Review: I’ve Got Your Number, by Sophie Kinsella
I’ve Got Your Number is the second Sophie Kinsella novel I’ve read this year and the hopeless romantic in me is ridiculously happy about this fact. Kinsella’s standalone novel showcases the author’s talent in creating a Chick Literature novel that will not disappoint her fans. With quickly paced writing, wit, and the occasional moment where your heart stops, Kinsella manages to write yet another successful novel to add to her career. Of course, with all of this being said, I suggest you read my review of The Undomestic Goddess, also by Kinsella, to see my already mentioned complaints about her writing since I will not be rewriting it on this review.
Poppy Wyatt is getting married to the man of her dreams. It doesn’t matter that his parents don’t really think she’s good enough for their son, or that she feels inadequate beside his intellectually inclined family. At least, it didn’t matter. But something bad has happened. Poppy has lost her engagement ring and to add insult to injury, someone has just stolen, STOLEN, her cellphone, so can you blame her for thinking that she is royally screwed? But then, when she thinks all is lost, she finds a cellphone in the trash and immediately makes it her own… until a stranger begins messaging her claiming that the phone belongs to his company. Will Poppy ever find her ring? Will she ever be able to please her future-in-laws? Is her husband-to-be really who she thinks he is? And more importantly, who is this stranger messaging her?
Negatives:
1. Poppy’s character is trying to make herself appear more professional and intelligent, so she adopts the use of footnotes from her future-in-laws. Throughout the whole novel. I know that Kinsella was just trying to keep a sense of consistency, I’ve seen this before in other novels that employ a similar tactic. For example, Meg Cabot’s Queen of Babble series has designs of wedding dresses at the beginning of each chapter. Cabot’s use of the drawings visually display her character’s love of design and her knowledge of wedding dresses, and are very entertaining. Kinsella’s use of footnotes did not entertain me, they were annoying. I know it offered an “insight” into Poppy’s thoughts, but Kinsella could have simply added these thoughts directly into the narrative of the novel. Okay, I am a bit biased. I extremely dislike footnotes and I find them very distracting and disorienting. Since I had to keep looking at the footnote to see what Poppy thought, I kept getting more and more irritated since I just wanted to read the story.
2. The binding. I know this probably only happened to me, but as I read, the binding snapped! And I don’t mean in a joyful “yay, she’s reading me!” way. Even now as I skimmed the pages, the front cover hung lazily, unhinged from the book. Fun times.
3. Of course, the characters. Why must Kinsella’s characters be so aloof? Why must they be so naive? Clearly, I am just talking about Poppy. Poppy’s decisions lead to an ending that was not only anticipated, but was not as strong as I thought it could have been.
Positives:
1. The concept of texting is used wonderfully throughout the novel. Kinsella manages to write a story that mimics how most of us communicate with friends and loved ones nowadays. I know a similar technique has been used before, but in Young Adult novels. Kinsella successfully opens up this style of writing for adults in a fun and sexy way.
2. I love Kinsella’s writing. It’s so fluid that I always end up getting swept away. Despite all the negative things I’ve mentioned, give me a Kinsella novel and I’m good to go. Her use of dialogue makes it feel like you are standing there in the story listening to the characters chat. Kinsella is clearly not afraid of making her words sound like they would if they were spoken with emotion in real life. For example, if a character is worried, instead of writing, “What will I do?” Kinsella writes, “What will I dooooo?” Effectively bringing out the personality of the character through the use of dialogue and having some fun with it too.
3. Kinsella always gives little hints as to what her characters (antagonists and protagonists) are up to. I know this may be seen as a negative, but her little hints always make me feel like a detective. One of the good things about this novel is that yes, it was a bit predictable, but not every aspect was predictable. I would have never guessed the things I learned at the end. It was a fun surprise!
I am so happy that I still have one more Sophie Kinsella novel to read in my library. I will never tire of her work and look forward to any future novels by her. I recommend this book to those who enjoy Chick Literature and find witty, English female protagonists entertaining… oh yeah, and if you’re a hopeless romantic, you might want to check out this one as well as some of Kinsella’s other novels.
I give Sophie Kinsella’s I’ve Got Your Number:
Happy reading!
