Bloggers Book Club June (Twenties Girl – Sophie Kinsella)

First of all a big thanks to Amy who has gone through the trouble of organising the blogger’s book club. I’ve still not posted my review of May’s book (LA Candy) because I’m a bit useless, but as I finished June’s pick at lunchtime I thought I’d get on and give my twopenneth while it was fresh in my mind.

This month’s book is Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella.

The blurb (taken from Amazon):

“Laura has always had an overactive imagination. Now she wonders if she is losing her mind. Normal twenty-something girls just don't get visited by ghosts! But inexplicably, the spirit of Lara's great aunt Sadie - in the form of a bold, demanding Charleston-dancing girl - has appeared to make one last request: Lara must track down a missing necklace Sadie simply can't rest without. Lara's got enough problems of her own. Her start-up company is floundering, her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, and she's just been dumped by the love of her life. But as Lara spends time with Sadie, life becomes more glamorous and their treasure hunt turns into something intriguing and romantic. Could Sadie's ghost be the answer to Lara's problems and can two girls from different times end up learning something special from each other?”

My thoughts:

I wasn't really looking forward to reading this book to be honest as I generally go for historical / crime books - I've never really been one for 'chick-lit' but here goes....

When I first started the book I struggled with it a bit, I found the ghost idea to be rather silly and the characters to be a bit, well, annoying really (Lara especially grated on me as was very wet and a in my opinion a bit spineless in the beginning). However I persevered and I really warmed to  Sadie (who you would expect to be old fashioned and a bit of a grandmother like character but is actually very funny, vivacious, and much more street-wise than Lara).

I liked how there were a number of twists in the story and how there was a bit of mystery in there to keep me interested (and guessing!) I also liked the character development of both the main characters - how Lara grew into herself after starting out as quite naive and a bit of a mess and how Sadie's story gradually unfolded as the search for the necklace went on.

All in all I was pleasantly surprised by the book, despite having my initial reservations. I wouldn’t say that it was a real page-turner but it was engaging enough to wind down after a busy day in the office.

Thanks Amy!!

xx