I didn’t read much about this before I started. I like to go in blind sometimes. And as I was reading I thought “wow this sounds like it was about the author”. Then when I finished I was in awe. The author’s courage was above what one could actually manage with such a diagnosis. The vulnerability to put to paper her darkest moments was amazing. It’s a short story, but it will stick you for a long time. Thank you for sharing.

Wow. An unbelievably raw look into Kinsella’s real life cancer journey. Cancer touched my family this year and while my sister was very private, I loved this inside look as perhaps what she thought.

Well done, I’m leaving this book an even bigger Kinsella fan, if that was even possible!!

I just love Kinsella’s novels and this one did not disappoint!
What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella was such a beautiful story.
A personal and heartfelt novella that sucked me in.

Thank You NetGalley and The Dial Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I have been a fan of Sophie Kinsella’s for years, and this book is her most powerful and inspiring yet. Although it is a work of fiction, Eve’s story is Kinsella’s story. In just 144 pages, Kinsella brings us on the emotional rollercoaster ride of an incurable illness diagnosis. This book is incredibly heartbreaking, moving, and raw. I applaud Kinsella for sharing her story. Despite her diagnosis, she never lost her positive outlook and sense of humor. Thank you Sophie for your bravery and honesty in writing this beautiful novella.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Dial Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was so authentic and raw. I appreciated the autobiographical aspect and how it was easier for her to share her story through fiction. I think she is so brave for sharing her story especially while she is still going through it. I really enjoyed reading this.

Advanced copy for review.
I always feel a little uncomfortable rating a book that is written with an autobiographical standpoint, but this is an excellent book, albeit a short one.
As much as I'd have liked a longer book, to raise awareness for Sophie Kinsella's condition, now I know more about what she is dealing with, I totally understand.
This is a painful, stark read, but is so touching and warm with it too. It really showcases Kinsella as a wonderful writer.

This was so different than any other Sophie Kinsella books. It was a real and raw Honest story of her life recently. I read it in one sitting easily.

Awww. This book was bittersweet to read. The reader can understand what Eve is going through and it felt real. Because it is. This book is about hope, sadness, love and family. While Eve is fictional, Sophie herself is dealing with a cancer diagnosis. I enjoyed this book.

This was such a great short book. I didn't realize I was readying a true story about the author battling a brain tumor. Sophie has been one of my favorite authors. I have read all of the Confessions of a Shopaholic Series and loved them. This was such an inspiring story about Eve dealing with a devastating diagnosis. How she had to keep going for her husband and five children. It's about hope, joy, devastation, fear and heartbreak. It was a truly an amazing story and such a great read. I would only hope that I had the same bravery if I ever had to face such a devastating diagnosis.


Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this free advance copy

Happy Pub Day! Sophie Kinsella’s latest novel, WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?, is out today. Heartbreaking and also a novel of life, positivity, and love. Eve, a novelist, wakes up in a hospital bed with no short term memory. She was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and has to relearn walking, talking, writing, and how to live with this diagnosis. Unfortunately, this is the diagnosis that the author has received. Sophie Kinsella said “Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”

This book was absolutely beautiful — you will laugh but you will also cry as you follow Eve and her family through this grief. Highly recommend this book! I’ve loved Sophie Kinsella since I first cracked open the shopaholic series.

Many thanks to @thedialpress and @netgalley for an early copy. It’s an emotional but excellent read.

This book gets the whole 5 stars. It is a differnt type of novel than I am used to reading and especially from Sophie Kinsella. I enjoyed every page and did not know whether to feel happy, sad or anything in between. This is a must read of 2024 and probaly for years afterwards! It is eye-opening!

Emotional, personal and poignant, this is not Sophie Kinsella's typical book.

In her latest book, What Does It Feel Like? Kinsella shares a compilation of fictionalized vignettes based on her own health struggles. Readers get a personal perspective about the emotional and physical ups and downs of a person living with a life-threatening illness and how it impacts the patient and their family.

This book looks at cancer in a candid and intimate way. As someone who had a family member suffer through a brain tumour, this book hit close to home. But with humour and heart, Kinsella shows that through pain and adversity you can still find moments of joy and inspiration.

Short but powerful and full of insight and optimism, you may want to keep the Kleenex box handy, but you will ultimately finish this book in deep awe of Kinsella (and anyone living with a life-threatening disease) as she shares her deeply personal experiences living with a brain tumour.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Dial Press for the complimentary digital copy of this book which was given in exchange for my honest review.

I had no idea the author was struggling with this but it didn't matter. It was A great read. Well written with humor and kindness it was just an inspiration. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley!

👗I am not doing a typical book review for this beautiful, emotional short story. All I can say is I was crying on a plane reading it and it touched me so much. Please go read this ASAP! Read the books description for trigger warnings!

🎉Happy Pub Day @sophiekinsellawriter & thank you for sharing this story with us.

Thank you to @netgalley, @randomhouse publishing & Sophie Kinsella for a copy of this story in exchange for my honest review.

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What Does It Feel Like
5⭐️

I am a true shopaholic, if you all couldn’t tell. Yet somehow I’ve never read Shopaholic or any other Sophie Kinsella book before. But when her own story came out in the press I was saddened for her and happy for others that she shared her story. Cancer is a beast and touches so many around us. So when she fictionalized her own journey, I knew I wanted to read this. In less than 150 pages I laughed and cried multiple times. I couldn’t ask for more from this author who was brave enough to tell her story the best way she could. If you are familiar with her work or not, it’s worth letting her tell you this story. I am so thankful for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Random House for this advanced reader copy. My opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I recently heard about Sophie Kinsella’s brain cancer diagnosis and I was heartbroken. She has been one of my favorite authors. That being said, I started this autobiographical book hesitantly, with so many feelings; sadness, and dread but as I read on I was in awe of her ability to write about a subject that is so difficult; with her raw emotions on the page for all of us to read. She displays bravery and positivity and with typical comedic style she shares what this diagnosis has been like for her and her family. It made me cry and it made me see that she and her family are amazing people who are inspiring and optimistic. This is a short read but one well worth reading.

This book made me cry so much. It was so raw and heartbreaking. But strangely enough it also made me laugh a little too. Her husband’s patience was so touching. This was a beautiful love story. This will be in my top 10 for the year. It’s a really quick and powerful read. I read it in one sitting. And for Sophie - thank you for being brave by telling us parts of your story 🩷 I will definitely be purchasing the physical book and more of her books!

This novella was beautiful and heart breaking and full of so much tenderness. My mom had a stroke years ago so I understand how fragile the brain is and could feel all the empathy in this book from her husband and the doctors. What a sweet recovery story, and how Brave Kinsella is for sharing her heart with us.

I received an advance review copy for free from the publisher via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

as I write this my nose is stuffy and my eyes are dry because I just wept reading Kinsella’s latest novella, “What does it feel like?”

It is a fictionalized account of Kinsella’s own diagnosis with an incurable brain cancer. Eve is a writer, with a beloved husband and five children and a career she knows she’s lucky to have.

Then it all changes. Much like her novels Kinsella uses her honest and quirky voice to share her story. In the acknowledgments she mentions being a private person and this being a way to share this part of herself with her readers.

The conversations in this book are real, however fictionalized it is, as her husband, children and Eve go through her first year of treatment after brain surgery. Conversations that pierce your heart and then bring raucous laughter— something we all learned in “Steel Magnolias” is necessary.

”Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.”

It’s not a book of answers or a happy ending wrapped in a bow. But it’s a novella that give a snapshot of a life in flux, a woman struggling to come to terms with a new turn in her life.

There’s a lesson for everyone in that.

Thank you random house and PRH audio for review copies!
Though a short read, this is a novella to go back to time and again to think about the depth of love, the strength, and the experience of this kind of brain cancer. Kinsella's writing here is deeply personal even if somewhat fictionalized and captures raw emotions and fears, thoughts, events related to her brain surgery. A testament to her strength but also a remarkable commentary on her marriage and her strong husband.