what I’m reading: surprise me by sophie kinsella.

At a routine medical exam, Sylvie and Dan were thrilled to learn that they would live to be 100 years old. They were not thrilled to realize that meant 68 more years of marriage. To each other. Faced with thoughts of what they are going to do for the next 7 decades Sylvie comes up with Project Surprise Me – her and Dan will think up and execute little surprises for the other to keep their marriage fun. Of course, the project goes awry when the surprises don’t work out the way they were supposed to and when secrets are uncovered.

This book was a bit of a letdown. I’ve read a number of Sophie Kinsella’s books and I’ve found them to be funny and heartwarming and just all around cute. Unfortunately, I thought this book did not hold up.

I have so many feelings.

First off, there is a blurb on the cover that says this book is “genuinely funny” however, I don’t think I laughed at one part. I did not find this book particularly funny. Rather I kept wondering why the characters were acting the way they did.

Second, I didn’t understand the characters’ thoughts at all. When they learn they are going to live for 68 more years, their first thought is “Oh no, I have to live with the person that I married for 68 more years.” Wouldn’t you be thinking “Great! I get to live with the person that I married for 68 more years!” or “I get to live to see my grandchildren and maybe great-grandchildren.” or “I can’t wait that I will be alive to see what new technology will be out in 68 years.” Just the fact that they immediately thought of the horrors of being married to the same person for the next 68 years really threw me. There is such a thing as divorce, you know.

Third, while I thought the idea of the surprises was a good idea, Sylvie and Dan start thinking of surprises right away and are averaging one surprise a week. I did the math and at one surprise a week for 68 years, that around 3500 surprises. That’s a lot of work and pressure and I probably would have burnt out by 4 surprises! I would have found it more realistic if they did one surprise a month.

Fourth, this book seemed a bit disjointed and felt like a lot of different books pierced together. The beginning was about the surprises and the mix-ups. But then the second half of the book switches focus to a scandal involving Sylvie’s dad. The surprises seem to be completely forgotten about and that storyline disappears. Additionally, there’s a weird subplot about Sylvie’s job and a possible love interest that I guess we’re supposed to think might end up in an affair but it doesn’t and then that storyline just kind of drops off as well.

Finally, I could have forgiven all of the above if I didn’t find the main character to be completely obnoxious and spoiled. I’m not sure if it’s a British thing, but Sylvie calls her parents Mummy and Daddy and it drove me insane. She acted like a child most of the time, even though she was in her early 30’s. Just about every other conversation is about how great of a man her father (or Daddy) was, and how no one could ever measure up, and how handsome he was. She jumped to so many random conclusions and I can’t tell you how many times I found myself sighing to myself over something she said or did.

Like I said, this one was a huge miss for me. I’m not ready to give up on Sophie Kinsella yet, so I’ll keep an eye out for her next novel.