Advanced copy for review.
I always feel a little uncomfortable rating a book that is written with an autobiographical standpoint, but this is an excellent book, albeit a short one.
As much as I'd have liked a longer book, to raise awareness for Sophie Kinsella's condition, now I know more about what she is dealing with, I totally understand.
This is a painful, stark read, but is so touching and warm with it too. It really showcases Kinsella as a wonderful writer.

This was so different than any other Sophie Kinsella books. It was a real and raw Honest story of her life recently. I read it in one sitting easily.

Awww. This book was bittersweet to read. The reader can understand what Eve is going through and it felt real. Because it is. This book is about hope, sadness, love and family. While Eve is fictional, Sophie herself is dealing with a cancer diagnosis. I enjoyed this book.

This was such a great short book. I didn't realize I was readying a true story about the author battling a brain tumor. Sophie has been one of my favorite authors. I have read all of the Confessions of a Shopaholic Series and loved them. This was such an inspiring story about Eve dealing with a devastating diagnosis. How she had to keep going for her husband and five children. It's about hope, joy, devastation, fear and heartbreak. It was a truly an amazing story and such a great read. I would only hope that I had the same bravery if I ever had to face such a devastating diagnosis.


Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for this free advance copy

Happy Pub Day! Sophie Kinsella’s latest novel, WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE?, is out today. Heartbreaking and also a novel of life, positivity, and love. Eve, a novelist, wakes up in a hospital bed with no short term memory. She was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and has to relearn walking, talking, writing, and how to live with this diagnosis. Unfortunately, this is the diagnosis that the author has received. Sophie Kinsella said “Why did I write such a personal book? I have always processed my life through writing. Hiding behind my fictional characters, I have always turned my own life into a narrative. It is my version of therapy, maybe. Writing is my happy place, and writing this book, although tough going at times, was immensely satisfying and therapeutic for me.”

This book was absolutely beautiful — you will laugh but you will also cry as you follow Eve and her family through this grief. Highly recommend this book! I’ve loved Sophie Kinsella since I first cracked open the shopaholic series.

Many thanks to @thedialpress and @netgalley for an early copy. It’s an emotional but excellent read.

This book gets the whole 5 stars. It is a differnt type of novel than I am used to reading and especially from Sophie Kinsella. I enjoyed every page and did not know whether to feel happy, sad or anything in between. This is a must read of 2024 and probaly for years afterwards! It is eye-opening!

Emotional, personal and poignant, this is not Sophie Kinsella's typical book.

In her latest book, What Does It Feel Like? Kinsella shares a compilation of fictionalized vignettes based on her own health struggles. Readers get a personal perspective about the emotional and physical ups and downs of a person living with a life-threatening illness and how it impacts the patient and their family.

This book looks at cancer in a candid and intimate way. As someone who had a family member suffer through a brain tumour, this book hit close to home. But with humour and heart, Kinsella shows that through pain and adversity you can still find moments of joy and inspiration.

Short but powerful and full of insight and optimism, you may want to keep the Kleenex box handy, but you will ultimately finish this book in deep awe of Kinsella (and anyone living with a life-threatening disease) as she shares her deeply personal experiences living with a brain tumour.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Dial Press for the complimentary digital copy of this book which was given in exchange for my honest review.

I had no idea the author was struggling with this but it didn't matter. It was A great read. Well written with humor and kindness it was just an inspiration. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley!

👗I am not doing a typical book review for this beautiful, emotional short story. All I can say is I was crying on a plane reading it and it touched me so much. Please go read this ASAP! Read the books description for trigger warnings!

🎉Happy Pub Day @sophiekinsellawriter & thank you for sharing this story with us.

Thank you to @netgalley, @randomhouse publishing & Sophie Kinsella for a copy of this story in exchange for my honest review.

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What Does It Feel Like
5⭐️

I am a true shopaholic, if you all couldn’t tell. Yet somehow I’ve never read Shopaholic or any other Sophie Kinsella book before. But when her own story came out in the press I was saddened for her and happy for others that she shared her story. Cancer is a beast and touches so many around us. So when she fictionalized her own journey, I knew I wanted to read this. In less than 150 pages I laughed and cried multiple times. I couldn’t ask for more from this author who was brave enough to tell her story the best way she could. If you are familiar with her work or not, it’s worth letting her tell you this story. I am so thankful for this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Random House for this advanced reader copy. My opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I recently heard about Sophie Kinsella’s brain cancer diagnosis and I was heartbroken. She has been one of my favorite authors. That being said, I started this autobiographical book hesitantly, with so many feelings; sadness, and dread but as I read on I was in awe of her ability to write about a subject that is so difficult; with her raw emotions on the page for all of us to read. She displays bravery and positivity and with typical comedic style she shares what this diagnosis has been like for her and her family. It made me cry and it made me see that she and her family are amazing people who are inspiring and optimistic. This is a short read but one well worth reading.

This book made me cry so much. It was so raw and heartbreaking. But strangely enough it also made me laugh a little too. Her husband’s patience was so touching. This was a beautiful love story. This will be in my top 10 for the year. It’s a really quick and powerful read. I read it in one sitting. And for Sophie - thank you for being brave by telling us parts of your story 🩷 I will definitely be purchasing the physical book and more of her books!

This novella was beautiful and heart breaking and full of so much tenderness. My mom had a stroke years ago so I understand how fragile the brain is and could feel all the empathy in this book from her husband and the doctors. What a sweet recovery story, and how Brave Kinsella is for sharing her heart with us.

I received an advance review copy for free from the publisher via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

as I write this my nose is stuffy and my eyes are dry because I just wept reading Kinsella’s latest novella, “What does it feel like?”

It is a fictionalized account of Kinsella’s own diagnosis with an incurable brain cancer. Eve is a writer, with a beloved husband and five children and a career she knows she’s lucky to have.

Then it all changes. Much like her novels Kinsella uses her honest and quirky voice to share her story. In the acknowledgments she mentions being a private person and this being a way to share this part of herself with her readers.

The conversations in this book are real, however fictionalized it is, as her husband, children and Eve go through her first year of treatment after brain surgery. Conversations that pierce your heart and then bring raucous laughter— something we all learned in “Steel Magnolias” is necessary.

”Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.”

It’s not a book of answers or a happy ending wrapped in a bow. But it’s a novella that give a snapshot of a life in flux, a woman struggling to come to terms with a new turn in her life.

There’s a lesson for everyone in that.

Thank you random house and PRH audio for review copies!
Though a short read, this is a novella to go back to time and again to think about the depth of love, the strength, and the experience of this kind of brain cancer. Kinsella's writing here is deeply personal even if somewhat fictionalized and captures raw emotions and fears, thoughts, events related to her brain surgery. A testament to her strength but also a remarkable commentary on her marriage and her strong husband.

The first “adult” book I ever read was Confessions of a Shopaholic when I was in middle school. And I was hooked, consuming every Kinsella book I could get my hands on. Her books are fun, raw, and emotional all at once, and I’ve always seen a bit of myself in every main character. Recently, I got my mom hooked on the Shopaholic series as well, which has been a new level of fun, raging against Alicia Bitch Long Legs and moaning about Janice and Becky’s mom’s hijinks.
When I learned about Kinsella’s diagnosis, I was heartbroken. I’d just read an advanced copy of The Burnout, and had loved every second of it. Realizing it might be Kinsella's novel had brought me to tears. I hadn’t realized until that moment just how influential her many books had been to me, and how much of Becky Bloomwood especially that I’d taken to heart.
When I got this novella, I put off reading it for 2 months. When I finally picked it up, I was still telling myself it was a work of fiction. Then Eve described how she started writing her first book, and I started sobbing. I never stopped sobbing, honestly, but every scene with her family had me crying harder.
This book was incredibly upbeat for being so heart-breaking, with Kinsella’s trademark wit on every page. It read like a love letter to her family, cherishing their moments together instead of focusing on the hardships of her recovery after surgery and during treatment.
This is not a book I’d recommend you just pick up and read on a whim. But if you are looking for a short, thoughtful, and autobiographical account of someone’s journey with a brain tumor, this is a must-read. Just have a box of tissues nearby!
Thanks to Netgalley and The Dial Press for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was a fictional short story of Sophie's own life since a life-chnaging event.
I could feel it was extremely vulnerable and personal and she did an amazing job of telling her story!

As I've said before, I'll read even a grocery list by Sophie Kinsella and now the bar is even higher. I hope she never stops writing.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wonderful and thought-provoking

This is not the typical Sophie Kinsella novel! However, you must read it!!! Semi-autobiographical, it deals with a bestselling author with a serious illness and how it changes her life and relationships. It is at once lighthearted and tearjerking, overall it is brilliant. Do not miss this book!

Thank you to the publisher who lent me an e-arc via Netgalley. This review is optional and my own opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC! This short story was truly heartbreaking. I'm kinda struggling to even review this because it's hard to put it into words. The story is based on Kinsella's own battle with glioblastoma and I was left with such a profound sense of appreciation for her finding such a beautiful way to share her story through Eve and her family.

This book largely centers on the topic of cancer and the very real, devastating effects it has on both the patient and their loved ones — this isn't a sugarcoated story, there were some parts that were genuinely difficult to get through, but the raw honesty and vulnerability Kinsella had to put those details into this story really makes the reader admire her bravery — but it was very, very hard to get through.

Beautiful and personal. This felt so raw and sudden which I’d imagine is how it feels when it becomes your own story with a sudden diagnosis with a poor prognosis. I’ve always enjoyed this authors books for a strong plot and strong female lead. I’m so glad I got to read this one as well. I’ll always remember this one.