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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

Genre: General Fiction

Copyright: 2009

Pages: 435

Rating: 4 1/2 Crowns

Synopsis: Lara Lington has always had an overactive imagination, but suddenly that imagination seems to be in overdrive. Normal professional twenty-something young women don’t get visited by ghosts. Or do they?

When the spirit of Lara’s great-aunt Sadie–a feisty, demanding girl with firm ideas about fashion, love, and the right way to dance–mysteriously appears, she has one last request: Lara must find a missing necklace that had been in Sadie’s possession for more than seventy-five years, and Sadie cannot rest without it. Lara, on the other hand, has a number of ongoing distractions. Her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, her start-up company is floundering, and she’s just been dumped by the “perfect” man.

Sadie, however, could care less.

Lara and Sadie make a hilarious sparring duo, and at first it seems as though they have nothing in common. But as the mission to find Sadie’s necklace leads to intrigue and a new romance for Lara, these very different “twenties” girls learn some surprising truths from each other along the way. Written with all the irrepressible charm and humor that have made Sophie Kinsella’s books beloved by millions, Twenties Girl is also a deeply moving testament to the transcendent bonds of friendship and family.

Review:
I read Confessions of a Shopaholic last year and fell in love with Sophie Kinsella's light and breezy style. I wasn't sure if Twenties Girl would be as funny as the Becky Bloomwood books because so much of the hilarity is tied up in Becky's character but as it turns out, I had nothing to worry about. This book had me giggling from page one and as I progressed through the pages, there were many parts that gave me a good belly laugh!

I can't recommend this book enough if you're looking for something to pick you up. The concept is original, the characters are unforgettable and even though the plot isn't incredibly suspenseful I still found myself unable to stop reading for the sheer pleasure of it. There is just something about Sophie Kinsella that I absolutely love and I think that her characters get themselves into the most absolutely embarrassing of situations. They frequently humiliate themselves and the reader gets a free pass to laugh at them as they dig the hole deeper...and deeper.

Although this book on the surface seems to be about a missing necklace, it really has so much more to it. It's worth reading simply for the information you learn about twenties fashion and lifestyles! It's fun, it's light but it makes an impression. I really think it's a book you can't go wrong with.

It's worth noting that I listened to some of this novel on audio and read other parts of it. The audio book is absolutely brilliant and the voice artist is amazing. The accents she puts on are fantastic and just make the characters come alive.

Twenties Girl really did cement my status as a Sophie Kinsella fan and I think just like Marian Keyes she'll be one of those authors I turn to when I really need a smile.

Check out the trailer below:

Princess of the Past

PS - HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

22 comments:

Alaine said...

Can't wait to read this! Great review Annie!

chocowafer said...

Looks good! I love Sophie Kinsella's other books so I'm sure this'll be a fun read as well.

Jennifer | Mrs Q Book Addict said...

Great review! I really enjoyed this one. I intially didn't know it was a ghost story, but it was really great!

Jennifer @ Mrs. Q: Book Addict
http://web.me.com/quirion

Unknown said...

I had bought this for myself on a whim - and while I haven't read it yet, my mom is reading it now. She doesn't read often, but she is loving it, laughing often, and racing through the pages - so it must be good! Thanks for the review! I can't wait to read it now.

Blodeuedd said...

...must check the library page at once :D

Unknown said...

I love, love, love Sophie Kinsella. I've read all the Shop-a-holic book and Can you Keep a Secret and Remember Me are also among her great books!

Cath said...

I thought Kinsella could have done a little more with this, but overall, it was delightful. LOVE her!

fredamans said...

I loved this book too. I thought it started out a little slow, but by the end I wanted more!

Great review!

Miss K said...

Alaine - You should read it - NOW. And then you can give me back Dear John LOL

Austenfan - If you like Sophie Kinsella then I'm sure you'll love this. She has such a great writing style, doens't she?

Jennifer - Thanks! I didn't know it was a ghost story before I started reading it either. Loved it all the same though.

Dolleygurl - Thankk you :-) I'm tempted to say you should just go and take it back off your Mum LOL but that wouldn't be nice. Definitely give it a go when she's finished!

Blodeuedd - I got mine from the library too.

Book Snob - I think I'm going to have to add Remember Me and Can You Keep a Secret to my TBR pile. And I want to read some more of the Shopaholic series this year.

Connie - That's intersting. I'm going to have to check out your review - It's always good to see a second opinion :-)

Fredamans - I think because I started listening to it on audio, I didn't pick up on the slowness. I was just too busy loving the audio narrator's accent LOL

brizmus said...

I've read so many bad reviews of this book that I was beginning to think I was the only one who liked it. And I LOVED it!
How funny to read some and listen to some via audio. I think that might confuse me.

Celticlady's Reviews said...

I love Sophie Kinsella. Her Shopaholic series is hilarious!! I liked the movie too..love the review!

Miss K said...

CelticLady I loved the movie too! I thought it was such a funny, feel-good kind of flick. I'd love to see more of her books turned into films...there's just such a charming quality to her stories and her characters can dig holes for themselves like nobody's business!

Glad you liked the review:-)

Miss K said...

Brizmus - Really? I haven't read any bad reviews but I'm so glad you loved it.

I know it's a little weird listening and reading...it's because I get sucked into the story and the audio goes too slow so I swap around a lot.

Athira said...

Loved the trailer!

I read this book last year and loved it immensely! This was the first Sophie Kinsella I read, and have since read more of hers. But this one remains my favorite by her!

Good review!

Unknown said...

Although I have at least one of her books on my shelf, I haven't actually read anything by her yet. Glad to hear you liked something beyond Shopaholic, I love when an author is able to expand beyond what is their best known work!

Miss K said...

Aths - isn't the trailer cool? It gave me a great visual of Lara. I've only ever read her 1st Shopaholic book but I'll definitely be reading more!

Dorolerium - I was worried that her other work wouldn't be as good as the fabulous Becky Bloomwood but I was pleasantly surprised. My cousin recommended this one to me and I'm glad she did! Give it a go - I liked it even more than Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Teddyree said...

Loved the trailer and your review. Kinsella is another author I've been meaning to read but never seem to get around to. I'm right into the feel good reads at the moment so I've got to borrow this one off you for the "belly laughs" :-)

Lisa Richards/alterlisa said...

Wow- everyboby wants this book. Just went to put it on my wishlist at PBS and there are 864 people in front of me. Well, a trip to Amazon is in my future!

Miss K said...

Teddyree - It's an audible audio but I'm pretty sure I can authorise your kindle to listen to it. I also borrowed it from the library (would you believe they have both normal and large print?) You have to listen to the shopaholic books too...Sophie Kinsella will make you feel good :-)

Lisa R - What's PBS? I don't think you'll regret buying it if you make the leap. It's a fun novel!

Gaby G said...

Great review!
I haven't read any of Sophie Kinsella's books, but I'm definitely going to try them.

Little Booktique said...

I love the Sophie Kinsella books and I am just about to start reading my way through all the Shopaholic series, in order too!

This book was a great read, it was nice to have the twist of someone who was 'imaginary'. I am currently reading the book called 'If you Could see me Now' by Cecelia Ahern which uses the same idea a definite read if you liked 'Twenties Girl'!

Miss K said...

I read If You Coud See Me Now and really enjoyed it. You're right - it does have the same kind of feel although I didn't make the connection till you said it.