| Product: |
The Undomestic Goddess - Sophie Kinsella |
| Date: |
10/05/06 (365 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: really funny,easy to read and addictive
Disadvantages: chick lit which may bother some people
The Undomestic Goddess is the latest offering from Sophie Kinsella bringing with it lots of humour, wittiness and more chick lit than ever before.
*** The Story ***
Samantha Sweeting is a top lawyer in a huge law firm called Carter Spink. She works all day and all night, sometimes not leaving the office until 11pm because she’s so determined to become a partner in the company, she’ll literally work herself into the ground if she has to. That is until she makes a mistake, a mistake so big that it ruins her whole career.
In a daze she walks out of the office and gets on a train. She ends up in the middle of nowhere in front a big house and the owner mistakenly takes her in as the new housekeeper. Samantha has never cleaned or cooked, in fact using a toaster is quite a big ordeal for her so just how long will it be before she gets caught out, or could she possibly somehow keep up appearances?
*** My Opinion on… ***
Here you will find my opinion on everything from how funny the book was to how it compares to others by the same author. I will also be talking about how addictive I found it and who I think this would appeal to. Hopefully this section will give you the best idea of whether or not this book is for you.
1) The Story
I’ve read a couple of Sophie Kinsella’s books and I have to say I’ve been impressed by what I’ve read. So when I heard about this new one coming out I knew it was only a matter of when to get the book rather than if I would get it. The story itself sounded quite original if a little extreme, I mean how many top class lawyers would find themselves working as a housekeeper through pure chance? However it actually works and all comes together really well.
Right from the start the humour gripped me and I found myself laughing out loud and actually trying to explain the book to my boyfriend (who actually listened really well bless him!). The story just seemed to go from one hilarious situation to another and Kinsella really made the dialogue flow which made it easy to get into Samantha’s mind.
I could actually imagine this being made into a film and it’s definitely something I would pay to see. It is a first class chick lit novel and to me I think it is quite an original story. It also wasn’t predictable. In some parts I thought I could guess what was going to happen but actually I turned out to be wrong.
There is a love story involved (as with most chick lits) but again that isn’t as predictable as it could have been.
All in all I really would recommend this based on its story as it is fairly original and it isn’t predictable like a lot of chick lit novels seem to be.
2) The Characters
The characters are what make the story, you could have the best story idea in the world but without the right characters it just couldn’t survive. Luckily the characters in this are totally believable and easy to relate to.
Samantha is obviously the strongest character within the book as she is the main character. She comes across as witty, she makes mistakes just like all of us and she shows us that it doesn’t matter what job you are doing as long as you are happy. She is a character a lot of people will relate to because they will recognise her in either themselves or in someone they know.
As well as the main character there are also quite a few other characters in the book (after all it would be pretty boring with just one character!), and it doesn’t matter how small their part is, each one of them comes across really strongly.
Nathaniel, the love interest in the book is the only character I can pick a fault with and that’s only because I feel that perhaps he could have been put across a little stronger than he was. He came across a bit weak to me and it went against the picture I had in my mind of him as a strong, powerful man. I wouldn’t exactly say I thought about that when I read the book but it’s just as afterthought.
All in all the characters all interacted well together, they were built up brilliantly throughout the book and their personalities were revealed little by little through each chapter. By the end of the book I felt I knew each character personally and I felt everything I thought they must be feeling.
There aren’t many books that really grab you and make you connect with the characters as much as this one did. I’d definitely say Kinsella has a talent for creating compelling, humorous characters!
3) How it compares to other books by Kinsella
I have read one of the ‘shopaholic’ series books and am currently reading a second one. I have also read ‘Can You Keep a Secret’ by Kinsella too and I really enjoyed that one. All her books seem to be original and out of them all her shopaholic series has definitely been the most successful. However I would say that this book is better than the shopaholic series in the fact that I think the humour is better and I can see how much her writing has improved. Don’t get me wrong the shopaholic series is definitely funny (well what I’ve read of it anyway), and they are really addictive but this new book just tops it for me.
As I said her writing has matured and somehow gotten better over time. She is an extremely talented writer and it’s great to see that she has improved something which was already near perfect.
The character of Becky Bloomwood in the shopaholic series is very similar to that of Samantha Sweeting in this book. The stories are told in the same kind of way in all of her books and that is why some of the characters are so similar to each other. However there are little differences that distinguish them all from each other so it really doesn’t make much difference to me. To be honest with Kinsella’s books I think I go in wanting to read more of the same kind of character, after all one of her books wouldn’t be the same without a character like Becky Bloomwood or Samantha Sweeting.
Overall I’d say if you liked any of Kinsella’s other books you’ll definitely love this one! It’s funnier, it’s addictive and a really light, easy read.
4) Exactly how addictive is it?
I finished this book within a couple of weeks but could easily have finished it in one simple setting if I had the time! I only read at work usually so that is why it took me so long to read it.
I have read quite a few books now and this is one of few that has really gripped me right from the start. Its humour made it really compelling for me and I loved reading it just to forget about my troubles and to lose myself in the story.
I really can’t stress enough how addictive I found this book so you cannot say that you haven’t been warned!
5) Is there any chance that I won’t like it?
Only if you don’t like chick lit and even then I’d say give it a try! I always swore to myself that I would never read chick lit. ‘How Pathetic’ I’d think. However there are some chick lit books out there (like this one) that are just too damn good to pass up. Ones that make you laugh no matter how hard you try not to and this is definitely one of those books! So go on, give it a try… you know you want to!
*** My overall opinion ***
This was one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It was perfect for relaxing with and it was really gripping from start to finish. It had some good twists in it and the writing style was really good and believable. The characters are memorable and lovable and I’d be surprised if anyone went through this book without laughing out loud in places!
It definitely overshadows the shopaholic series for me and it is the best of Kinsella’s books to date. I’m thoroughly looking forward to her next instalment and would recommend this book to anybody.
*** Where can I buy it? ***
You can find this book at any good bookstores including Borders and Waterstones. You will also find it in places such as WHSmiths and Woolworths and some supermarkets. It is widely available and retails at roughly £6.99. I actually bought the hardback version for £16.99 when it first came out but you can find it a lot cheaper if you shop around!
Aimee xxx
PS- Something you might not have known. Sophie Kinsella also has some of her books published under a different name. That name is ‘Madeleine Wickham’ so keep an eye out for her other books.
Summary: a really funny, completely compelling, utterly readable book :)
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