I read Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella a while ago but never got round to posting my review. I can read and re-read a Sophie Kinsella book a dozen of times - I never get bored! She is definitely one of my favourite authors, and tend to prefer her stand alone stories to the ongoing Shopaholic saga.
Remember Me? is about 28 year old Lexi Smart, who wakes up in a hospital bed believing that it's 2004 and her life is rubbish. She has a crap job where she missed out on the bonus scheme and is struggling to make ends meet, she has a crap boyfriend, has a lifelong nickname of Snaggletooth, and today is her Dad's funeral. The last thing she remembers is standing in the rain in shoes that hurt, then slipping and banging her head on a step. In reality, she has just woken up from a nasty car crash, and she is a completely different person to the one she believes she is. The Snaggletooth nickname no longer applies, and she has perfectly straight teeth, perfectly manicured nails, and a perfectly toned body. She is the Director of the company that didn't give her the bonus, is carrying a Louis Vuitton tote and has a drop dead gorgeous millionaire husband. Yet... she doesn't recognise any of these things because she has developed amnesia. This book follows Lexi trying to fit the pieces of her life back together..
This is a classic case of 'All That Glitters Is Not Gold'. Lexi may have woken up to the dream life, but is she happy? Lexi is a typical Sophie Kinsella heroine - a little kooky but very charming, and I absolutely loved her. She is finding it hard to adjust to the plush loft with expensive ornaments, the wardrobe bulging with designer clothes, and her new carb-free diet. She is just a really normal girl at heart - one who loves salt and vinegar crisps, banana cocktails and shopping in New Look. Her new life is one she used to dream of - and that is certainly something I can understand!
This is a fun and silly book like the Shopaholic series, but deals with the difficult subject of amnesia. I personally think Sophie Kinsella handled it well, and she clearly did her research about it. Lexi finds herself in tricky situations and the way she deals with them made me laugh out loud - which earned me some strange looks on the bus! It was quite sad in parts too. As far as Lexi is concerned, she has no control over things that has happened in the last 3 years, so how can she put things right? I wished at times it was a dream, but no... she couldn't go back and change things... which is what made me sad. The Real-Lexi didn't deserve the bad things... she just got left to deal with it by the Bitch-Lexi if that makes sense.
The love interests let this book down a bit. I normally love the men in Sophie Kinsella's books myself (Luke Brandon anyone?) but the two in this story were both too much - the husband too controlling and the lover too mushy/soppy... basically he seemed to be like a puppy dog with her. Her husband was just as bad - he made her a marriage manual with their entire life listed (including foreplay details!) and said things like her arm should be higher around his waist when they kissed, just like it used to be before her accident. I don't know about you, but I don't want my leading men to be like these two numpties - I want strong sexy men who are sweet and funny. These two seem to go from one extreme to the other, and neither is what I like to read about.
Although I enjoyed reading Remember Me?, the story left me wanting more. The ending seemed to spring on you, and that was it. I was somewhat let-down by it - and I don't think I'll be giving a spoiler when I say that she hasn't completely got her memory back by the end of the book. The ending is based on what people have told her, and a little flicker of something in the back of her mind. If that's the case, why couldn't people tell her more about those 3 years? I would have loved to have read a bit more about those years that Lexi forgot, and I felt like there should have been more to the story once I had finished. I was just left feeling really unsatisfied - does Lexi ever get her memory back?
I think that this book would make a great movie for a lazy Sunday afternoon. I can see Anne Hathaway playing Lexi perfectly - she is who I pictured Lexi as throughout the book. Also, a movie would probably enable the story to develop into a 'And they all lived happily ever after...' type of ending, rather than a 'Ta-da! We're done!' type of ending. It could even explain the 3 missing years in better detail too. Very rarely do I think a movie is better than it's book version, but I think this would be a case where I would.
Rating : 6/10 - Quite possibly my least favourite book by Sophie Kinsella, which is a shame as it had such potential with the amnesia storyline.
Have you read this book? What did you think of it?
xoxo
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