I can't believe that I haven't read a Kinsella novel before and I have missed out! This book was wonderfully refreshing and an easy, quick read with lots of laughs. Recommended to all

My Not so Perfect Life is classic Kinsella — there are quirky characters, wacky coincidences, loads of secrets, and hilarious revenge scenarios!  The latest novel from the author of the Shopaholic series, is a standalone novel written in two parts, the first set against the backdrop of busy London, where Katie, a girl who grew up on a farm in Birmingham, now works in the design industry living the dream life. Well, she will be living the dream life if she can ride out the wave - her horrific commute, her tiny apartment, her bizarre roommates, and her temperamental boss. Oh, and if only she could get that spark between her and Alex, the gorgeous but elusive manager, to ignite. Katie’s fortunes change and she finds herself heading home and helping her father start a glamping business. In the second half of the novel, Katie desperately feels the pull of London, but starts to feel content, among the sheep, the yurts, the willow weaving workshops, and the tourists amidst the English countryside. Plus, she gets to put her marketing skills to use in her father’s business. But alas, these two worlds collide and chaos ensues. I really enjoyed this novel, in part because Katie really struggles with the idea of  perfection and she learns to redefine success and happiness in this Instagram-worthy world. She learns to see people in a different light, realizing that they have an inner life that they don’t share on filtered social media posts or even with others. Katie removes the filter, and shows the world and herself who she really is.

We have all seen it, the “perfect life” on Instagram or Facebook.  Katie/Cat Brenner is going to great lengths to make her life in London look great.  Even resorting to taking pictures of stranger’s food, which she can’t afford, to post to her Instagram.  Katie is trying so hard to be Cat, her London persona.  She even might find romance.  A turn of events has Katie back at home with her father and stepmum.   Katie uses her PR/Branding skills to help them to set up a Glamping resort, which really takes off.

The predicaments Katie/Cat gets herself into will make you giggle.  She is very endearing and you only hope for her to find happiness.  The Glampers at the resort are characters.   A couple of unexpected guests also arrive at the resort and the fun begins.  Katie doesn’t want them to recognize her, which leads to some strange encounters.  

All the characters are relatable.  There is Demeter, Cat’s previous employer and of course a love interest.  Sophie Kinsella has way of telling a story and getting you to really care about the characters, but still laugh at them.  I  enjoyed the Shopahlic books when they came.  I only read a few as Chick Lit is not my preferred genre.  I am glad I return to Sophie Kinsella’s work and read My not So Perfect Life.  It is light, fun read with very relatable characters…just what I was looking for.  This was a 3 star read for me.

This book grabs you from the beginning.  It's funny, witty and keeps you interested throughout!  Talk about plot twist!  It definitely is going to become a really popular book! I absolutely loved it!  Is there anything that Sophie Kinsella writes that is not a hit? Great job!

I received notice of Sophie Kinsella releasing a new book via a NetGalley email.  I have thoroughly enjoyed most of the books I’ve read by her.  This book was not one of the exceptions.

So the synopsis on the back of the book doesn’t quite give you a clear picture.  This book was so much better and more nuanced than the copy would lead you to believe.  

Katie, like most of Kinsella’s protagonists, is insanely likeable.  She is trying so hard yet so not there (achieving all she hopes)…like so many of us in real life.  Okay, maybe that’s just me.  I couldn’t help but root for her throughout the book, even as she’s a bit self-sabotaging at times.  The cast of supporting characters are great as well.  Unique and relatable in some way, each of them.  

The story moves along quickly.  This was a fun book to read.  I pretty much stayed up way too late one night to finish it.  However, one thing I found unique about this book compared to the author’s previous reads is that there is a level of depth to it.  Yes, it can still be just a fun, fluff read.  But Kinsella is saying something more about image and appearance and social media.  As a reader, I appreciated it.  

Definitely recommend it.  

4 out of 5 stars.  Would have been 5 but for the language and sexual references.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

If you would like to read more of my reviews, please visit www.mommyreadsbooks.blogspot.com

This was not up to par with other Sophie Kinsella novels I've read.  The characters weren't totally believable, and the story worked out "too pat" for my liking.  Not a book I would recommend.

Cat has always dreamed of living in London and now she is and she's working at what should be her dream job. But thing aren't exactly working out as she planned and somehow she's helping her dad with a new moneymaking scheme on the farm she grew up on. When Demeter, her London boss, shows up things take an unexpected turn. Full of life and humor and learning that life isn't always what it looks like on Instagram. Reading this is like talking to a friend. Highly recommended.

This is the one. Drama, intrigue, humor and love.  Sophie Kinsella hit them all.  I just loved it.  Katie-Cat spirals up and down and back again in this latest adventure and I felt it all.  The pressure of her office, the loneliness of her apartment and life, the silliness of instagram and the longing of love.
As she struggles through her challenges she fights her within herself and sees many different outcomes. Finding her way through them is complicated but she perseveres and and her Not So Perfect Life becomes what she really does want.

Kinsella's novels are the perfect treat - warm and witty, with humor and a bit of romance. I enjoyed how Katie grew and changed throughout the novel and how the novel took on the real impact catty, mean girl shenanigans can have.

This is one of my favorite my favorite by Kinsella! The main character is actually the most relatable of them all. Katie Brenner moves to London to strike out as a city girl after living her entire life in the country. Katie doesn't have much money and lives pay check to pay check. She works in branding helping make products more appealing to consumers. She is the junior and she is in awe of her boss who has the perfect life and is also a witch. When Katie is fired, she heads home while trying to figure out what to do about her life. Along the way she learns about perceptions, true friendship and identity.
As always Kinsella is funny and thoughtful at the same time. That is what makes her books great. The characters always suffer from something normal people do but then their lives get insane and out there, making us readers feel better about the scrapes we get into. 
I also enjoyed that the love story took less of the time than in other books. While I enjoy a good love story, this one truly focused on Katie and her feelings for herself, her family, and who she was in contrast of who she thought she was. While these components are always in the Kinsella books, they often take a back seat to the overall love story.
An laugh out read, Kinsella truly connects with her readers and leaves us walking away happier about ourselves.

Sophie Kinsella has millions of books in circulation chock full of her signature chick-lit humor. Her easy breezy style and formula continue to work despite how fast the books hit the shelves. This time around, we meet ambitious and single 26-year old Katie, a farm girl who moves to her dream city of London but struggles to make ends meet even though she has landed a good job in a field that she loves. Just when she starts to feel comfortable there, things go awry and Sophie is fired by her nightmare of a boss, Demeter. Katie refuses to let this setback crush her ambition. The timing cannot be better even though Katie can’t see it through her anger.  With no money and no prospect of a job, she heads home to her family’s farm, ashamed to tell her father and stepmother she’s been fired, telling them only that she’s on sabbatical. Her stepmother and father ask for Katie’s help in starting a new business, rolling out a ‘glamping’ operation on the farm which is where most of the rest of the story takes place. 

And this is where the story takes off for me. Demeter re-enters Katie’s life, arriving at the farm with her snobbish family to glamp after reading a magazine promotion.  She is completely unaware that Katie is running the show. Katie recognizes her ex-boss immediately, however, disguises herself and sets off to even the score.

“This is it. At last I’m going to get even. So Demeter wants rural? She wants a “taste of farm life”? She wants “authentic”?  Well, she’s bloody well going to get it.” No good can possibly come out of that statement. Hang on for the ride.

The hijinks that follow are ridiculously funny. And of course, there is a bit of romance. What an entertaining read. 

"Note:  Will also be posting to Amazon, B&N, Powells once published.

This is a really great book. Follow along the life with ups and downs of Katie Brenner. It will keep your interest and I couldn't put it down when I read it, to find out what happens next.

I found myself extremely fortunate to receive an early copy of My Not So Perfect Life.  Sophie Kinsella will always hold a special place in my reader's heart.  Her series and standalones are favorites in my library.  

My Not So Perfect Life followed Sophie Kinsella's familiar outline of a young, single country girl trying to find her way in a big city. Through new jobs, cool friends, trendy everything, all while trying to keep up on a tight budget, Katie Brenner is trying to make her way in an unforgiving world.  I found that I connected with the characters extremely quickly (definitely one of Sophie Kinsella's amazing abilities).  I wanted to be a part of the story and felt like I was. I may have even gotten a little choked up in some of the more endearing scenes.  

We all know that people portray the side that they want you to see. But we also know, and need a reminder, that there is another side that makes them pure human and just like you. A side that gets hidden.  Not everything is perfect.  Even for the person who seems to have it all.

While My Not So Perfect Life was not one of my very favorites, it is definitely a good - feel-good book.  You want Katie to find her way.  You can imagine the scenes and situations she finds herself in.  I definitely recommend this book, especially if you think that someone out there has it better than you.

Another fun, classic Kinsella--exactly what I was expecting out of this book and I really enjoyed it. The setup was enjoyable and not too romance heavy, instead focusing more on the main character's career goals and family, which I really enjoyed.

This was a story with a good conclusion to take from it, 'no one's life is perfect, so just be yourself'. I feel I got Kinsella's point but I hope I missed something that will spice up this book above average.

Katie struggles everyday to keep her dream life in London but it's too expensive and she can't even afford to breathe, much less have one of those expensive coffees she pretends to have on her Instagram account. She had no idea her boss-from-hell  could make her life even less perfect than it already was.

This book started well, it's so easy to relate to Katie, trying to simply live while pretending it's all fine. But the story never really got me. It was a slow development, so I feel anything I say here will be a reveal.

In any case, the focus was ultimately to realize her boss's life was just not-so-perfect as her own. And this fell flat for me because for one the boss is far from charismatic or relatable—and this was on purpose. So any of her problems sounded like first-world problems to me. Especially because they were supposed to balance with Katie's, which, as I have mentioned, sounded like my very own. I won't say I hated the boss, I really didn't. I've had bosses like her before, so it was easy to find something to appreciate in her. It doesn't mean I found it in me to cheer for her well being, and this killed the book for me.

I find it commendable that Kinsella manages to write stories featuring romances and still not bet it all in the romance. However, the only way I see that I would have enjoyed this was if Katie and her boss were the main couple. Only blind love could really make you actively help such person.

Back to Katie, I liked her at first, as I said, but she didn't develop well. I mean, a part of her development was basically a cliché that if you are yourself you can win the world. She is hardworking so she deserves the best but this wasn't so believable to me. On the other hand, I do forgive it, it's good to get away to a world where this actually happens. But Katie was also just too immature at times, and that's the point that killed my love for her.

I'm glad to announce to those who like me enjoy romances that we do have a romantic interest. He doesn't appear much during the first half, so you'll have to hang in there. And he's not really bad. But he is definitely missing that swooning effect Kinsella's men have on me.

As you can see, this is a not-so-perfect story but it is a solid three-star. You won't hear me recommending it to anyone but I won't really tell anyone against reading it. It was a nice story with a nice flow. Except for the second third, I found it to be a fast read. It was actually good to read some nice chick-lit, I love those.

Couldn't really get into this book - Don't know if it was the story itself, or just not the right time.  I do like Sophie's writing though, so I will definitely be on the lookout for another title.

I'm a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella. Okay, so I might have fallen out of love with the Shopaholic series after the last couple of books, but Sophie's standalone novels have always been brilliant reads. In fact, Twenties Girl is one of my all-time favourite chick-lit reads. Aside from the bestselling Shopaholic series, Sophie's books include The Undomestic Goddess, Can You Keep a Secret?, YA novel Finding Audrey and now, My Not So Perfect Life.

Katie Brenner is living the London life. She's given herself a new, chic nickname (Cat) and bagged herself a fab office job in marketing. She's stylish, eats out at great places and has a bunch of equally glam city friends. Basically, she's living the dream.

Except she's not. Despite the photos she's always sharing on Instagram, Katie is poor, is undermined by her boss who's impossible to please, lives in a flatshare, and doesn't have that many friends. In fact, Katie is totally faking it. Having always dreamed of moving to London from her rural home in Somerset, Katie is finally in the city she loves and is determined to stay there. Even if it DOES mean hiding her country-girl roots from her posh colleagues.

Though things begin to look up when she meets handsome, fun Alex. Not even a humiliating encounter with bitchy boss Demeter can burst her happy bubble. Or can it?

Just after finding out who Alex really is, Katie is fired from her job without warning, effective immediately. With no job and little cash, Katie makes a decision she really doesn't want to make...to head back to Ansters Farm in Somerset to assist her dad in setting up his latest money-making idea - a trendy new 'glamping' site. Katie's plan is to help until she lands herself a new job, then return to the big city to resume normal life.

That is, until Demeter turns up at Ansters Farm for a family holiday.

When Demeter doesn't even recognise Katie as the junior she recently fired, Katie's angry - and she's not about to pass up the opportunity to get her own back on her awful former boss, with some hilarious results. However, it soon becomes apparent that Katie's not the only one guilty of faking a perfect life in London.

My Not So Perfect Life is a wonderful read. As expected, Sophie Kinsella delivered her perfect combination for a great romantic comedy: witty writing, fun characters and amusing scenarios. Even though Katie is particularly silly at times, she's fun, relatable and easy to warm to. I loved her family too (her dad especially!) and admired Katie's determination throughout the book. Over the years there have been plenty of novels with the 'country girl moves to the big city' theme (it was highly popular at one time), and even though I expected this book to be similar, the ending surprised me.

I guess a lot of us can be guilty of wanting more out of life, or coveting a lifestyle we think is better or more glamorous. Social media, Instagram especially, allows people to display the life they want to the world, if they choose to. This was something I enjoyed about this book; the role that social media plays in Katie's life, as she tries to 'design' what she thinks that she needs to have.

Yet again Sophie Kinsella has penned another wonderful read. If you're looking for something funny, romantic, a little bit silly and heartwarming, then My Not So Perfect Life is...well, perfect.

Rating: 5/5

There is just something about Sophie Kinsella. There is a level of predictableness to her books but that is not at all a bad thing. I know I am going to laugh. I might cry. I will swoon. I will hug the book to my chest, smiling, at least once. Mainly, I know I am going to enjoy it.

My Not So Perfect Life had all of that and more. 

I really loved the message in this book because I think everyone feels at some point that their life is in tatters. Especially in this day of social media envy. I know I see all the pictures, posts, Tweets, etc showing how my "friends" have got their lives together. And I've got cat hair in my food. So, yeah. I can relate to not feeling like I've got it together. 

This book shows a "perfect" and "together" life then allows us behind the curtain to see the truth. And its comforting. Just as in the pages of this book, its nice to not feel alone in our daily struggles. 

The characters were so much fun! Sophie Kinsella just has a way of making them feel like someone you already know. 

The story itself had laugh out loud moments and scenes where I wanted to cover my eyes to hide from embarrassment on Katie's behalf. This was such a wonderful read and I will be recommending to everyone who needs a fun, entertaining hug from a book.

I just loved this story! I have loved Sophie Kinsella for a few years. The ability to see humor in every day life is an amazing thing. This poor girl finally figured out to see things in a better light, helps make you quite a bit happier. 
I will be recommending this to every body!

This was an absolutely amazing read to start the year off with! I posted this review on my blog via blogspot.com/blogger.com on January 22, 2017.