The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

My (Not So) Perfect Life

January 20, 2017

My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella
Published by The Dial Press
Publication date: February 7th 2017
Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Humor
three-half-stars

my not so perfect

 

Oh, happy day! Sophie Kinsella is back and she still has her fingers on the pulse of the twenty-something woman (and the older women who often like reading about them). To anyone who knows me, Kinsella leads off my chick-lit, make-it-all-go-away reading. And lately, that’s about all I can seem to manage. In My (Not So) Perfect Life it is Katie Brenner (or Cat as she likes to be known because it sounds more hip) who’s trying to make it at a London, cutting-edge, marketing firm. Her only aspiration is to be as glamorous and powerful as her boss, who has a legit fabulous life—high powered job, handsome loving husband, and tons of money, parties and friends.

Cat does a reasonable job of faking it with an enviable Instagram life even if the truth is her apartment is the size of a shoebox and she’s lucky to afford ramen for dinner. That is until she’s let go from her job and has to move home to Somerset. At which point desperation sets in enough that she helps her father and his wife turn their quaint (OK, shabby) farm into a glamping experience for pampered Londoners. With her ideas and marketing skills, Ansters Farms becomes a success and life is good, until her former boss shows up.

If the plucky, suburban English girl theme sounds familiar, yes, it is a mainstay of Kinsella’s books. The thing is—it doesn’t get tiresome. My (Not So) Perfect Life is still filled with all the trendy details that make for great fluffy reading, but Kinsella tweaks the theme away from some of the more common chick-lit tropes in a way that feels fresh and timely. In playing to the cultural zeitgeist without being boring or insulting she remains in the starting position of authors I read for pure fun.

three-half-stars

Related Posts

  • Related Posts
  • Same Genre
  • 3.5 Star Books
  • By Sophie Kinsella
girlchild
Girlchild by Tupelo Hassman
paris apartment
A Paris Apartment
the hive
The Hive
love and chaos
Love and Chaos
mrs
Mrs. by Caitlin Macy
ed
Ed King
sirens
Sirens & Muses: A Novel
eight
The Most Fun We Ever Had: A Novel
favorite
The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll
dark corners
Dark Corners: A Novel
eligible
Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice
whalefall
Whalefall by Daniel Kraus
leftover
The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwok
I Liked My Life
april
April Reading Recap
November Mini-Reviews
surprise
Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella
nonfiction
Nonfiction November 2017: Fiction Nonfiction Pairings
December Mini-Reviews
february
February Reading Wrap-Up

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Bantam, chick lit, contemporary life

Comments

  1. Eva @ The Paperback Princess says

    January 24, 2017 at 10:32 am

    Woohoo! Still firmly on my list. I will never get tired of her books (I don’t think). Her books are SO funny and they really are perfect for what ails you. Looking forward to getting my hands on it.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      January 24, 2017 at 2:50 pm

      You and I are peas in a pod on Kinsella! This one is fun- you’ll really like it.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Bookshop

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Bookshop. If you click on a link that takes you to their site and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2025

Copyright © 2025 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in