LauraD’s review of Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
Chick Lit hardcover release by Dial Press 26 Feb 08
Trade Paperback release 28 Oct 08
What if one day you woke up and all those little daydreams had suddenly come true? You’d lost 20 pounds, your hair was fabulous, you had a better job, and instead of fantasizing about Mr. Perfect, you were married to him. Only, what if you didn’t remember who you were? That’s the premise in Sophie Kinsella’s new novel Remember Me?.
Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, with no memories of the last three years. Apparently, she’s made some BIG changes in her life; she’s transformed herself physically, gotten promoted at work, changed all her friends, and become everything she always wanted to be. Oh, and there’s also a gorgeous and successful husband now. If only she could remember any of it!
The Lexi Smart that narrates Remember Me? is introduced in a short prologue, and she’s a bit of a mess. That doesn’t really change when confronted with the new and improved Lexi’s life; her husband has to write her a handbook on how to deal with it. So she begins the task of navigating her life anew, and finding out that other than the designer handbags and her new figure, she really doesn’t like it at all – and Lexi hasn’t even found out she has a lover yet.
Lexi spends a good part of the book being aimless and a tad bit whiny. At first she’s excited by waking up to a shiny new life, but as she comes to realize it’s not what she really wants, she starts to pout. I knew I was supposed to like her, but at that point I was having a hard time. However, when she goes back to work she finds a project to really believe in, and she morphed into a character with backbone. The second half of Remember Me?, when Lexi is starting to take control of her life again, was more fun for me than the first half. Yep, she got likable.
Jon, Lexi’s erstwhile lover, was a much harder character to get a handle on. Why was he affair-worthy? I know this isn’t a romance, but I needed a little more show and a little less tell. I never felt any kind of connection between the two, and I never got the impression that Lexi did, either. Secondary characters were well written, but none of them had depth.
Sophie Kinsella is always talented at taking odd little moments and getting humor out of them- a toilet that won’t flush during a party, for instance. Maybe a phrase that has a special meaning for a married couple. There are a few such moments in Remember Me? that are snort-worthy, but never at a character’s expense. I appreciate the way she pokes a lot of fun at the newly moneyed young Brits, but never makes fun of them. Her ability to balance humor and humanity is certainly a primary reason she’s the reigning queen of British chick lit.
Remember Me? is out in hardback now [Ed.: and is standalone, separate from her Shopaholic books], and I’d say that unless you are a diehard Sophie Kinsella fan, you won’t miss out by waiting for the trade paperback release.
Grade B-
Summary:
When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident-in a Mercedes no less-Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.
Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband-who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.
Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?
Read an excerpt.
