- Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella
Rating: ****½
Okay, I remember that I once said I'd never read another Kinsella after those car-crash Shopaholic books (horrid protag, but perversely readable), but like that (now regrettable) instinct that told me that I should get Olivia Joules while it was available on the library shelf, I just did. Fortunately, this is a vast improvement over Becky Bloomwood and her entirely self-absorbed delusions of grandeur. And it goes almost without saying that it's light years from Helen Fielding's last offering. Can You Keep a Secret? seems like what Fielding wanted to do with Olivia Joules. It's fairly typical chick lit and has a romance-novel arc (boy meets girl, conflict, happily ever after), but all the characters were original and fun, which is really pretty rare these days.
1 comment:
ITA! I really liked this book - I started it, and then I literally could not put it down. I remember finishing it and thinking, "huh. that really wasn't totally cliched chick lit after all!" The office shenanigans were hilarious.
btw, I recently read Spellbound, which was the last Jane Green I hadn't read. It was ok, but I think my favorite of hers is still Mr. Maybe. Spellbound was a bit too neat. It had a couple nice elements, and it was great for reading on the beach, but it's not something I'd feel compelled to read again.
just one more thing...a couple books I've heard of that sound good are The Big Love by Sarah Dunn, and Bling by Erica Kennedy. TBL is chick lit, and Bling sounds totally hilarious. Also, I still have What to Keep, and I'm hoping to read that soon. =)
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