Customer Reviews

Twenties Girl

5 star:		(168)
4 star:		(67)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

I have read each of the Sophie Kinsella NON-Shopaholic novels, and liked each one more than the last. This one, however, had me completely smitten. I truly lapped up every word, every new twist and turn. I laughed out loud for pages at a time, and I cried huge tears at the end, partly for the story, and partly because I had to leave these characters behind.

The unfolds almost perfectly. Every detail becomes, in some way, important to the plot and to the characters. Not only has she crafted a fine romance and nice little mystery (perfect for grown-up fans of Nancy Drew books), but she has also created a unique and wonderfully grounded vision of what it must be like to live with a ghost who can only partly interact with our world.

Clever, funny, and genuine, this book has all of the characteristics of basic "chick lit" (first person storytelling, female protaganist, kissing) but it is so much more. Like another fantasy classic, this novel is practically perfect in every way.

Sophie Kinsella is well-known for her easy-to-read-breezes and hilarity throughout the novel -- this exactly what is brought to the table in her new novel Twenties Girl. Lara plays a very familiar role for those familiar with -- Sophie Kinsella novels -- Lara is sincere, resourceful, and a bit naive. The plot is rather far-fetched and a atd silly at times, but we've come to expect that from Ms. Kinsella...and that is what we're fans of - a light-hearted, smooth flowing story, that is fun to read.

Lara and Sadie (the ghost of her aunt) make a great odd couple and compliment each other well. When Lara comes across a hurdle, Sadie is there to add to her difficulties. While this set-up is a perfect setting for humor, they story is more about values, family, friends, honesty, and trust. But what Sophie Kinsella novel would be complete without romance? Well, Ed, fills that role...and with his kind and caring nature, the romance adds to the pleasantry of the novel. In short, Twenties Girl is a fun, light breeze, that all fans Sophie Kinsella will absolutely love. And for those new to the author, I would compare it to JoAnna Wylde's novel: Price of Freedom (highly recommend) if you haven't read it yet.

I was rather disappointed in this book. The story had possibilities--a young woman from Roaring 20s, who ultimately lived to be 105, comes back as a ghost at her funeral looking for her favorite necklace. However, I don't think the author quite pulls it off. Parts of the story are downright silly and had me rolling my eyes: Sadie screaming in people's ears, Lara walking all over London looking like she's talking/yelling at herself, etc. Nonetheless, I'm giving "Twenties Girl" 3 stars because I really liked Sadie, the ghost. She's the most richly drawn character. Sadie wasn't a saint--far from it!--but she changes Lara's life and helps her become a better person. As someone who has spent time volunteering with the elderly, I know that we all tend to forget that old people were once young too. So I loved the overall message of the book--that inside, despite what the mirror may tell us, we all feel like we're still in our 20s. And that Sadie, who thought she had wasted her long life and died a forgotten old lady, really had made a difference in this world. I also thought that Lara's send-off to Sadie at the end was quite moving... I don't know if she was watching, but I think Sadie would have approved.

"Twenties Girl" by Sophie Kinsella (author of "Confessions of a Shopaholic," among others), is the story of Lara Lington and her great-aunt Sadie. The catch? Sadie is a ghost, and Lara barely knew her in life. Through Sadie's persistent haunting, Lara gets to know her--and in the process, learns quite a lot about herself.

We first meet Lara at Sadie's funeral. Sadie, 105, passed away recently, and Lara's parents pressure her to go to the funeral. Lara would rather be anywhere but at the boring funeral for an old lady she didn't know. Her desire to be elsewhere increases when she starts hearing a voice no one else can hear. She tries to escape, but Great Aunt Sadie's ghost won't leave her alone. To satisfy Sadie, Lara must stop the funeral in progress. This entails an accusation of murder. The ensuing hysteria is made more comic by Sadie nagging Lara to find Sadie's missing necklace--she won't leave without it.

In the process of searching for the special necklace, Lara learns just what a fascinating person her great aunt was, and learns how she wants to live. Sadie teaches Lara about relationships, having fun, and moving on. In the process, she leads Lara to step beyond her boundaries and live life fulfilled. And, this being Chick Lit, she finds The Man for her--who is not at all who she expected!

"Twenties Girl" was a fun and satisfying read. It took me 50 pages to really get into it, but it was worth it. The ending is more sweet than bitter, and I closed the book feeling like it had ended right.

Reading a Sophie Kinsella book is one of my guilty pleasures. All of her novels are light weight reads that don't require a whole lot of thought. I am surprised to see that so many people on here find the premise of this book "unbelievable".

Really? Are ANY of her books "believable"? If so, then I guess it IS possible that a high powered lawyer can run out of a meeting after discovering she made a huge mistake. Get on a train and wind up in a village, knock on the door of some random house, and end up becoming the house-keeper/cook for the rich owners that live there.

Oh yeah, I remember the time that I got VERY drunk on a plane, and confessed every one of my deepest secrets to a complete stranger. Know what happened then? That very same stranger became my new boss. I was soooo humiliated.

Sure. These things happen every day.

This book is actually different in the fact that the heroine, Lara, is actually very level headed and down to earth. While attending the funeral of her great aunt Sadie, the spirit of the aunt begins to haunt Lara, demanding she find some way to stop the funeral and help Sadie get back a necklace that means a great deal to her. In doing this, Lara discovers some shocking secrets about her family. Along the way, Lara meets a handsome American and finds out her best friend a business partner is a total fraud.

Read this book. It will not disappoint. Sophie Kinsella is a genius.

Maybe her next book will be more believable to some. It's about a two year old shopaholic. Seriously.

I'm a loyal fan of Sophie Kinsella, despite the fact that for me, many of her latest books are not as good as the first two in the Shopaholic series. While this book was not one of my favorites, I found that I actually enjoyed reading it in the end.

The premise of Twenties Girl: A Novel is that Lara Lington, the main character, is haunted by the ghost of her great aunt Sadie, who she did not have a relationship with when she was alive. Sadie is following Lara because her prized necklace has gone missing and she cannot rest without it. The remainder of the book follows the hillarity that ensues when Lara goes on a hunt for the necklace and Sadie seems keen to intervene in her everyday life.

For the first 100 pages of this book I didn't like it at all and considered putting it down. The writing didn't seem believable (True, the premise is unlikely to begin with, but many authors have a way of making the unbelievable seem believable) and I really didn't have a sense of why Sadie chose Lara or why I should care. Eventually though I got sucked in and ended up enjoying the book. Yes, there were quite a few elements of the plot that were predictable and a bit contrived. However, the characters ended up being well developed enough and there were enough twists and turns in the plot that it still made for a fun read.

The bottom line is this. This definitely is not Sophie Kinsella's best book and if you are reading her for the first time I would definitely recommend picking up the first book in the Shopaholic series first. However, if you've already read the series and are looking to branch out to later books this is definitely one of the best of the books she has written after the series. It's not going to rock your socks off, but it's still pretty good as a breezy read.

I'm one of the rare people that didn't like the Shopaholic series or Becky Bloomwood. But I've rather enjoyed Kinsella's stand alone books so I thought I'd give this one a go and I was not disappointed.

Twenties Girl is so much more than just a chit-lit. It has romance, mystery, friendship, humor, heart and the paranormal. Don't be put off by the paranormal aspect of the book, it's like no other ghost story you've ever read. The first 4 or 5 chapters are a little difficult to get into because Kinsella is setting up the the story for us. Stick with it though, because believe me when I tell you, you'll get to a point in the book where you cannot put it down.

What sets this book apart from your average chick-lit is the mystery woven into the story. It'll keep you glued to the book wanting more and more information. The friendship between the 2 main characters is also extremely humorous, believable and has so much heart. I finished this book in 2 days and many of you will probably finish it faster because like I said earlier, you'll get to a point in the book where you will NOT want to put it down!!

Lara Lington's life is a mess. First, she quit her job to start a headhunting business with her best friend Natalie and then Natalie up and left for Goa leaving Lara unprepared to deal with business. Next, Lara's boyfriend Josh dumps her, leaving her lonely and desperate. Then Lara's great-aunt Sophie dies. Aunt Sophie was 105 and died alone in a nursing home. Lara's family can barely spare the time to hold a brief funeral for the lady. During the service, Lara hears a voice in her ear which she eventually realizes is great-aunt Sadie's ghost who tells Lara to stop the funeral before her body is cremated! Aunt Sophie's ghost manifests herself as a young woman in her twenties and she is searching for her favorite necklace from the 1920s and won't rest until she finds it. Lara quickly finds herself going crazy trying to help the ghost of Aunt Sadie. As their relationship develops, Sadie helps Lara learn about life, friendship, love and most importantly, family. Lara uncovers some shocking family secrets and helps Sadie achieve her dream and accomplish her goal. with very unappealing characters. Every single conversation and action is written out making for a very long, slow-moving novel until 3/4 of the way through when the mystery really picks up. Then, once the mystery is resolved, the predictable resolution drags on and on. The characters in this book are also not very appealing. Lara is such an annoying sad-sack in the beginning that I just can't like her very much. Sadie is even worse. She's obnoxious and acts like a spoiled child when she doesn't get her own way. I felt sorry for in her old age though and liked her a little better towards the end. I also had issues with the way Lara handled the mystery and the unrealistic way museum staff were portrayed. Fans of Kinsella's quick, witty novels will probably be disappointed in this one.

I couldn't resist this book -- mystery, ghost story, chick lit all in one! However, upon reading the first twenty pages, I knew this wasn't going to be like Kinsella's other books. First off, I didn't feel as attached to Lara as I did with Kinsella's other characters. For instance, Becky Bloomwood in the Shopoholic series is a bit of a nut, but still every bit as lovable. Lara pales in comparison, she comes off as a watered down version -- a bit nutty, obsessive, but bland. I guess if you didn't know what Kinsella was capable of, it wouldn't be as noticeable. There were moments where the silliness overshadowed the plot and I wanted to ask, really??

The overall mystery was cute and clever, if not a bit cliched. Sadie is pretty much the most memorable 3-dimensional character, ironic as she's a ghost. I wish Kinsella did a better job characterizing the two men in the novel, because they really came out like cookie cutter stereotypes. I know this book's more along the lines of a mystery/ghost story, but if you're going to throw in a heated romance, especially in chick lit, the guy's really got to have more to offer than an Aston Martin and thick brows (basically, Ed's an American Luke Brandon, with less personality, if that's possible)!

Also, I felt the book could have used a bit of editing. It's 450 pages, which goes beyond the lines of a light, easy read. There was definitely drag in the beginning and in the middle, and the ending was way too predictable. I didn't feel rewarded for actually finishing the book. I guess I was a bit disappointed with the quality of this book in comparison with Kinsella's other works, it just seemed to rehash characters and throw them into a lukewarm plot for 200 pages too many. I would suggest this book only to someone who wants a light read but doesn't mind wading through the silly parts and the dragging parts of the novel. Fans of Kinsella's previous works may be disappointed with the lack of editing and stock characters in this book.

"Twenties Girl"premise was interesting, creating a ghost as a second main character is a different idea. However, I felt the story dragged and there were moments where there was no clear direction as to where the story was going. I also felt the ending was anti-climatic. Not one of my favorite Kinsella books.