Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella is a standalone novel. I have read a number of novels by Kinsella, who does write stories with humor and craziness. Early on though, I did have mixed feelings, as I thought some of the things were border line silly. Ok, lets review.

Sylvie and Dan have been married for 10 years, and have twin girls. They are very happy in their marriage and lives. When they go to the doctor for their annual checkups, the doctor tells them they can both live to 100. Instead of being happy, they think about spending the next 68 years together, and doing the same things. It freaks them both out (rolls eyes). They decide to come up with ways to keep things new and they call it Project Surprise. One after another, they surprise each other with food, tickets, furniture, clothes; trying to outdo each other. Frankly I did not really find this humorous, the craziness was more annoying. But that is me.
When the story centered on Sylvie’s job as a fundraiser, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and their two girls were adorable. The story also focuses on Sylvie’s deceased dad, who was a powerful fundraiser and well respected, though for some reason, Dan and her father did not get along. When Dan brings some old friends to visit, Sylvie meets Dan’s old girl friend, and becomes jealous. At this point, the story does change a lot, and I did enjoy the last half of the book.

What follows is Sylvie’s attempt to help fix her job’s fundraising money drive, which was well done and interesting. Sylvie is also begins to think Dan is having an affair, and this part of the story was at times funny and life changing. Sylvie will learn the truth about her father, and his disrespect for Dan; as well as the lies her family kept from her.

I really enjoyed the last half of the book, which became more about family, trust, perceptions, communications, and hidden truths. Surprise Me had a bit of everything, including Kinsella’s trademark humor, emotional drama, some suspense, family and marriage issues.

Kinsella is one of my go-to authors. I can always count on her for an easy read that makes me laugh. Surprise Me did not disappoint! I fell in love with the characters, enjoyed the storyline, and would recommend this read to anyone looking for some well written chick lit.

I was super excited for this one because I absolutely loved Confessions of a Shopaholic.

This story follows the lives of Sylvie and Dan. They have a perfect life and marriage and after a doctor's visit find out that they have another seven decades with each other.

They panic as they work to try to keep their marriage fresh. This book reminds you to keep open communication and appreciation in your relationships. This was a good read and I highly recommend it!

Dan and Sylvie have been married for ten years, and were told that they could have 68 more years together. This kind of freaks them out in different ways, Sylvie wants to add some surprises to keep their marriage alive. But sometimes surprises can go wrong. When a shocking truth is discovered, Sylvie begins to wonder if she ever really knew Dan at all. This story starts out slow, but as you get further into the book, it get more interesting and finishes strong.

At a doctor's visit for their yearly insurance coverage, Dan and Sylvie find they are in perfectly good health. Not just good health, but the fact of the matter is they just may have a long life to look forward to. Yet, when the doctor tells them they could easily have at least another 68 years of marriage ahead of them, they freak out. How are they going to keep a marriage that long from getting stale? How are they going to keep things spontaneous, not mundane? Their minds start working overtime with ideas on just how to solve a possible upcoming dilemma, after all they are now only married for 10 years, parents of twin girls and they have a long, long way to go. And so the fun begins, the surprises from each of them sometimes falling flat, which is equally as surprising! With a lively group of characters and an unexpected turn in events, you will never be bored.



Sophie Kinsella in her witty and humorous way takes us through the journey of a young married couple who are definitely trying to face their life head on and keep their marriage interesting, for the long run. This book had many laugh out-loud moments. Along with her sharp and on-point dialog, as well as the twists and turns that are unexpected, this is one book I would highly recommend. My thanks to NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Sophie Kinsella, I’m a huge fan, and I was extremely happy to get a chance to read and review Surprise Me for Net Galley!

The story starts off lovely, happy couple celebrating ten years together, they have adorable twin girls, and they’re headed to the doctor together. For a minute you think about what that could mean... but, the doctor says it’s entirely possible they could both see 100 years old and celebrate another 68 years of marriage!

This idea causes them both to basically flip out and start overthinking EVERYTHING. I have to admit it was a little tough getting through the next part but, I’m glad I did. They both start calculating how many times they’ll do things over the next 68 years together and it’s nothing I’ve ever thought in my 23 years with my husband so I really struggled to relate. Honestly, to have someone say I could have even half that time with my husband would be a gift.

The surprises begin and it’s one ridiculous ordeal after another. They really overthought ALL the wrong things in the worst way! They think they know each other SO well but, it turns out they don’t and Sylvie, Princess Sylvie aka the wife, doesn’t know herself very well either! In true Disney Princess form, Sylvie realizes that she doesn’t want to be a Princess anymore and starts really living her life!

Basically, if you can get past the beginning of the story you should love the rest of the book. It’s SO good once it gets to the point. The ending is great too. I rated 4 out of 5 only because the beginning was tough but, would have given it a 4.5 if possible.

How well do you know the others? How well do you know yourself?

After being together for 10 years, Sylvie and husband Dan realize that there are years before them, years of them living together. Overwhelmed by the thought, they start the project to surprise the other one. Which backfires, obviously. But there are parts of her life Sylvie doesn´t know the whole truth about, and what starts as a game, is in reality a revelation.

I am fan of Sophie Kinsella (my favourite novel being The Undomestic Goddess), so I was waiting impatiently to her next novel. And I am sorry to report that I have not had the fully satisfying reading time. I am applauding the authoress to enter the more dark waters than usually, I really feel that she is trying to go deeper in this story about faithfulness, loyaly, perception and true reality. And I still love the antics her slightly silly heroines are having or doing.
But this novel really needs a better editor - more than a half of it are just the antics (with some slight echoes of untold truths here and there). The real reality unveils itself in the third part of the novel, which is a bit late for me.
I was not able to connect with Sylvie, the ultimate Daddy´s girl, too - I mean, she is not the bad girl, but she is exactly that - girl needing to grow up (contrary to the fact that she is 32-year-old and mother of two, at that). Dan is a decent chap, on the other side - and a nice reminder to appreciate the Dans in my life more!

All in all, this is not a bad book and would perform as a nice beach read, too. But an unsentimental cutting of some unneeded parts could make miracles, and it would be the book is had hoped to be - a bittersweet novel about the true values.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the access to an advance reader copy.

4.5 laugh out loud stars😂 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5

Sophie Kinsella is one of my absolute favorite authors.... i’ve read every book in the Shopaholic Series and absolutely adored Becky throughout.... what I love so much about her books are her fabulous female MC’s and Sylvie was no exception.... strong, relatable, fun, self-deprecating, and a little out of touch with reality.... i’ve read so many twisty thrillers as of late and this was just the perfect pallet cleanser!

After Sylvie and Dan are told by their doctor that they will probably live to be 100.... they both start to panic, how can we keep our marriage fresh and fabulous for another 68 years? Sylvie and Dan decide to try to “surprise“ each other in order to keep their marriage on track.... soMe of Sylvie and her BFF Tilda‘s antics in trying to come up with “surprises“ left me laughing so hard I had tears coming down my face(I think my kids thought I had gone mad).....

Along with fabulous female main characters and tear inducing laughter....Miss Kinsella always has wonderful female relationships and almost too good to be true men in her books....Tilda was a truly fabulous BFF and Dan really had the patience of a saint....

The only “surprising“ part of this book is it had a bit of a more serious tone to it in parts... Sylvie, relationship with her mother, and her deceased father took on a very serious tone.... and admittedly I found it a little disturbing that Silvie still called her parents mommy and daddy.... in the end I thought this part of the book was done well and tied all the other pieces in the book together....

Absolutely recommend for a fun, fluffy, laugh out loud read... with some depth....

*** thank you to the publisher and Net Galley or copy of this book**

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House, and Sophie Kinsella for the ARC review. I really love this author, she has such inventive storylines. As I started reading, Surprise Me, I thought, how many of us while planning our weddings, ever thought, How long will we be married. I thought this was a great storyline. I also thought the story would be all about our couple exploits on surprising each other. However, the plot changed and a surprise was added, and I never saw it coming. That is why I like Sophie Kinsella's books. You think you have the story or plot figured out and she changes it up. It was great to see that Sylvie could accept who her father was, how he affected her and her husband, and that they could work thru it. Especially Sylvie, it had to be hard to realize she had been manipulated by her father, from her imaginary friend to how she wore her hair. That her new outlook on things could even spill over into her work. That she realizes she should have spoken up before about improving their patronage, and that she could leave her job, to tackle something new and different. Sophie Kinsella writes about very strong women and it so encouraging to see that right now. I highly recommend this book and check out some of her other books.

If you'd like to read more of my reviews, visit https://mommyreadsbooks.blogspot.com/ .
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I have enjoyed many of Sophie Kinsella's books every the years. Every now and then, though, she writes one that just doesn't work for me. Unfortunately, this book falls in the latter category.

Sylvie & Dan have been together for ten years. They feel they know all there is to know about each other. It's comfortable. Easy. Until their doctor predicts they are in such good health they will have another 68 years of life together. Then comfortable starts seeming a bit stodgy. And easy is no longer a good thing. Operation Surprise Me commences.

This book was just ho-hum for me. I generally love Kinsella's quirky main characters, but Sylvie just didn't inspire any sort of interest or investment from me. I wasn't itching to get back to her story when real life interfered. I can't pinpoint exactly why this was. Maybe I found her a bit whiny with mentality that kept her from really taking control of her life until later in the book.

I probably like Dan slightly better but still not enough to keep me engaged.

There was a lot of language and mention of sex in this book. And one pretty described scene. All of that turned me off a bit too.

For me, it was a disappointing read. But I'll still anxiously await her next book. Another gem is coming.

3.5 stars

I enjoyed Kinsella’s early Shopaholic books but quickly became fed up with their ditzy protagonist. Kinsella’s standalone books, which usually feature more appealing main characters, have been much more to my taste. It was with some disappointment, then, that Sylvie struck me as the kind of fluff character that I find mildly amusing but not relatable. Fortunately, this did not last through the whole book.

Sylvie and Dan’s freakout at the thought of spending another 68 years together and Sylvie’s subsequent plan to use surprises to spice up their lives was a bit silly but fun, even if some of the early attempts verged on stupid. It wasn’t until Sylvie had an unwelcome discovery that had her questioning herself and her relationship with Dan that she started to seem like more of a real character to me. While she made some missteps in that journey, she became more of a sympathetic and real character to me and I enjoyed the story much more.

So while the beginning tone of the book was light and a bit silly, it does evolve into more a story of self-examination and growth that I found more engaging and satisfying. I’m glad I stuck with it.

I was honored to get to review this book as Sophie Kinsella is indirectly the only reason I fell in love with the song, Calling You by Kat Deluna, as she is the name behind the best-selling shopaholic series which resulted in a major motion picture staring Isla Fischer.

Yet, this book did not make me feel as invigorated as the song.

It follows a married couple who find out that their life expectancy is quite a stretch more than they originally thought when they promised "till death do us part." Right away, you find yourself rooting for the main character, Sylvie. She's the typical mother of two girls looking to spice things up in her life and marriage by coming up with this idea that her and her husband Dan should surprise each other with things, ideas, or creative endeavors to keep things "lively" since they have about 68 more years of healthy, happy married life.

Yet, although I finished the entire novel, I found myself skimming through entire chapters because they seemed almost superflous in nature to the overall story. Maybe I read this book all wrong but after just finishing a 60 chapter not yet published novel in an entire day, I can say that what was abundant in that book was missing in this one: 

There was a lack of tension or an overall obstacle for the main character or characters to overcome. 

True. This is a married couple we are talking about so the climax will not be as romantic as two arch-enemies that fall in love with one another BUT I guess I still felt something was missing.

Ultimately, that was the most surprising of all. That this book left me feeling like I just read one of those books I read in grade school ONLY BECAUSE I was obligated and not at all because I wanted to.

This book was my modern day post-academic life The Crucible by Arthur Miller.

Surprise Me is the latest novel by Sophia Kinsella.
Sylvie and Dan have been together for ten years, now married with twin daughters and a nice house. Things change when a doctor predicts their life expectancy is at least 100 and they realize they may be married for another 68 years. How will they keep it interesting and fun? They decide that surprises will be what keeps it exciting and new. That goes horribly wrong and they must rethink their methods and relationship as a whole. Can they learn to share their innermost thoughts, dreams and disappointments with each other?
I did not care for this book and put it down several times before finishing it. I never felt that I got to know the characters deeply enough to care if they stayed together or split up. I have read other works by Sophia Kinsella that I loved but this one seemed to move along too slowly and I got bored with the story line. The other characters give advice along the way but some is not very helpful or encouraging. There is an underlying story that we do not learn until near the end; things are definitely not what they seem and it did not endear me to the main characters. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. While it did not appeal to me, I’m sure there is an audience for this book.
I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I've been a fan of Sophie Kinsella since wayy before these books were "appropriate" for me. I read some of the SHOPAHOLIC series back before high school. I read a few more in 2014 and loved her latest release before this one, so clearly I was jazzed up for SURPRISE ME.

I liked Sylvie and Dan as a couple, with them finishing each other's sentences and managing to have a really solid relationship. When the whole "you have 65 years left together because you're super healthy and will live LONG lives" thing comes up, they're both thrown. How are they going to survive THAT many years together? It's a reality check for them and even though there's really not much wrong with their relationship necessarily, they second-guess everything. Sylvie develops this plan where they surprise each other with little things to keep everything interesting. Naturally, the surprises go awry and Sylvie learns that surprises aren't the only key to a long and healthy marriage.

The whole situation about Sylvie's father that died and her weird mother was... interesting. She had the opposite of the traditional "daddy issues" thing - she was obsessed with her dad and thought he was a perfect hero. She had a very odd personality with how she kind of went along with everything in her life? Her boss, an owner of a VERY old school museum, didn't even use email and had an antiquated way of doing business. She told herself she was very happy in this role as long as you got used to everything, but I can't imagine how that's possible. I expected a looooot of blowing up at the end of the book. What secret would she uncover from Dan and how would it impact their lives? I was very anxious to see what was going to happen.

My feelings overall are kind of mixed, but the strong finish (and second half) really made it all worth it. It was like a switch was flipped once I hit the 50% mark. The Kinsella LOL-humor was there, the editing/writing improved, and the story picked up so much. It wasn't all fun and fluff like her previous book, so I want to warn everyone not to expect that. The ending was so worth it though.

3.5ish stars, generously rounded up because I just love Sophie Kinsella's books so much.
Where this book didn't work for me was that I just found it so unbelievable that Sophie and Dan were so gobsmacked by the potential of living to 100ish and how long that meant they would be married. I'm around the same age as the characters, have been married for just a tiny bit longer, and felt like the reaction was so out of proportion for people who profess to be happily married. Their intentions in creating surprises for each other were sweet, and they learned a lot about each other, which redeemed this book for me. Even though I can see that she might grate some people, I found Sophie and her fight to be taken seriously after a lifetime of being considered a "princess" to be a character I really enjoyed. This is not my new favorite Sophie Kinsella book, but I think there is enough of her familiar writing style to make this enjoyable.

Last year I read another book by Sophie Kinsella - My Not So Perfect Life -- and was thrilled to find the perfect “palate cleanser”. This year’s offering was also a palate cleanser but this one ended up being just a bit too fluffy and disjointed for me. There were things I liked, but it I didn’t take to the protagonist in the same way I have with some of Kinsella’s other books.

Sylvie is happily married to Dan. They have 5 year old twin girls. And everything seems perfect when both Dan and Sylvie are told by their doctor that they are healthy enough to live past 100, which they calculate as meaning that they have 67 more years together. Then they look at each other and wonder how they’ll fill those 67 years… And then their happiness seems to unravel. And course, things work out in the end – which can’t possibly be viewed as a spoiler given the author and genre.

The premise isn’t bad, but the book quickly becomes somewhat disjointed – less focused on the original premise and more on an odd dynamic between Sylvie, Dan and Sylvie’s deceased father. I always like the voice Kinsella gives her characters. They are funny, smart, self-deprecating and always a bit self-deluded. Sylvie has this recognizable voice but I found her self-delusions a bit too evident.

I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it. And I certainly won’t be giving up on Sophie Kinsella as a generally reliable palate cleanser.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to an advance copy.

Sylvie and Dan have been together 10 years to the day. They have a joint medical appointment and find out the doctor expects them to have another 68 years together! This sounds great, but then, does it? That's a long time to keep a marriage fresh. After some awkward days, Sylvie suggests they adopt a plan of surprising each other. This doesn't go quite the way they had in mind! Sophie Kinsella knows how to make the most of the concept of "Hilarity Ensues." You won't want to miss this read, it's got some real verve!

Sophie Kinsella surprised me with this wonderful story! Love her books, and this one did not disappoint. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I have yet to read a Sophie Kinsella novel I didn't like and this title is no exception. Full of Kinsella's signature heartwarming wit and characters you can't help but love, Surprise Me is a wonderful read about the powers of love, relationships, and a life of fulfillment.

I don't think I've read a Sophie Kinsella book yet that I don't enjoy and Surprise Me is no different. It's full of her signature heartwarming wit and humor. It follows Sylvie as she tries to spice up her marriage but things don't go exactly as planned. There are plenty of moments of laughter, but there's more to this story as secrets are uncovered and Sylvie learns things aren't exactly how she's always assumed. A wonderful story for any chick lit fans!