This might not be healthy, but I certainly am proud of myself for being able to finish a 400-something pages book in a day (I read the translated edition via Ipusnas so be aware of the slight difference). My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella turned out to be a chick-lit I overall enjoyed, though compared to Finding Audrey, I still prefer the latter one more. Needless to say, I wouldn't dwell on that too much since there's something about Kinsella's writing style that still seized me to keep reading.
My Not So Perfect Life follows the story of Katie Brenner who tries her hardest to fit in London by going with the name Cat. As this is the first time she works in an office, Katie is not yet familiar with all the workplace dramas. While everyone in the office secretly hates the seemingly perfect boss Demeter Farlowe for being super insensitive, Katie looks up to her and even goes as for as to admire her for her brilliant ideas and pretentious lifestyle.
No matter how exciting her life may look on Instagram, Katie's life in London starts out hard. She lives in a very small room with no space for a proper wardrobe and has to deal with more than one hour commute to work. But things start to change when she meets a cute guy named Alex while at the same time starts making friends at work. Unfortunately for her, good things don't last forever. Just when her life starts to get better, Demeter fires her out of the blue, and Katie can do nothing but go back to her family's farm in Somerset and help her parents set up a new vacation business. Fortunately, the new business works out smoothly until one day Demeter and her perfect family show up as a guest and Katie is determined to get revenge.
I originally signed up for this book in the hope of entertainment so when I found out that it's not as hilarious as Finding Audrey, I was a little dissatisfied. I mean, My Not So Perfect Life was fun and all, but considering it's a chick-lit and the one I had compared it to was a teen-lit, this book felt more mature and serious though in a way I found it more relatable.
My Not So Perfect Life had a very well-arranged plot. In the beginning, we got to explore Katie's life in London thoroughly before we shifted to her very different life in Somerset. Even though at first there were too many details that could be trimmed, I still liked the fact that her London life was dug as deeply. I remember even feeling very sad for Katie when the sandwich incident with Flora happened though truth to be told I wasn't her very big fan. I honestly found her pretty annoying in spite of being very relatable (as I am a newcomer in a big city also). But objectively speaking, I admired Katie for being kind, realistic, and hardworking.
Luckily, Katie's father and stepmother Biddy were terrific. Her life in Somerset was much more fun thanks to their energized vibes and Demeter's unexpected visit. I didn't say I agreed with what Katie did here but their scenes were pretty incredible in such a nonsense way. It's also nice to uncover a different side of Demeter which was rich in progression and therefore refreshing. Long story short, I learned quite a lot of important life lessons in the last second half of this book—I think at some point we could all relate to everything Katie had to go through.
Romance might not be the main focus of this book but even so I still considered Katie and Alex a cute pairing. However, please skip this part if you haven't read the book yet, there weren't enough moments to convince me why someone with a reputation like Alex's wanted to settle down all of a sudden. A little too good to be true occasion is more often than not acceptable, but in this case, I felt like there's too little to consider.
As a reader, I enjoyed My Not So Perfect Life and the life lesson it contained. It was a pretty fun read in general and I would definitely pick up another book by Sophie Kinsella in the future.
Actual rating: 3.8★
Actual rating: 3.8★
