– I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review. –
To be published by Penguin Random House on 07 Feb 2017
Goodreads | Amazon
Katie Brenner has the perfect life: a flat in London, a glamorous job, and a super-cool Instagram feed.
Ok, so the real truth is that she rents a tiny room with no space for a wardrobe, has a hideous commute to a lowly admin job, and the life she shares on Instagram isn’t really hers.
But one day her dreams are bound to come true, aren’t they?
Until her not-so perfect life comes crashing down when her mega-successful boss Demeter gives her the sack. All Katie’s hopes are shattered. She has to move home to Somerset, where she helps her dad with his new glamping business.
Then Demeter and her family book in for a holiday, and Katie sees her chance. But should she get revenge on the woman who ruined her dreams? Or try to get her job back? Does Demeter – the woman with everything – have such an idyllic life herself? Maybe they have more in common than it seems.
And what’s wrong with not-so-perfect, anyway?
I chose this book because…
I used to read Sophie Kinsella all the time. I think I probably stopped after I thought I was reading too much chick lit, but after I finish this book, I’m gonna catch up with her books by reading all her novels published after 2010 (because I’ve already read all her novels published before then). You know I’m intrigued by any book to do with social media and/or finding “a truly meaningful life.” We’re all too familiar with what we’re leaving outside the crop. I wonder why Katie got fired and I wonder what was not-so-perfect about Demeter’s life (I don’t doubt that it was not-so-perfect, but what about it specifically?? dramaaaa).
Upon reading it…
The book was very fast-paced, which makes sense as it took place in the modern world and the tech industry (design and marketing definitely fall into that category), and almost verged on rant-y, which suited my mood at the time I was reading the book. I could imagine myself occasionally feeling the urge to blog this sort of content, except that I try my best to keep my composure on here—probably safer for me to just rant to my friends haha… which I do… occasionally…
Katie’s social media platform of choice is Instagram. You can tell that it’s always on her mind and she’s always on the look out for what would make great content, whether its a snapshot of her experience or of someone else’s. One of my favourite scenes was when Katie went over to take pictures of someone else’s hot chocolate for Instagram. This was one of a few scenes where she actually described the lengths she went for her Instagram photos, rather than just flippantly mentioning that something would make great content. I would have loved to read more of these funny little anecdotes!
The glamping and the buzzwords… Totally on trend and I could completely imagine designers and marketers creating this and consumers eating it up. I’ve definitely watched a vlog or blog or two about glamping hehe.
“A beautiful, talented girl like you. Beautiful.”
I’d like to think that if I heard that line, “beautiful” wouldn’t be the word I’d latch onto. I’m talented! I’m smart! I’m strong! I’m a feminist! Although tbh, if I heard that line, irl I’d probably fall for “beautiful,” as much as I’d hate to.
**highlight to reveal potential spoilers**
From the get-go, I knew that Katie and Alex would be a thing. For me, there was no suspense there; it was just a matter of time. (Also, you always know that when Person A breaks it off first because they think Person B is going to break it off, it’s always the case that Person B wasn’t going to break it off, but then Person A breaks it off because they don’t realise it and want to save themselves dignity and pain, and then Person B thinks it’s what Person A wants, so they keep quiet about it, and nobody gets what they want and it’s tragic sob sob until the end of the book when it’s happily ever after.)
“Look at the email address. It should be Demeter-dot-Farlowe at Cooper Clemmow.com. But this has been sent to Demeter-underscore-Farlowe at Cooper Clemmow.com. It’s a totally different email account.”
Another thing. The faked emails. The possibility of that scheme working was highly improbable unless the victim was very technologically incompetent, which is unlikely for someone working in the tech industry. I mean, c’mon. It was down to mixing up a hyphen and a period in the email address? Who would mix that up?? Hardly a revelation. But in the midst of this, I did enjoy the moment when Demeter shared her vulnerable side and all the not-so-perfect parts of her life that Katie wanted.
Overall, this was a solid, fun, feel-good read about an insecure modern day lady who blossomed into a boss lady. Even though many of us realise that we leave the not-so-perfect parts of lives outside the crop, away from our social media profiles, for some reason we sometimes forget that other people do that too.
#MyNotSoPerfectLife looks like me freezing in the corner of a ridiculously air conditioned cafe with a beautiful flat lay at my table. How about yours?
★★★☆☆
If you like this, you might like…
#GIRLBOSS by Sophia Amoruso, Girl Online by Zoe Sugg, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Her voice is husky, coppery, grown-up sounding. It’s a voice that knows stuff, that doesn’t have time for fools.
But that’s not an experience, just floating by from a distance. Is it?
“So it’s heart over head.”
“Exactly. Bloody heads and hearts, never match up, do they?”
Alan has this aggressive way of talking which I think he reckons is “motivational.”
OK, full disclosure: I stalk expensive cafés for Instagrammable pictures. Is there anything wrong with that? I’m not saying I drank the hot chocolate. I’m saying, Look: hot chocolate! If people assume it was mine… well, that’s up to them.
Loads of people use colored filters or whatever on Instagram. Well, my filter is the “this is how I’d like it to be” filter.
This is the trouble with meeting people in real life: They don’t come with profiles attached. Or maybe it’s a good thing.
Here I am: Katie Brenner, Embarrassed. There are worse things to be.
Have you ever shaken up a compass and seen the arrow whirling around, trying to find a place to settle? Well, that’s my brain. It’s all over the place.
Whoever started the rumor that life has to be perfect is a very wicked person, if you ask me.
Because it’s human nature to hope for impossible things. You’re in marketing. You know that.