I always look forward to any book written by Sophie Kinsella and her latest did not disappoint! Surprise Me is a commentary on how complex humans really are, even if you think you really know someone. I laughed out loud at some parts of the story.

Could not finish this book. While other books written by the same author held my attention this one pretty much bored me to the point I had to stop reading. Sorry, I’ve like the rest of the books but not this one.

DNF @ 25%

The only thing that came as a surprise was this DNF.

Honestly, I only read as much as I did because of my love of Kinsella. You know those stories that start off fairly mediocre and you just keep thinking (in this case, HOPING) that it’ll get better? It started off mildly intriguing: life is perfect for this couple, they have two beautiful children, good jobs, a happy life, and they even complete one another’s sentences. *groan* The two go to the doctor to get physicals at which point the doctor informs them they are perfectly healthy and they should plan on living long, long lives. Then he says: “You should have sixty-eight more wonderful years of marriage!” And then everything goes wrong. Because of course, they didn’t even consider the fact that they’d live that long, never thought about long-term being that long when it came to being married.

“We’ve got so much time.”
“But what are we going to do with it, Sylvie? How are we going to fill the endless, soulless years of mindless drone work? Where’s the joy in our lives?” He looks around the kitchen with a questing gaze, as though it might be in a jar labeled joy, next to turmeric.

Even though everything is perfectly fine and they have happy lives, now they have to deal with the concept that they’re going to have to be with one another for SO LONG. Come on. Hello, till death do us part? This is why everyone fucking gets divorced these days. Nobody stops to consider what it actually means, what you’re committing to, argh. I just found the whole concept stupid. And I’m sure they get over it and get back to being perfectly happy with their kids and white picket fence but I didn’t really care if they worked it out or not. Plus? There was this weird obsession with her dead father and lines like this:

‘Here in the privacy of my own mind, where no one else can hear, I can say it: To the outside world, Dan isn’t in the same league as my father. He doesn’t have the gloss, the money, the stature, the charitable achievements.’
Not just comparing your father to your husband, who in your mind is lacking in comparison, but comparing your dead father to your husband… nope. I’m done.

I'm a fan of Sophie Kinsella but had a little trouble getting into this book. I kept at it and am so happy that I did. This book is about the evolution of a person and their relationship. My opinion of the book evolved right along with the story and I ended up enjoying the characters and the overall theme of the book.

I don't typically read "chick lit" but I starting this on vacation was so pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It makes you think how your perceptions of people should change, although they don't always do.

Unfortunately this wasn't my favorite book by Sophie Kinsella. I loved My Not So Perfect Life and this book also had mature topics with Kinsella's humor. The premise of this book is a great idea, but I didn't like the overall theme (without giving spoilers). As a married woman I could relate to parts of this book, but I am not sure the author reached a wide audience like her other books have. (Shopaholic series). I am glad that I read this book, but it isn't a top recommendation for me. I will read future Sophie Kinsella books since all authors having growing pains! Thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

I liked this book. It was interesting. The things they tried to do for each other were super sweet. I liked how they knew each other so well. The reasoning behind the conflict I found a little flimsy, but I still enjoyed the books.

This is my first Sophie Kinsella book, so I did not know what to expect. It took a couple of chapters for me to get into the book, but then it grabbed me and carried me along. Sylvie and Dan have a happy marriage, with two girls and everything is going well for them until someone casually mentions that they could potentially have another 68 years together. Sylvie begins to.panic and wonder if this is what she really wants - to wake up every day with this same person for what seems like an eternity - Dan, who knows her so well that he can finish her sentences and knows everything that she is thinking. They decide to add some spice to their lives with surprises for each other. Then things take a turn and the surprises start raising questions and suspicion.
This book has it all, one minute you are laughing out loud and the next you are thinking, oh my, that could be me! This is a good read and will carry you along and keep you entertained and guessing to the end.

Sylvie and Dan seem to have a great marriage, but at a doctor's appointment they learn that statistically they'll be married 68 more years. This book is how they deal with that prospect, and it has some interesting things to say about relationships, family, loss, and longevity. That all sounds pretty serious, but it was actually quite funny, and both the main characters and the side characters were enjoyable.

Sophie Kinsella's books are more or less the same, in a comforting way. This one is slightly different from most of her other books in that the white protagonist is in her early thirties instead of late twenties, and that she is happily married with two children, instead of single. Sylvie is slightly terrified of the idea of spending the rest of her life doing the same old things with her husband, so she decides they need to surprise each other more to keep things exciting.

The first half of the novel is pure Kinsella slapstick. One hilarious-hijinks-ensue scene after another. (Clearly the surprises are more than Sylvie bargained for.) But halfway through the book, the story takes a slightly darker turn as Sylvie realizes that her husband is keeping something from her. At this point, the whole Surprise Me title gets shoved aside as Sylvie attempts to figure out what her husband is up to.

The second half of the story also has some plot points that feel very much of this year, and I have to wonder if Kinsella threw them in at the last minute after hearing so many news stories lately. It does feel a little shoehorned in, and makes me wish the whole book had been based on this, and not on the stupid Surprise Me gimmick.

Not the best Kinsella book, but good candy reading

Sophie Kinsella never disappoints, and this newest standalone is no exception. Her writing is fun and easy, and this story is great!

Surprise Me certainly surprised me! While in some ways, it's a typical Sophie Kinsella novel with a fun, witty dialogue and plot, it also takes a darker, unexpected turn. After many years of marriage and twin daughters, Sylvie and Dan are still happy – until their insurance physical confirms they'll enjoy 68 more years of happiness together! Can they deal with each other for more than seven decades? They'll be over 100! The panic sets in, and they decide to keep their marriage exciting and seemingly new over the course of so many years. But Sylvie doesn't count on the scandal that invades their happy home. In the end, you can expect the usual humorous and heartfelt Sophie Kinsella story, but you might be surprised by the serious, emotional turn Surprise Me takes. Stick in there, the ending makes all the ups and downs worthwhile.

A happily married couple goes for an insurance checkup, and the doctor pronounces them exceedingly healthy and predicts they will have about 68 more years together. Rather than feeling happy, the two panic thinking about all of those years they will be together. They embark on a plan to add some spark into their marriage by surprising each other -- and the surprises work in the usual humorous Sophie Kinsella style.

This was a fun book--not my favorite of Kinsella's books, but I had a few chuckles and it was an enjoyable way to pass a few hours.

The first Sophie Kinsella book that I couldn't get through. There is indeed a first for everything. I could not connect with any of the characters and the plot line never grabbed my attention. DNF.

This is delightful!! Possibly her best one yet - it's funny, charming, and smart.

Before I review, I must say thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this publication.

Now, I was a huge Sophie Kinsella fan, so when I saw she had a new book coming out I was keen to read it.

Notice I used the word 'was'.

The Shopaholic books were cute.... for the first few. But then Becky became... annoying. Silly.

So I stopped reading the series.

I loved The Undomestic Goddess. I also loved Remember me? Also her last book, My Not So Perfect Life was quite good as well.

I detested The Wedding Night. (Seriously, that much effort to keep people from NOT consummating their wedding?)

When I read the abstract for her new book, Surprise Me, I was intrigued. A married couple with twin girls, and the usual trappings of marriage, decide to start surprising each other to spice up their marriage and bring back the magic.

I am totally paraphrasing of course. But that was the basis of the plot.

Great! I thought. She's writing for a more mature audience, knowing that her readers have grown up along with her. Gone are the silly plots for 20-something single girls; replaced with more mature plots for the woman in her 30s with a husband, job, and family.

Yeah, that was my mistake.

The characters may have aged slightly but their actions have not.

Here's a passage direct from the book itself which shows the level of maturity of the writing, and her characters:

"Why is life like this? Just as you relax and start having fun... life looms up like a mean teacher in the playground shouting 'playtime is over!', and everyone trails off to be miserable and bored again."

Sadly that pretty summed up my reaction to this book. It was full of shallow characters, silly scenarios and of course only at the end did the heroine realize how wrong she was with all of her assumptions throughout the plot.

Oh, and the whole 'surprise each other idea'? The point of the book? Stopped about 1/3 of the way through.

This will likely be my last try with Sophie Kinsella. But again thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Loved every Word! I find Sophie's work to be inspiring, such a giggle and always a great read!

heartfelt but unimpressive

I would like to thank Sophie Kinsella, The Dial Press/Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After speaking with their doctor, Sylvie and Dan Winter are daunted by the prospect of sixty-eight more years of marriage. Realizing they know each other too well, Sylvie starts Project Surprise Me in an effort to keep them interested in one another. Most of their surprises go awry, though, and lead to unintentional surprises—like long-kept secrets with the power to shatter the bubble of ignorance in which they’ve been functioning. What starts as an effort to save their marriage…might actually destroy it.
_____

Spoilers

This book wasn’t a disaster, I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t Kinsella’s best work.

There were two plots. The first, which I’ll call Project Surprise Me, had a light tone and themes of living in the moment and loving completely. It was instigated and propped up by an absurdly thoughtless and unprofessional claim made by their doctor. I think Sylvie and Dan took it way too seriously and lent it more credence than it deserved. It was a flimsy foundation for a plot that fizzled out in the end. The second plot, which I’ll dub Protect Sylvie, was darker and dealt with pride, disillusionment, and the depths of grief. The two were incorporated well but not seamlessly. Project Surprise Me eventually got lost in Protect Sylvie.

I could predict the direction the story was going in, but I couldn’t predict the details. The pace was a touch slow in the middle, and I believe some elements were unnecessary and could have been removed—for example, Mary ultimately served no purpose—but then this relatively short book would have been even shorter, and short books aren’t as lucrative.

The characters were okay, but I didn’t fall in love with any of them. I sympathized with Sylvie somewhat, but I think that was more a product of the first-person narrative than any emotional connection I had with her. Other than blonde hair, we didn’t have much in common, so it was difficult to relate. Also, Sylvie’s fear of heights was one of the unnecessary elements. I very much did not appreciate the demonstration of her courage at the end, because it killed the momentum of their reunion, which was more important than her irrelevant fear of heights.

Dan was nice, but his personal goals and motivations, other than to protect Sylvie from the truth because he thought it would break her, were enigmatic, and I didn’t fully understand him as a character. I still have questions. Was his work situation resolved? He was going to do some major expansions, but I’m not sure if he did or not. And I’m not sure why he felt the need to in the first place. To compete with Sylvia’s dad in wealth? He never felt the need before, so why did he suddenly want to compete? I’m not sure what changed.

And why, exactly, did he invite his old mates over for a sudden, random dinner party? We’re led to believe it was so he could see Mary again and start an affair with her, but we learn that was unfounded, so why did Kinsella bother to include it? Did Dan think catching up with his past would make him feel less stressed about his present? That’s a bit hypocritical, since he was always telling Sylvie to stop dwelling on the past. I think it was said that he “downloaded” on Mary—or at least he halfway wanted to, but never actually did, since Mary didn’t know jack squat. As a result, her only purpose was to torture Sylvie, and that wasn’t necessary, because Sylvie already suspected something fishy was going on behind her back.

I gotta say though, Mary handled the entire situation with eerie aplomb. Imagine a guy you dated over ten years ago suddenly tracked you down and, in the capacity of friendship, wanted to vent his problems to you. Wouldn’t that be at least a little weird? Not for Mary; she acted like it was totally inconsequential.

As for the other characters, Mummy was a psycho who thrived on denial. Mrs. Kendrick was a willfully ignorant woman whose tastes included everything old-fashioned and antifeminist. However, she was willing, even determined, to learn and modernize, which endeared me to her. The twins were just there, and Prof. Russell and Owen were unnecessary (though I liked them a lot). I liked Tilda, but Toby was useless. And lastly, I was pleasantly surprised when Robert’s attitude changed for the better.

But despite its flaws, Surprise Me is filled with heart and good intention. It contains a great message about marriage, love, and realistic expectations. Mechanically, the writing was skilled, and stylistically, it was classic Kinsella, with charming awkwardness and amusing inner dialogue tangents and fabrication. I eagerly await Kinsella’s next book.

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Standard fare from Sophie Kinsella. A miscommunication/misunderstanding between a married couple sets off a story that could be comical at times and rather bleak at others. Of course, all wraps up nicely at the end and ends well.
This was a nice break from all of the psychological thrillers I have been reading!

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this! I admit to requesting the book on account of the author, and expected a much light hearted book, but I was really surprised by how well written and developed the book was.