Sophie Kinsella an already famous author writes a book about job burnout set in the UK. Count me in, from resonating with the stress Sasha feels at her job where no one seems to listen, to running away to join a convent I was hooked from the start. After a doctor-ordered break from work sends Sasha back to a beach town she grew up going to every summer in the dead of winter she starts to realize what she's been missing out on and how to fix it.

While I usually don't love when a book is filled with so many characters, Kinsella made each one enough to fall in love with. Shockingly I think the romance plot almost took a backseat to everything else that was going on and let the Rilston Bay world be the star.

Sometimes we all need a break to reflect and then get back to our priorities and find what matters to us and I love that this book conveyed that in a cozy romance.

Thank you to The Dial Press and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. Expected publish date Oct 2023!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sophie Kinsella does it again! Her laugh out loud signature plots and characters delight in her latest book.

I enjoyed this so much! It definitely has the Kinsella stamp. The subject was pertinent to todays issues while also being lighthearted. A super fun read.

The plot is nothing new but the quirky characters and funny scenes make for an exciting read.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/131120162

Wow! Mallory’s opening chapters had me laughing out loud in the middle of the night. I really loved the relatability of the characters as it’s so easy to get to a point at work where you hate it but don’t do anything to change the situation which makes it even worse. Mallory and Finn’s personal growth throughout their time at the beach was amazing. It was so sweet to see them connecting to a town that held a lot of positive childhood memories while also growing in new ways as adults. This was my first read by Sophie Kinsella and I absolutely loved it.

I loved this book so much! I try not to miss a Sophie Kinsella because I am never disappointed. I so related to the character of Sasha as she struggled to recover from burnout and heal and relax and find happiness and connections again. This book is so funny and a joy to read, and with some truly swoony moments, but also it is so timely! We should all take some time off at a seaside resort in the winter...maybe we'll recover and meet the love of our life!

Sasha is burned out. So burned out she buys the same meal from the deli below her office every day, she's lost her libido, and one day, she tries to join a convent vs going back to work. After a run in with a brick wall, Sasha's ordered to take some time off work and find herself.

Even though it's the winter, she decides to go to the beachfront town she grew up going to as a child - but has not been back in 20 years, after her dad got sick and died. The employees of the Rilston Hotel were true characters - I loved them so much! She meets Finn there, another burnout, and one of the only other guests staying at the hotel. When they finally start talking, they realize they were there in Rilston Bay at the same time growing up, including on the same day a near-tragedy occurred. As they reconnect, sparks fly.

I enjoyed this book, as I do most of Sophie Kinsella's other works. I do wish Sasha would not have played along with the lie she was some kind of health guru - I feel like many of Sophie's female characters follow this pattern and it's starting to become a bit tiresome.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Enjoyed it, but I have mixed feelings. The story was cute and perfect for the beach, even in February. There were so many things going on throughout the story. Two burnouts at end up at a dilapidated sea hotel to relax so they can get back to the their normal life, throw in a few nosey staff, disgusting kale smoothies, mysterious messages on the beach, a huge celebration of Terry and a little bit of romance. Zoose sounded like a terrible place to work, no wonder staff kept quitting. It must be horrible if an employee would rather join a convent and become a nun than work there. I probably would have told Joanna where she could shove her aspirations mood board. I found Sasha's Twenty Step to A Better You with the Wetsuit Girl to be ridiculous. Why not speak up and order food that you actually want to eat? The kefir, noni juice and kale smoothies sounded disgusting. Communication was not one of Sasha's strong points. Half of the book seemed to be focused more on Terry and that disastrous day twenty years ago. My favorite parts of the book were when Finn and Sasha were being silly together. There only seemed to be four people working at the hotel. Really three because Herbert seemed like he might suddenly die after any strenuous activity. Why did they send Herbert to retrieve the people and their luggage? Simon seemed to give everything away for free and Cassidy spent half her time making customized thongs.

Definitely recommend it. Enjoyed the story, characters and writing style. You never knew what was going to happen at this crazy hotel. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Random House Publishing Group - Random House, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

At about 40% & just dreading reading this one; I had to DNF. It just wasn’t my vibe. Not much excitement in the first few chapters & I just really couldn’t relate to anything that was happening. It seemed like Sophie was stuck in her rut because she couldn’t draw boundaries & I understand that’s exactly what she needed to work through. It was just so significant I just couldn’t get behind it.

Thanks to NetGalley at the publisher for this arc!

I struggled to get into it. I was waiting for the story to pick up but unfortunately it was a DNF at 30% for me.

I couldn’t get on board with this book. Sasha was just unlikeable to me and therefore I wasn’t on her team or hoping for the best for her.
Finn had few redeeming qualities and the two of them felt forced.

This book didn’t vibe with me unfortunately.

Oh, Sophie…

I spent so much of this book thinking to myself “IT ME!!” and also laughing at how sardonically she portrays the wellness industry.

This book was perhaps a bit too long, but a lot of fun. A definite read for anyone feeling their own burnout and hoping to laugh at it.

[4.5 rounded to 5] The Burnout is my six Sophie Kinsella novel. I love Kinsella’s style as there is an ease to every story and I am glad that this one was not any different. The story follows Sasha Worth, who is the marketing and special promotions director at Zoose, a travel start-up. With a seemingly endless number of tasks and emails for her job, she is feeling like she is missing out on life. As the feeling of being burned out is building, she takes off on a trip to Rilston Bay where she used to spend happy times in her youth. The opening part with the burnout is very relatable as there are millions of people, including myself, that have needed an escape occasionally. I loved this part of the writing and I found it very relatable.

When she arrives at the Rilston Hotel, she sees that it is not the same place as the one from her memory. Time has changed the place, but not the quirkiness of the staff. They may be a little over-the-top, but they want to be as welcoming to their guests as possible. While there she meets another guest, Finn Birchall, who is burnt out himself and revisiting a place from his youth. The two share a few tense moments before finally giving each other a chance. As they get to know more about each other, they become closer and maybe something romantic is in the cards. Their relationship progresses naturally where you can see this type of relationship play out in reality. There is a friendship that builds from their interactions with an underlying attraction where it is easy to see how a romantic relationship could form.

The story is fast paced where it seamlessly moves from Sasha’s life to her time at the resort. Sasha is relatable where she had a nice balance of reality and fiction. She is a qualified team member who has many superiors who aren’t as competent, which is very relatable in many workplaces, including my own. She has internal ambitions that do not always come to reality, which many readers will also connect with, which makes this story a great read. Since I recently have gone through phases of feeling burnt out, this story came at a great time. It contained what I enjoy about Kinsella’s work where there are elements that captivate the reader while still being on the simpler side. Overall, I can’t wait to continue reading more from Kinsella in the future.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, The Dial Press, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

This one started out well with the author very accurately capturing the corporate BS environment. I could relate to this immediately and found it very amusing.
I have read this author before, 20 years ago, her Shopaholic series.
IMO, the author's characters have not changed or aged in 20 years. She is still trying to appeal to the same demographic. Maybe that is okay. However, I am 20 years older now, as are her other fans. Maybe she wants new fans and is not interested in appealing to older people. I have not read her books in a long time, so maybe she has written others that I would like better.
After the MC went to the dilapidated resort, I lost interest. At first it was amusing, but it got old and ridiculous quickly. Why did MC stay there? "For the sake of the story" is not enough for me. I found most of this to be silly, tiresome banter set in a ridiculous situation.
Maybe other people would like this more than I did.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I hadn't read anything by Sophie Kinsella before this book, but after reading the title and what this one was about, I just had to give it a try and I'm so glad I did.

Sasha is having a horrible time at work. She's overwhelmed, tired, stressed, joyless, and no longer thinks sex -or any other form of human contact- is interesting. After a particularly bad day (which included a brick wall getting in her way), she is forced to take a few weeks off. She decides to go to the beach she used to go to when she was a little girl and her dad was still alive.

There, she'll try to restart her life and become an all-new Sasha. Unfortunately, the town and the hotel are no longer what they used to be. But it's ok, it's all good, the hotel staff are lovely people so she'll make it work. The only thing that keeps bugging her is that irritable man that flips out at little children and insists on using the rock she planned to watch the beach from. Her rock. Her beach. If only that guy would stop getting in her way.


This was a really fast read and I loved it! I laughed many times and I adored the secondary characters even more than the MC. I'm so glad I read this, it was the perfect book to read before going back to work tomorrow:)

4,5 stars!

The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella
Pub Date: 10/10/23
Format: ebook and audio
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was my first Sophie Kinsella book - I requested a copy on NetGalley because was immediately intrigued by book title! Work-related burnout is absolutely something I can relate to. Seeing the main character Sasha absolutely lose it because of her unreasonable workload was so spot on and had me laughing out loud!

So with that, this book started out great. Good tone, very relatable, you’re rooting for the main character, decent pacing…but after the first act it became a little bit of a slog to me. Despite not disliking any of the characters, I didn’t feel much of a connection to them after Sasha relocated to the seaside town where she used to vacation in her youth.

If this book would have been about 100 pages shorter, I think I would have loved it. It was just doing too many things at once. Was it a book of self discovery? A romcom? A small community rallying together? It was all of these things but they didn’t quite feel connected. I think because the topic of burnout is one that hits close to home and is rooted deeply in the evils of capitalism, I found the conclusion to be way too easy and a little infuriating too.

It had its cute moments for sure, but this was just okay for me!

Thanks to NetGalley for the gifted arc in return for my honest opinion

Personally, I found The Burnout just as good as my all-time favorite Kinsella novel, The Undomestic Goddess. There were multiple laugh-out-loud moments as well as a solid romance that took a backseat to our protagonist's journey from a burned-out, overstressed workaholic to a well-rounded woman capable of boundaries and self-care. The supporting cast, most especially the staff at the dilapidated Rilston Resort, was priceless, and there was also a very small mystery element that I was invested in unraveling (all of my guesses were wrong). Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group, and The Dial Press for a digital review copy.

Absolutely what you would expect from Sophie! I loved this story - it was hilarious, romantic and just so much fun. Sasha and Finn both escape after suffering complete work burnout and go from enemies to friends and more in this adorable and hilarious romantic comedy! Can't say enough great things about this one!

Sophie Kinsella is a must-read author for me, so I was thrilled to receive an advance copy of The Burnout.

Sasha’s story will hit home with a lot of readers who are having to do more with less in the workplace. With inept senior management and an HR director who requires everyone to participate in the company’s “Joyfulness” program, Sasha is hanging on by a thread. Then when one of her last few coworkers leaves, that thread snaps. While the topic is serious, the author relays it with her signature humor.

After Sasha literally runs away, she goes on a wellness retreat to a beach she went to as a child. It is the off-season, and Sasha plans some serious self-care. When she gets to the hotel, nothing is as she expected - including Finn, one of the other few guests. Finn is grumpy and annoying (but also quite good-looking) and dealing with his own burnout. Sasha and Finn want nothing more than their own space to figure out each of their next steps.

Despite their best efforts to avoid each other, their paths continue to cross. We learn Finn also visited the area as a child. They begin to share memories of childhood at the beach and form a tenuous bond. As Sasha and Finn spend more time together, there is a definite chemistry between them. But can two burnouts keep a flame going?

This book was great! I laughed so hard, yet could relate to Sasha and Finn’s lives. The supporting characters were hilarious and helped temper the serious aspects.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion. A solid FIVE stars!

#FirstLine - It’s not the emails that make me panic.

"The Burnout" by Sophie Kinsella explores the life of Sasha, a woman overwhelmed by the demands of modern life, corporate responsibilities, and a lack of personal fulfillment. She reaches a breaking point, feeling disconnected from her friends, uninterested in intimacy, and unable to even cook a meal without extensive planning. Seeking solace, she returns to a seaside resort from her childhood, only to find it run-down and occupied by a grumpy man named Finn.

As Sasha and Finn navigate this off-season beachside setting, their contrasting approaches to dealing with burnout become evident. Sasha attempts to reconnect with nature through practices like manifesting and wild swimming, while Finn seeks solace in whiskey and convenience food. Their paths collide, leading to conversations about their shared burnout, forgotten passions (like surfing), and the mysterious appearance of messages seemingly addressed to them on the beach.

The novel delves into themes of rediscovery, connection, and the search for meaning in a world filled with burnout. Sophie Kinsella's "The Burnout" is a tale of self-discovery and human connection set against the backdrop of a dilapidated seaside resort. It was such a refreshing and relatable story that will resonate with readers for a long time after they close the book. It was filled with humor and heart, while still tackling other tough topics like mental exhaustion, the importance of setting boundaries and what really defines our self worth! A brilliant novel and one I HIGHLY recommend!

“Go get it.” - Terry