦 which is a real shame because I had become highly invested in Luke and Becky (mostly just Luke lmao).

Anyway! There are my ratings of the first 5 books in the Shopaholic series. Let me know if you’ve read the books and what you thought.

Until next time, Em xxx

My Not So Perfect Life, by Sophie Kinsella – A Review.

Hello fellow bookworms! I’m bringing you my review of My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella! You can read the synopsis on Goodreads here.

Overall rating – 4 out of 5 stars.

I want to start by saying I’m a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella, I love her books and My Not So Perfect Life was no different. Straight away I was drawn into this book by Kinsella’s relatable writing and story.

Whilst the literal story itself wasn’t relatable to me personally (Katie is trying to make her way in London after moving from Somerset and thinking she’s broken her Dad’s heart in the process) the whole idea of just wanting to fit in at a company, and make something of yourself, and being a capable and strong and independent were all something I could relate to. And I think that’s why this book worked so well.

Katie even has an Instagram page where she shows photos of her seemingly perfect life, which are actually just snaps of other people’s hot chocolates, or steps to their house, or other beautiful aspects of the city she lives in. But it’s false, she lives in a tiny room in a flat share, with barely any money.

Just like in real life, people only share the glamorous parts of their lives on social media. We are getting better at being honest and showing the less exciting and less glamourous parts of our day on these platforms, but there is still a culture of having to show yourself as being wonderful and happy and fab all the time.

Which is why the idea of Katie having this page makes this story feel so relatable.

Character wise, the book mainly focuses on Katie and her relationship with those around her, but that doesn’t mean the others weren’t playing vital roles in the book…

Her Dad (Mick) and Step Mom (Biddy) were absolutely cracking characters, I laughed out loud with some of the things they came out with and swelled with love and adoration for them at other points. They blended so well into the story, I don’t think the book would have been as fun without them!

And Demeter, I don’t want to give too much away but the character development she had across the book was brilliantly written. And as for Alex, my only wish is we got to see more of him.

Throughout the whole story I felt as if I were standing alongside Katie, whether that be in London or Somerset. Kinsella has this talent of writing the settings and locations so well you feel as if you’re there with the character. Especially the countryside, I could almost feel my worries and concerns being eased away as I read this book, just like they would be standing in the fresh countryside air.

Oh and the ending was just so perfect, it wrapped everything up into this fab happy ending – which I love!

I find Sophie Kinsella books so easy to read and devour and this one was no different. On the whole, My Not So Perfect Life was just an easy to read book, that brought me joy and happiness to read. It’s definitely one I would take on holiday to read by the pool when I wanted to chill out.

If you’ve read this one, let me know what you thought in the comments.

Until next time, Em xxx

Six Geese A-Laying, Sophie Kinsella – A Review.

Hello friends! I’m here again with a festive review for you all, as you’ll know I decided to take a small break from blogging over Christmas so I’m playing catch up on all my reviews in January instead!

Six Geese A-Laying by Sophie Kinsella.

Overall rating ❄️❄️❄️ out of 5 snowflakes.

The title of this book is very clever and was possibly my favourite part of it haha!

I think my main issue with Six Geese A-Laying was that it wasn’t festive enough for me, it was just set around Christmas rather than being a festive read.

That being said, I did really enjoy this book and I wished it was longer as there was so much potential that could have been unlocked. The character growth of the Mum’s in the story could have opened up for so much more.

I did enjoy how this was kind of Christmas Carol themed, with the way the spirit appeared as if the Ghost of Christmases to come!

If Six Geese A-Laying was longer, I honestly think that it would have been much better and warranted a higher rating, as it could have delved deeper into the stories of the Mum’s to be and created a more festive environment.

Sadly though, it just didn’t hit the mark 😦

Until next time, Em xxx

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella – A Review. [SPOILERS]

Hey guys welcome back to my blog! Today (if you hadn’t guessed from the title) I’m reviewing Can You Keep a Secret? By Sophie Kinsella. 

Overall rating – 4 out of 5 stars. 

I loved this book, like really loved it. The book was just so much fun, I actually laughed outloud and snorted a few times! I felt it was so lighthearted, just what I needed as a bit of a chilled out read. 

One of my favourite parts of the book was the interactions between the flatmates, they were all so different to each other which made for some very interesting (and funny) conversations with each other. It felt like you were in the flat with them, you felt included.

I also LOVE a happy ending. And this book gave that to me, especially when I thought everything was going to come crumbling down (I thought Jack had another woman) but it was actually the sweetest reason. It actually melted my heart a lil bit. 

Whilst I found the Emma/Connor situation to be incredibly relatable (in terms of how she almost stuck with him because she felt like she should) I did think that the “few” little whites she told her were actually a lot of lies, which was problematic. 

And I did feel like it was problem, happy, problem, happy, it was like every time Emma got her wish or her happy ending she was thrown another curve ball. However, I can see (and appreciate) how this made the story into what it was.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this book, it was a light hearted read and I would definitely recommend it to someone looking for a quick chick flick. 

Em xxx