njchicaa's Full Review: Sophie Kinsella and Charlotte Parry - Remember Me?
I am quite the sucker for chick-lit novels written by authors like Jane Green and Sophie Kinsella. Even when I find myself unimpressed and bored with their newer releases, I still can't seem to stop myself from buying the next book that they write... and the next... and the next.
I've been bored and frustrated with Kinsella's Shopaholic series for years now, but I have enjoyed her other stand-alone novels like Can You Keep A Secret? and The Undomestic Goddess. While placing an order for books at Overstock.com, I saw that Remember Me? was the author's newest release. Of course I added it to the cart.
The Premise
Lexi Smart is your average, single, twenty-five year old assistant junior sales associate at a national carpet company. She has just been denied a yearly bonus (on account of working for the company three weeks shy of a full year) and is due at her father's funeral the next day. She goes out with friends for drinks, slips/falls on her way to catch a taxi at the end of the night, and wakes up the next day to find herself in the hospital.
Angry that she has missed her father's funeral, she wants to get her purse and check out of the hospital... Then she discovers that she is now twenty-eight, thin, gorgeous, an executive at the carpet company, and married to a gorgeous multimillionaire. She's been in a car accident and has retrograde amnesia. Her last memory is of her previous head injury when she slipped and fell outside of the nightclub three years ago.
Lexi has no idea how her life could have transformed so dramatically in just a couple of years. She longs to return to her familiar flat, friends, and situation, but she is also tempted to try to jump into her new fantasy life. Eventually, her curiosity gets the best of her and she goes home to her luxury penthouse with her handsome husband. She has full faith that her memory will eventually return and she will fit perfectly into her glamorous life.
My Opinion
I have to say that although the idea behind Remember Me? is interesting, the story itself was very predictable. I had the entire ending to the book worked out by Chapter 8. (There are 21 chapters in all.) I enjoyed watching the story unfold initially, but eventually I became frustrated at lack of real information or explanation about how Lexi's life transformed so drastically. The author includes one scene toward the end in an attempt to tie things together but it is incredibly inadequate and feels like an afterthought that was added at the suggestion of an editor. Even after finishing the story, I still didn't feel satisfied with Lexi's transformation from normal girl to sophisticated, super-successful woman. The whole thing still didn't make any sense to me.
As with all of Sophie Kinsella's books, Remember Me? is a fast and easy read. I plowed through it in about four hours one evening. It isn't great literature but it is entertaining enough for someone who enjoys chick-lit. I would recommend Remember Me? to anyone who enjoys this type of book.
With the same wicked humor and delicious charm that have won her millions of devoted fans, Sophie Kinsella, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller...More at Barnes & Noble.com
With the same wicked humor and delicious charm that have won her millions of devoted fans, Sophie Kinsella, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller...More at Barnes & Noble.com
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