About the Author

Sophie Kinsella is one of my most favorite writers. I love her style, her voice and undoubtedly the humour and the underlying serious tone of her stories. However after the last two books of her which didn’t resonate well with me I wasn’t sure how to approach this one. To be honest, the usual enthusiasm was lacking. Yet I went for it because I had been waiting for this book to release for months. Yet, when I finished this one, the book actually “Surprised Me”.

Synopsis

We are following a couple, Sylvie and Dan, who are together for about ten years. They have a perfect life, a perfect house, two adorable twin girls – in other words – a picture perfect family. They even finish each others sentences. Sylvie actually believed that she was living her happily ever after or was she? When their physician predcits a sixty eight year long marriage for them, things take a different turn. In order to avoid the boredom of being an “old married couple”, Sylvie and Dan plan to surprise each other. What follows is a serious unravelling of events which were deeply buried in the dark corners of their marriage. Eventually the couple begin to wonder if they ever knew each other well or not.

My thoughts

** Spoiler alert**

If you haven’t read the book yet, I suggest you go back. Complete the book and then proceed from here on. 

Like I said before, I only expected a cliched heroine’s journey for the protagonist like any other Kinsella novel. May be it was in the beginning. Through the middle I almost thought I had it all figured out. It was interesting enough to keep me going. Since I am already a fan of the narrative I somewhat enjoyed the occasional rants of Sylvie even though whatever she had looked perfect from the outside. Later, it was justified because she was indeed Princess Sylvie. I am not sure if the humour was purposefully toned down but it was sure as hell lesser than any other Kinsella books. Even the parts that were supposed to be funny – the boudoir photography scene for instance – didn’t bring that natural smile on my face.

All that being said, as the story progressed towards the third act, it had my complete attention. It was no longer just a laughable light read. Clearly, Dan was hiding more than just an affair.As someone who is a regular Kinsella reader, I had picked up the subtle initial clues. Yet, the book kept me curious enough to see how it all unfolds. Eventually when it did in the final act, it did Surprise Me. Not only that it resonated with me and moved me. I am not sure if every reader would feel the same, but I sure as hell did. It is a simple tale telling us to hold on to what is real and honest. Often, we get caught up in our own illusions and misconceptions and when it breaks, it hurts us more than anything. This book inspires us to pick ourselves up and look beyond our fears and simply move on. After all that is what life is about and we must be ready  to face it and say “Surprise Me”.

You can get the book here : Amazon Books_Surprise Me

Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Find out my thoughts on the book in my blog :

https://bookbugworld.com/surprise-me-s…

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