If you like a fun, easy read with a bit of depth, then ‘Surprise Me’ by Sophie Kinsella is for you.
Sylvie and Dan have been together…well, forever really. They have everything they could possibly want; happy marriage, lovely home, two beautiful twin girls…and at least another 68 years together!!!!
68 years!!! When a Doctor applauds their good health with his light-hearted comment, Dan and Sylvie, but especially Sylvie, begin to panic.
68 years!!! How are they going to manage another 68 years with the same person? Will they get bored? Will they still love each other? Will the sex still be good?
All of a sudden, the little hairline fractures in their marriage begin to crack open just a little more as Sylvie begins to re-evaluate her life and everything she has believed in, until now.
I really enjoyed this book, although I do get a little tired of the fluffy, scatty female characters that fill so many of Sophie Kinsella’s books. However, despite this, I feel that Sophie Kinsella’s books have ‘grown up’ a bit, since the first highly addictive ‘Shopaholic’ series hit the shelves, and the fluffy female lead has real issues to deal with as she contemplates what really matters in a relationship.
I give this book 3 and a half stars

Whenever I pick up a Sophie Kinsella book, I know certain things. I know the heroine will be fun and interesting and a little chaotic. I know I will laugh.
She surprised me with the ending. Though I had a suspicion about where it might go, I didn’t see it coming at all.

Sophie Kinsella writes the best chick lit books. Her way of writing contemporary romance novels in a fun, lighthearted way always has my heart aflutter. I love her use of language and writing, and I think any female adult would love her novels. This story was especially fun and humorous!

Classic Sophie Kinsella! As always, Sophie gives us two totally relatable characters going through typical, relatable problems that can easily happen to any of us, though Sylvie and Dan end up with more drama than usual! Sylvie and Dan are funny and you can't help but grow attached and root for them, even as they inadvertently screw things up a bit in their quest to succeed in "Project Surprise Me." In the end though, they learn a bit more about each other and that ultimately brings their family closer together. A really enjoyable, funny, easy read that you'll likely end up binge reading because you'll want to know what's going to happen next!

“Love is finding one person infinitely fascinating.”

This ended up being a surprisingly poignant book, given that some of the earlier Sophie Kinsella stories I've tried are more slapstick silly (which has never worked for me). But similar to MY (NOT SO) PERFECT LIFE, SURPRISE ME had some depth and really nice character development.

Story-wise, this one focuses on a married couple celebrating their 10th anniversary but is told entirely from the wife's POV. The first half is very different from the second half, with the former being more humorous, slightly ridiculous, and predictable. While that was all fine and good and something I can appreciate and enjoy (I like to laugh, really I do!), I will readily admit I preferred the latter half of the story because that is where all of the character growth happened. That's when it felt less chick-lit and more women's fiction, and while the author was able to loosely weave together both halves in the end, I did find it somewhat disjointed and had wished the first half wasn't as silly and held some of the same depth as the latter one.

Rating: B

Like most of Sophie Kinsella's books I really enjoyed this one! I remember getting frustrated with the female protagonist throughout the story but by the end I adored her. I enjoyed her character arc. It's been a while since i read this one but I really enjoyed it and would recommend it if you're looking for an entertaining/ slightly mysterious chick lit.

Another miss for me. I usually love Sophie Kinsella's books, but this one just wasn't there for me. The writing style was a bit off and I didn't connect with the characters. I wanted to love this book so much, but it sadly fell short.

I love Sophie Kinsella. Surprise Me was a bit of a slog for me, even though there were enough "surprises"to keep the story going. I think I just didn't like the main character very much so I couldn't really relate or root for her. It started out quite promising with the thought that two 30something marrieds who have been very happy to date are suddenly told that they are very healthy and will live to be in their 70s and beyond, thus spending the next 68 years together. The prospect of spending that many years with each other is a bit daunting and Sylvie starts to wonder how they will keep their marriage fresh. Her idea is to continually surprise each other. And that's when it starts. It's cute and comical at first but then it takes a turn until the ultimate surprise of the whole book. Meh.

Sophie Kinsella is so dependable! Surprise Me is another in a long line of great reads from her. I love her characters and the situations they get themselves in! While this one had it's giggles (the "photoshoot" had me crying!) it really had a serious undertone that I truly think that all of us can relate to. There's not a book from her I wouldn't recommend.

Thank you to Sophie Kinsella, NetGalley, Random House Publicity, The Dial Press and Madhen Media Ltd. for a digital ARC of SURPRISE ME by Sophie Kinsella in exchange for an honest review.

SURPRISE ME by Sophie Kinsella was a fun quirky read with surprising and often humorous twists and turns.

Sylvie and Dan have been together for ten years and have twin girls. They are happy and should be thrilled when the doctor tells them that they are healthy and could live to be one hundred! But thoughts of being together for sixty-eight more years causes them to panic and fear that they will grow bored over that length of time. Sylvie and Dan decide to have surprises for each other to make their marriage exciting. Read this book to find out more.

This standalone novel about marriage, trust and family and how those we love the most can sometimes surprise us the most was light and entertaining. Novels written by Sophia Kinsella always put me in a good mood and make me laugh.

As always, Sophie Kinsella delivers a fun, funny romp that makes me remember why I love reading! So one writes quite like Sophie, and I’m looking forward to her next book.

I find Sophie Kinsella very hit or miss for me. I really did not enjoy the Shopaholic series, but have really liked some of her other stuff. Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me. I liked the premise but it just didn't hold my attention and I had to force myself to finish it in order to review it.

Sophie Kinsella has always been an auto-read/auto-buy ever since I’ve read the Shopaholic series. When I need a good laugh and positive vibes, her books are definitely on my top choices. Surprise Me didn’t disappoint me. It got the typical wit and humor I came to love from all the Sophie Kinsella books I’ve read. The writing is great and the pacing, fast and easy to read. The characters are adorable especially the side characters. I always love the character development of her heroines and this one isn’t any different. Sylvie’s growth is beautifully done.

I also like how this one is different from her past works as it revolves around a married couple than a single woman. I may not understand the couple’s panic at learning they’ll be spending more years together but maybe there are people who will feel that way. There is also so much more to it than the couples’ worries and little surprises which added depth and a bit darkness to the story. It deals with marriage and family, and even tackles grief. It brings good messages about love, marriage, self-discovery and much more. And finally, I love the ending and how everything was wrapped up nicely. Though not her best work, I totally enjoyed this novel. It is light, funny, and very entertaining.

I'm normally not very into books like this-- feels like the chick flick version of a book. But this was so real and so relatable and I love it!

I usually enjoy the books by Sophie Kinsella and I was looking forward to reading this one but unfortunately it didn't work for me at all.

I struggled a lot with the premise of this book when Sylvie and Dan found out they still have many years together and freaked. I seriously didn't get what their problem was. Shouldn't you be happy to have many years together, especially if everything is working smoothly. There was no hint that they had any problems in their relationship, so what is the problem with a long life together?!

There is hardly anything happening in this book and Kinsella describes so many unimportant things. This really had me bored and I started skimming through the pages.

Sylvie really had a weird picture of her "daddy" and it was really annoying how perfect she thinks he was.

The book didn't work for me at all, it hardly made me laugh and I was bored for most of the time.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of Surprise Me from netgalley and the publisher, Dial Press. All opinions expressed below are my own.

Synopsis:
Surprise Me is the newest novel by chick-lit queen Sophie Kinsella. Sylvie and Dan have been together for 10 years and have twin daughters. They head for their yearly physical and the physician tells them that they are both in great health and will likely live long lives and have about 68 more years of marriage to look forward to! While this is good news, the couple proceeds to freak out at how they will fill those 68 years and still keep it fresh. Sylvie decides the best option is to surprise each other. Of course, if you know the chick lit tropes, all sorts of accidents ensue.

Review:
I read a lot of Sophie Kinsella (Shopaholics) previously, but it has probably been a decade since I picked up one of her books. I was in the mood for a lighter read and thought this would be a great fit. Overall, the novel delivered. I actually started this book in January and then wasn't motivated to pick it back up and finish it. Because of my Netgalley-read-a-thon, I wanted to check this one off the list and so pushed through.

I liked that the single-lady plot grew up to a married wife plot. It made me feel like the author and the characters were growing up with me a bit. At this point, I'd love to read some mommy or wife drama as opposed to single woman drama (which I haven't been in 10 years).

Overall, it was a bit frustrating that most of the drama centered around the main couple not communicating. Basically, all of the issues in the novel wouldn't have arose if the couple had actually talked about things. I think that was the most frustrating part of the plot for me - I would hae preferred this to have gone a few steps further.

I think fans of chick-lit, especially more "grown up" fans, will enjoy this novel. It is light and will make you roll your eyes at times, but its a fun and easy read. I rate this one 3 solid stars.

This was my second Sophie Kinsella book. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the first I read, which was My Not So Perfect Life, but I still found it an enjoyable read. I look forward to reading more by this author. She writes great books to take on vacation or to the beach.

I am not sure that anything from Kinsella will top My Not So Perfect Life for me. I didn’t love this book. I mean, the whole premise is that the characters find out they are going to get 68 more years together, that is awesome news! When you get married, don’t you go into it expecting to spend the rest of your lives growing old together??? That is sort of the point. So I just don’t get the whole freak out over living another 68 years together. I got really bored reading this book, and it took me a month to finish. I am going to be completely honest…I skipped over about 30% of the book and didn’t even miss anything.

Bottom Line: There really isn’t anything special about this book. I didn’t mind the ending, and can appreciate that the characters grew and changed…but I was bored most of this book and couldn’t wait to just be done with it. So I can’t really recommend it.

**I received a copy of Surprise me from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.””

My review has been posted to Goodreads.

Review has also been tweeted as usual.

Thank you! :c)

This was just an okay read that I couldn't bring myself to finish. Thanks NetGalley for giving me a look.