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A review by bitchinbookclubb
Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella
3.0
Check on my full review on instagram at @bitchinbookclub_
This is my first time reading anything by Sophie Kinsella. I know, I am very behind. I recently got into the romance genre and she comes highly recommended. I can totally see why!
From the second I started this book, I was hooked! Dutch and Aria are away at a writer's retreat in Italy and they perfect couple from day 1. The catch? They use aliases while on the retreat, so they don't know each others real names. They decide to jump head first into the fantasy and agree not to share personal details while on the trip. I had butterflies in my stomach from the moment they connect. They go on a dreamy first date, that is very Mamma Mia meets Sisterhood of the Traveling pants vibe. Dutch is such a big strong lovable teddy bear, and Aria is a marvelous author-to-be, who loves to live in a fantasy world. It is everything you could ever want from a romance novel.
This is where the book gets a little crazy, and the reason for the so-so review.
Aria, who is actually named Ava, and Dutch, who is actually Matt leave their dreamland of Italy and head back into the real world. From the moment they land, you know they are in trouble. Ava's crazy best friends show up and cause absolute chaos and the airport, no thanks to Harold, her crazy dog. Matt also immediately runs into a work situation and they are pulled in separate directions.
Ava, who once came off as whimsical, became really annoying and unlikeable to me. She lived in such a dream world, I felt myself getting secondhand embarrassment from her actions. She was easily the most arrogant person in the book, and called everyone else arrogant. She could never see her own faults, only others, and refused to live in the real world. She constantly was whining and acting like a child. It drove me nuts.
Matt on the other hand, had an entire personality change once they got home. He was stiff as a rock, couldn't relax, and got so mad about EVERYTHING. I understand that Italy was a vacation, but I am not THAT different on vacation. It was almost unbelievable.
The story lost a bit of it's spark with both characters being so unlikeable. The side characters, like Matt's roommates were more interesting than listening to these people fight.
SPOILER: The story turned around when they finally talked through their issues. It became much more realistic to me, and I was back aboard, shipping Ava and Matt yet again. The ending actually made me shed a tear.
OVERALL: If you are a fan of Sophie's already, you will love this book. It was a wonderfully original romance novel that made me laugh out loud multiple times. Although the characters were maddening at times, it made me get immersed in the story more because I needed to see how it would turn out between them!
Thank you Sophie, Netgalley, and Dial Press for lending me an early copy! I am honored!!
This is my first time reading anything by Sophie Kinsella. I know, I am very behind. I recently got into the romance genre and she comes highly recommended. I can totally see why!
From the second I started this book, I was hooked! Dutch and Aria are away at a writer's retreat in Italy and they perfect couple from day 1. The catch? They use aliases while on the retreat, so they don't know each others real names. They decide to jump head first into the fantasy and agree not to share personal details while on the trip. I had butterflies in my stomach from the moment they connect. They go on a dreamy first date, that is very Mamma Mia meets Sisterhood of the Traveling pants vibe. Dutch is such a big strong lovable teddy bear, and Aria is a marvelous author-to-be, who loves to live in a fantasy world. It is everything you could ever want from a romance novel.
This is where the book gets a little crazy, and the reason for the so-so review.
Aria, who is actually named Ava, and Dutch, who is actually Matt leave their dreamland of Italy and head back into the real world. From the moment they land, you know they are in trouble. Ava's crazy best friends show up and cause absolute chaos and the airport, no thanks to Harold, her crazy dog. Matt also immediately runs into a work situation and they are pulled in separate directions.
Ava, who once came off as whimsical, became really annoying and unlikeable to me. She lived in such a dream world, I felt myself getting secondhand embarrassment from her actions. She was easily the most arrogant person in the book, and called everyone else arrogant. She could never see her own faults, only others, and refused to live in the real world. She constantly was whining and acting like a child. It drove me nuts.
Matt on the other hand, had an entire personality change once they got home. He was stiff as a rock, couldn't relax, and got so mad about EVERYTHING. I understand that Italy was a vacation, but I am not THAT different on vacation. It was almost unbelievable.
The story lost a bit of it's spark with both characters being so unlikeable. The side characters, like Matt's roommates were more interesting than listening to these people fight.
SPOILER: The story turned around when they finally talked through their issues. It became much more realistic to me, and I was back aboard, shipping Ava and Matt yet again. The ending actually made me shed a tear.
OVERALL: If you are a fan of Sophie's already, you will love this book. It was a wonderfully original romance novel that made me laugh out loud multiple times. Although the characters were maddening at times, it made me get immersed in the story more because I needed to see how it would turn out between them!
Thank you Sophie, Netgalley, and Dial Press for lending me an early copy! I am honored!!