A Lovereading member is such a fan of Sophies book that she sent in the review below. We liked it so much we decided to publish the whole review - and get an Opening Extract of the book as well.
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Twenties Girl – Sophie Kinsella Twenties Girl is a light hearted, feel good read that is a typical Kinsella delight. It has the characters you grow to love and feel you have known all your life, along with the storylines that you can completely relate to and understand. However, this story had a quirky twist which sets it apart from all other novels of a similar, ‘chick-lit’ genre.
The main character, Lara is a loveable if slightly ditzy young twenty something professional who, like many women of a similar age wants it all: the perfect job, the perfect boy and the perfect life. It seems though that she does not always make the best decisions for herself which sometimes lead her life in the total opposite direction than she hopes for. It is only when the second main character of the story, Sadie comes into the picture that Lara begins to change her life around and in fact start to become the woman she hoped to be, without even realising so to begin with.
The twist of the story is that Sadie is actually a ghost. A ghost that has unfinished business to attend to and recruits Lara, her great Niece to help with this matter. This is where the true comedy element of the story comes alive. Sadie uses Lara to do all the things she didn’t get the chance to do, or those things she misses doing now that she, well, is no longer alive to do them! To begin with, Sadie seems like a pushy, quite annoying character, but the further into the story you go, the more you will enjoy this unlikely loveable relationship that is forming between a great Aunt and her Niece who never really knew each other when they were both alive! In fact, no one in Lara’s family seemed to know much about this great Aunt, which is possibly the reason Lara feels the need to help Sadie.
The guilt of not knowing a family member then attending her funeral without really knowing anything about her. It has to be said that there were definitely many laugh out loud moments in this story, mainly being the many ‘favours’ Sadie asks Lara to do for her which included dressing as though she was in the 20’s with the full hair, makeup and dancing 20’s style. Lara had to do this in a very modern London, so it was clearly an uncomfortable experience for Lara but gave the reader a sense of heart-warming and happiness along with a good laugh or two along the way! There was however a meaning behind Sadie coming back and asking for the help of her Niece Lara, and it all focuses on a necklace that Sadie lost sometime during her life and she needs it back before she can be properly laid to rest. In the search for this necklace, Lara is left in some pretty odd and , sometimes risky situations; all of which made the story more interesting and gave the book a, ‘can’t put me down’ feeling!
So for those that normally love the ‘chick-lit’ style, this will be a definite must read, as it oozes all the characteristics of a great Kinsella story. And for those that usually wouldn’t go for a girly feel good read then this book could still be for you. It had twists and turns and unexpected things happened to keep the reader firmly gripped right until the last page! For all those wanting that perfect summer read, then this could be just what you’re looking for! - Sarah Ford
| Primary Genre | Romance / Relationship Stories |
| Recommendations: |
