I've Got Your Number - Sophie Kinsella

I wanted a change of pace after reading A Clash of Kings, and thinking about the unread books on my shelves I knew where to get it.  My sister had lent me a Sophie Kinsella book quite some time ago, but I'd never quite found the right mood to read it in.  Sometimes you just have to take the plunge and hope the mood finds you.

I've Got Your Number is a standalone Sophie Kinsella book about a woman called Poppy.  As we meet her, she isn't having the best of days.  She's lost her very expensive engagement ring and then has her phone stolen.  In a moment of desperation she picks up a phone that's been left in a bin.  And so, in true chick lit style, her whole life changes.

This book did me the power of good.  True escapism, and I genuinely found myself laughing out loud.  I've struggled to get into some Sophie Kinsella books in the past (although I tend to be hooked before the end) as they can be quite cringeworthy.  Thankfully the truly cringeworthy moments don't happen until several chapters in, by which point you're already invested and so it's easier to cope with.

The nice thing with reading this sort of book is that you essentially know how it's going to end, you just don't know how it's going to get there.  So, for example, you don't start every chapter dreading that your favourite character is about to be killed off (unlike other books I could mention).  The first-person writing makes it particularly easy to be absorbed into Poppy's world and follow the ups and downs¹.

The concept of completely sharing part of your life with someone you don't know is such a simple but effective idea.  And it's used really well in this book.  Somehow it's easier to text a stranger about your worries than to tell your friends - something that a quick read of Twitter will confirm only too well!

Overall I would heartily recommend this book to anyone who's been taking things a bit too seriously lately and just needs to take a break.  Or anyone who just wants to have a good laugh.  Classifying this as chick lit might conjure up the image of trash, but, just like rom coms, not all books are created equal.  Although, if you only like books about war and killing then perhaps this isn't for you.  Maybe my next book will be?

¹ And the footnotes help too.