Remember Me?

You've just won the Publishers' Clearing House sweepstakes only you don't remember! Just imagine it, waking up one day and discovering that your entire world has changed. Imagine your life now with all its routines and traditions and then imagine three years from now. How different could things possibly be? What if you suddenly woke up today and three years had passed and you were a new person, with a new life, and you had no remembrance, no understanding of the sudden transition. Imagine, if you will, taking on this new dream life, only to later realize that all is not well in the world but you have no way of providing a solution because you don't remember the all important transition. How weird and fascinating would such an experience be? How exhilarating and how terrifying would it be to attain your dream life filled with scads of money, friends, and a handsome multimillionaire husband? Lexi Smart, a formerly underpaid employee at the none too glamorous Deller Carpets is about to find out. After being denied a promotion, being stood up by her boyfriend, and discovering that her father has died, Lexi's world just seems to be going downhill, until a fateful accident occurs that she can't remember. Suddenly, Lexi wakes up in a hospital, the last three years obliterated from her mind, to discover that her most recent memory is actually long since passed and that her world has changed drastically since the Deller Carpets days. She is wealthy beyond her wildest dreams, with an equally wealthy husband, a high profile job, and a new set of swank friends. But, is this world as alluring as it first appears, or is there a seam of cracks beneath the shallow surface? The answer to the riddle lies buried in Lexi's memory, but will her amnesia ever leave her? Will Lexi ever be able to find her true self again, or has all the wealth and glamour killed the old, high spirited Lexi of yesteryear? So remember, be careful what you wish for. You just might get it. Sophie Kinsella has once again presented a hilarious, yet ultimately serious and sentimental tale for the reader's enjoyment. Although Kinsella has never penned an inferior novel, Remember Me stands dramatically above all her pervious works. As an author she has developed and expanded her level of emotional and romantic depth, presenting a tale that is both unique and realistic at the same time. While the idea of amnesia has been more than properly explored in both television and grocery store romances, Kinsella has really done her homework, taking the concept away from its clichéd origins by adding a realistic emotional dimension. The basis of the story is actually believable and surprisingly enthralling, grabbing the reader's interest instantly and refusing to let go. Because of this cleverly structured plot, the entire tale has a distinct air of the unpredictable, which is unusual for Kinsella since the public of readers mostly takes it for granted that her character will, after numerous tragedies a

It's a tried and true made for TV movie theme. Someone, usually someone down on their luck like the ugly girl in high school or the miserable kid, makes a wish that they were all grown up. And then presto-they are! It's X amount of years in the future and suddenly they are an adult and have become beautiful, popular and have a wonderful life. But that doesn't mean they're prepared to deal with it. Sophie Kinsella has taken this common and (frankly) overused plot line and remade it into a wonderful, hilarious, romantic and hugely touching novel that is really her best work yet. Lexi Smart has an entry level job and no yearly bonus, a boyfriend who everyone calls loser Dave, snaggly teeth and her father's funeral to attend in the morning. She doesn't make a wish for a better life, but she does fall on her head. And wakes up in the hospital with a great body, perfect teeth, a fantastic job, the perfect husband and no memory of the last three years. It seems perfect at first. Her life is great on the surface. She's rich, good looking and married to a millionaire Greek god. But as she gets to know her new life she realizes that she is missing from it. The new Lexi is dramatically different from the old and not only in appearance. Nowhere is there any trace of the girl she once was-and, thanks to a bump on the head, is again. Until she learns that this self has secrets-huge secrets which may be her only hope of getting the world to remember the girl Lexi Smart used to be. "Remember Me?" is by far the best novel Sophie Kinsella has written to date. It is just amazing! I laughed out loud, felt Lexi's initial joy and later frustration and anger and swooned at the romance. This book has propelled Kinsella out of the chick lit genera and into the category of just plain old great novels. I recommend this to everyone. My only complaint is that the book can be read in several hours-and I wanted more! Five stars.

Fresh, fun, and fabulous describes Kinsella's newest heroine, the indefatigable Lexie Smart. Waking up in a hospital bed and realizing she has lost three years of her life is no laughing matter, but being fascinated by her shiny new hair, pearly white teeth, ultra-toned body, and eye-catching manicure softens the blow. Frustrated by not remembering anything past the night when, at age 25, the snaggle-toothed carpet seller was getting smashed with her best friends after losing out on a company bonus and being stood up by her loser boyfriend the night before her Dad's funeral, Lexie begins an often frustrating but always interesting journey to find out how she became, at age 28, a senior executive of her company, married to a handsome husband she can't remember, and at home in a posh loft apartment with pieces of furniture and art she could never dream of affording. Her new life is too perfect until she discovers her former friends want nothing to do with her, her husband's right-hand man tells her they are having an affair, and her sweet baby sister has become an extortionist. How Lexie sorts out what happened in the missing three years will have you alternately gasping and laughing. Sure, you may have to suspend reality a bit, but the trade-off is an entertaining story that is light and breezy and sure to be a hit with Kinsella's legions of fans. I never thought she'd be able to top the fun of the Shopaholic books, but I think she actually did it with this one. Not only is Lexie as endearing as Becky Bloomwood, but the story is much more suspenseful as little by little we come to understand what happened to Lexie to move her out of her struggling, lackluster existence to become the shining star of her crowd.

Lexie Smart. Was she or was she not Ghandi in a previous life? The fun and farcical story of Lexie Smart has the heroine in this tale, Remember Me?, wondering how she got to a completely different station in life between the years 2004 and 2007. She believes she's stumbled into a dream life, but soon steps into a hornet's nest of complications, including finding out she's married to a "guy she just met," Eric, who is so rigid you have to sit up straighter just reading about him. She also discovers her best mates, a colorful threesome, have grown to hate her and call her the "bitch boss from hell." Having no basis for comparison with the author's earlier works, this was just plain an enjoyable little story about a young woman trying to piece together her life after a car accident causes her to suffer from amnesia. She can't remember the last three years of her life and the drastic changes she underwent to go from a snaggletooth bumbler to a high-styled corporate bigwig married to a millionaire. It's well written, very funny and has a clever plot that kept me turning pages at a record pace. I can see why Kinsella has so many fans and look forward to reading her Shopaholic series. Michele Cozzens is the author of It's Not Your Mother's Bridge Club

I've read all of Sophie Kinsella's book and this new one diddn't disappoint. Remember Me was a treat from start to finish with plenty of laugh out loud moments along with the very interesting study of self-identity and how we change.