SURPRISE ME
BY SOPHIE KINSELLA

I always enjoy a light, fluff break from serious domestic family drama or psychological thrillers or last but not least contemporary fiction with realism. The couple in this latest novel "Surprise Me," by Sophie Kinsella are a happily married husband and wife who have been married for ten years, live a comfortable lifestyle with two healthy children. They even finish each other's sentences. When the Doctor announces that they are both healthy and are going to live another 68 years together they put into motion a plan henceforth the title, "Surprise Me." The couple starts buying things for each other. Not only material things can keep a couple happy. How about commitment is one of the reasons people get married. This book was just pure lighthearted fun. I think I liked last year's,"My Not So Perfect Life," a little better though. All in all a great read just when I needed it. I found myself laughing out loud several times.

Thank you to Net Galley and Sophie Kinsella and the publisher for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is one of Sophie Kinsella's better ones I loved it.
Silvie and Dan know each other so well so that when an actuaries' doctor forcasts another 68 years together they have worries about being bored. Sylvie hits on the idea of surprises to keep their marriage fresh, one of which results in an evening visit to a garden which Dan created in his youth it also results in him making contact with a past girlfriend and and then being secretive and defensive. Terrified,Sylvie knows Dan has hang ups about her perfect, deceased father and wishes Dan could grow past them and blames this for their hang ups. Amid her problems she encounters Robert and she's tempted to spend the evening or possibly all night with him. So she analyses what she thinks marriage is, :choosing a chocolate from a box and slamming the lid closed and not even seeing any other flavours.
Sylvie has other comical thoughts like, why should swish offices be allowed floor to ceiling windows when she is terrified of heights?
This is fast, funny and be like totally unpredictable.
I really enjoyed it and also recommended to everyone

Sadly, as hard as I tried, I just couldn't get into this book. I've enjoyed many of Sophie's other standalone novels in the past, but ended up unable to finish this one. The characters are just so immature. I thought for a moment that perhaps I've just outgrown these books, but then remembered how I loved My Not So Perfect Life and Twenties Girl still remains a favourite to this day. This one just didn't pull me in.

I really enjoyed this book. It tackled some difficult issues but in a Sophie Kinsella way. In reading this book, I ran the gamut of emotions from happy to angry to sad and back again. There were some twists and I enjoyed the characters, their growth, and the ways in which they changed. I'd read more stories about Sylvie & Dan for sure.

This was my first book by Sophie Kinsella, and I was pleasantly surprised.

I started reading this book before bed intending to put it down at some point and finish it the following day, but I ended up staying up far too late to finish. The biggest reason was because this book was so funny! The romantic misadventures of Dan and Sylvie were just adorable. I really enjoyed reading a romantic comedy featuring a long married couple instead of the will they/won't they stories that are most common.

It wasn't the most unpredictable story. I did figure out most of the plot twists long before they were revealed. But, in this case, the reading experience more than made up for the not so surprising surprises.

Dan and Sylvie are the happily married couple with a set of twin girls until they go for their annual check ups which they get the some good news but the news about the living a very long time makes them a bit nervous and their imagination starts to get the best of them. Being married for so long can make anyone nervious. So when they tried adding some surprises to their marriage something from the past comes up and Dan starts to act a bit strange and Sylvie starts to believe that something is going on and she needs to find out what.
Even though Sylvie still grieves his loss but overly admirers him but Dan doesn't seem to think very highly of him. I think there was more to that especially since her mom is always acts as if Sylvie wil, have a meltdown.
Suddenly some words are said and things start to make Sylvie wonder whats going on but as she beings to put things together. Her perfect life becomes a twisted mess and the life she thought was great is turned upside down.

This was another good Sophie Kinsella book. I enjoyed all the characters and the outcome in the end.

Sophie Kinsella has a certain style of writing - if you have read and enjoyed another book of hers, you will enjoy the next one too. Her stories are fun, witty, and engaging.

This one didn't work for me unfortunately, which is rare as I love all of Sophie's books! Have enjoyed her other books since then.

I am sorry for not reviewing fully but I don’t have the time to read this at the moment. I believe that it wouldn't benefit you as a publisher or your book if I only skimmed it and wrote a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for not fully reviewing!

This book took me on an unexpected journey as the wife tried to connect with her somewhat distant husband and the unexpected surprise revealed at the end.

Try as I might, I just never got into this one.... silly premise and characters I didn’t care about so I never wanted to read it, even when I had the time. I’m disappointed as I usually like Kinella’s stand-alone novels for some light fun vacation reading. Oh well....

DNF
I normally like Kinsella's books, but I had a really hard time getting into Surprise Me. At this time, I will not be reviewing this title. I apologize for the inconvenience.

I’ve read a few of Kinsella’s earlier novels and liked them, so I was excited to give this one a try. I listened to the audiobook and quite enjoyed it! I really like the narrator (Fiona Hardingham) and have listened to a few of the novels she’s done.

The book itself is about Sylvie and Dan and their mission to reintroduce some excitement into their marriage. Sylvie was very dramatic at times which I actually found to be quite funny. While the novel went in a different direction than I was expecting, I thought it added a lot more depth to the storyline and characters. I was definitely surprised by some things which I always like in a book.

I’d recommend this one if you’re looking for something that’s easy to follow via audiobook and a narrator who is great! It’s overall a lighter read that still has some depth.

I'm always down for a good Sophie Kinsella book. It's interesting that as she's gotten older, her characters have as well. The adults we see in Surprise Me are a far cry from the younger, carefree characters we saw in Can You Keep a Secret?, Remember Me or Twenties Girl, but I can appreciate their maturity. The age of her characters doesn't take away or hinder the same quirkiness and imperfect characters that Kinsella has given us in the past. Surprise Me is definitely a solid read from a solid writer.

Sophie Kinsella’s books are a great grab for an easy chick-lit read. However, this book was a struggle! The premise really bothered me at first – Sylvie and Dan go to the doctor for a check up and he tells them they could live to be married for 68 more years and they start freaking out? Why get married if not to be with your partner for life? It really got good at the end and I wish the book would have focused more on Sylvie’s father and the mystery there vs the dumb 68 years of marriage thing.

I enjoyed this book it still had the humor that you find in Kinsella's books but also dealt with real issues regarding marriage and how we perceive our childhood when we look back on it.

I recommended this on my blog Modern Mrs Darcy in a post called "17 books everyone will be talking about this summer." This was a fun one!

This was my first Sophie Kinsella book and all I can say is it was just okay. If I was to based the rest of her books off of this one I'm not sure I would read more. But I will read a couple more books by this author in order to decide. The book had surprises but it was more character driven than plot driven, which I'm not crazy about. It was okay, but just okay in my opinion.

Mini review:

I received this e-arc via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

DNF

Despite the not-so great synopsis I wanted to read this anyways. After all it’s a Kinsella book. Unfortunately it wasn’t any good.

The main characters were supremely dumb. Her 20 year characters (in other books) have more sense then the husband and wife in this book. Now mind you I thought the whole thing was bogus to begin with. I had no idea that this was a legit science. And even if it is true I still don’t buy it.

The worst part was their reactions to the whole situation. If it were me I would feel over the moon. I would possibly get to see my grandchildren. But no these two instead stress about how they’ll manage their marriage. Personally speaking I felt that they had insecurities about their marriage before the appointment.

Don’t recommend. Honestly just read her other books. Like My not so perfect life. It’s much better than this.

I've only read one other Sophie Kinsella so far. It was My Not So Perfect Life and I really enjoyed it. Of course I had high hopes for Surprise Me, but it was not at all what I was expecting. I was immediately bored and could not relate to the main characters. I kept waiting for something to hook me and keep me salivating for the next page, but I couldn't raise much enthusiasm for finishing the story. I will definitely be moving cautiously with the next Sophie Kinsella novel I have the opportunity to read.
*ARC provided in consideration for review*