Book Review: My Not So Perfect Life

I think a lot of us struggle with impossible standards we set for ourselves. Well at least I do. Which explains this book review of My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella.

I’m a fan of books which address this issue. Like Katie Brenner, who is trying to make a success of herself in the heart of London, many of us believe the way people accomplish great things is through sheer refusal to acknowledge the possibility of failure. After all, if Columbus had decided the ocean voyage was too formidable to even attempt  – well, you get my drift.

“Failure is not an option” is certainly the message inherent in any motivational book I have ever read. And I have rolled my eyes through quite a few of those.

Because that old Yiddish saying, Mann tracht und Gott lacht, Man plans and God laughs, is so true.

When Katie is fired by her loathsome but brilliant boss, her entire world view is shattered. I loved the way Kinsella treated this period in her protagonist’s life, walking her through a bereavement process as surely as if Katie had lost a loved one.

I’m extra conscious of plot structure these days so I also appreciate how much time and space Kinsella gave Katie to rebuild her life at her parents’ farm in Somerset. As a result, the reader feels more confident in Katie’s ability to cope when her old life comes calling.

Sometimes, in romances, the lovers are too obviously created for each other. Understandable, since the author wants their relationship to be inevitable.

Writing characters this way ties them together at the ankle doomed to an endless three legged race.

Neither lover can successfully stand alone. They have to embrace in order to move forward.

But I didn’t get that feeling here.

Kinsella has managed to create such a strong believable main character, by the end of the book the obligatory happy ending is less significant than the growing Katie has done.

And Katie’s happy ending is all the more pleasing for having been her own choice.

Rose Grey has written three romance novels and is hard at work on a fourth. Wednesday is generally book review day. Unless it isn’t. If you liked this post, come visit the rest of the blog at www.rosegreybooks.com. Hot Pursuit and Not As Advertised are available as ebooks and as paperbacks online. Waiting For You is coming soon.