Funny, lighthearted and engaging

I am very surprised to find myself enjoying Sophie Kinsella's books - didn't think they would be my sort of thing, but they are funny and very easy to listen to. They make a good antidote to listening to crime and suspense books which I do a lot of. This was her usual stuff - scatty heroine surrounded by chaos but coming out good in the end. It's like listening to an old fashioned farce, brought up to date. Lots of fun and make me smile. Keeps me in the garden weeding long after I would have given up with this distraction.

10 people found this helpful

A great laugh out loud book with good storyline

Would you listen to Wedding Night again? Why?

I really enjoyed this book by Sophie Kinsella. Having read/listened to all her titles I am eager to wait for the next book she releases. I tend to play my books out loud and I caught my husband listening to this on several occasions and looking forward to the next time I played it. Very enjoyable, relaxing with a twisty storyline ,not knowing what next. Cleverly narrated made a perfectly good book into something fun and special.
Better than the shopaholic series

8 people found this helpful

Easy listening

Would you listen to Wedding Night again? Why?

No but I really enjoyed it!

What did you like best about this story?

It was easy to listen to.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

I like to hear the parts being narrated by different people.

3 people found this helpful

Kinsella - but not at her best

Would you listen to Wedding Night again? Why?

I might listen to this again if I was wanting something to distract me without being too gripping (e.g. when running) but I won't be rushing to.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The writing was interesting (and different) to previous Kinsella work that different chapters were written by different characters which gave a refreshing shift in writing style and added an interesting angle. Unfortunately for me though, this didn't make up for the lack of overall story and believability factor....while Kinsella doesn't write to be completely believable, the humour and likability of the characters normally overcomes any reality issues, but for me, this book didn't manage to achieve that same balance.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The narrators were excellent, easy to listen to, likeable tone.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh in parts but not as much as I might have hoped. The end (without wanting to give it away!) slightly undermined any other emotional reaction I might have had...I thought it was a bit of a weak ending.

Any additional comments?

Pleasant and easy to listen to, but not anywhere near as good as some of her past works.

3 people found this helpful

very slow story but OK overall

Not very witty. Quite a tame and slow story that dragged a bit. I would not recommend it, as Sophie Kinsella has other much more interesting story books instead.

2 people found this helpful

Enjoyable read!

It was mostly a very light hearted funny and enjoyable story about love heartbreak and forgiveness.

1 person found this helpful

Lovely story.

A bit more grown-up than her shopaholic series (which I adore) and is a great story to listen to before bed. The different narrators did not annoy me as I thought they would. Bad narration can really ruin an otherwise good story but not the case here.

1 person found this helpful

Wedding Night by Sophia Kinsella

First things first, I absolutely adored Wedding Night. There are so many mixed reviews about this book, and I will be honest to say I was hesitant to start it because of the negative reviews I had read. I saw so many references to how this was nothing like Kinsella's previous books, how they couldn't stand one or both of the characters, and was just overall disappointed.

I don't understand these negative reviews at all. Was this different than previous Kinsella books? Yes. But that in no way made it rubbish. I loved the alternating point of view, and I ended up loving both Lottie and Fliss. I laughed out loud so many times, and the Kinsella storytelling was still quite evident.

"If Muhammad won't come to the mountain, the mountain has to cancel all his plans and get on a plane."

Lottie. She was so adorable. She wanted so much to be married to Richard and when that went down the drain she jumped at the chance to marry Ben, even though they had not seen each other for ages. I didn't take offence to the traumas she had to go through on her honeymoon at the hands of her sister Fliss. I thought they were quite funny. Even though I knew she was feeling miserable, we all knew it was going to work out in the end.

"My great moment of triumph ... It's all turned to dust. I wasn't the heroine of the hour. I was the thoughtless, stupid villain."

Fliss. I think because Lottie's name appears first in the synopsis, a lot of people assume that this is her story. I also think that is why a lot of people say they didn't like Fliss, because she took up a lot of the story. I don't think this is Lottie's story at all. This is a moment in both of their lives where one event has turned into a life changing moment for them both. I loved Fliss. Were the actions that she took to prevent Lottie and Ben from 'putting the sausage in the cupcake' extreme? Absolutely yes.. but they were hilarious. I can't even caught how many times I laughed out loud. And seeing as how I listened to the audiobook, and a lot of times I was at lunch at work... I had quite a few people looking my way.

"You can't switch sides!" I glare at him in fury.

"I was never on your side," retorts Lorcan. "Your side is the nutty side."

I also loved the side characters, Richard and Lorcan. I had to warm up to Richard at first, but once I saw how much he truly cared for Lottie it was easy to love him. And Lorcan? I fell in love with him. His own story touched my heart, and I adored his interactions with Noah, Fliss' son. It was a joy to watch him and Fliss move closer together as the story went on. Ben was just a tool for most of the book, and I think my dislike for him is what helped me find the tormented honeymoon so darn funny.

I would strongly recommend this book to any Chick Lit fan, as mentioned before it is different from other Kinsella books but it is still really great. You will laugh, that is guaranteed.

"You fall in and out of love, but when you really love someone...it's forever."

This is my first review for an audiobook version. I used to be a member of Audible years ago when I had to commute a fair distance to work. Now that I no longer have that commute I never really found myself with much time to listen to them. But I decided that when I was doing such things as cleaning, showering and sometimes at lunch at work, instead of listening to music it would be better to be 'reading' a book.

So, I am a proud renewed member of Audible and will always have one audiobook on the go, on the side of my normal Kindle reading. It took me about three weeks to get through these 13 hours, but the story flowed nicely and I never found myself lost when I went to restart my listening. I loved the narrators Finty Williams and Beth Chalmers. They were easy to listen to and I enjoyed the way they altered their voice when speaking for a male character. So as far as the audible version is concerned, I give two big thumbs up.

Christine
Rainy Day Reads

3 people found this helpful

Middling to Good. Not her greatest but enjoyable

Any additional comments?

I'm an avowed loather of female protagonists who get themselves into silly scrapes because they're not bright enough to manage their money and are driven to daft ecstasies by unrestrained spending sprees on shoes, hangbags etc.
Dont get me wrong I like shopping as much as most women but I've always lived within (my regretably meagre means)& have no empathy with people who get themselves into avoidable scrapes had they simply demonstrated a modicum of intelligence. ...so ...i'm not a candidate for the shopaholic series.

However, bedbound in my twenties six-years ago when my life came to an excruciating halt I've found the need to indulge in absorbing, happy-ending, contemporary romances.
And whilst Kinsella's never going to totally dispense with characters who get themselves into some pretty asinine scrapes - she does also create likeable characters who do show they have goodness as well as some wit about them despite some loose canon behaviour which usually provides the plot-line of 'scrape-to-get-out-of.'

If you're going to start getting sniffy about the plausability of said scrapes then Kinsella probably isnt for you but if you can enter into the spirit of the plotting Kinsella employs you'll enjoy some gems and this was one of them.
I listened to I've Got Your Number when put on my first lot of morphine and was experiencing horrific side-effects and it was the tonic I needed over some vile days where I literally couldnot move. Even though you know all will be well with a Kinsella book there were moments of uncertainty and the main character Poppy's dealings with the man she was clearly meant to be with were heart-warming, touching, funny and delicious rom-com stuff. So I went straight out and bought this title - Wedding Night. The aformentioned title, Twenties Girl and Can You Keep A Secret are my out and out Kinsella favourites but Wedding Night was still funny, warm and tender with pleasing lashings of will-they-wont they between Lottie and the man who belatedly shows she should be 'her-guy.'

This comedy-of-errors is absorbing and amusingly drawn - granted there are a few really absurd scenes like a game of Mr & Mrs played between our heroine Lottie and Ben who she thinks is her dream soul-mate. And the ludicrous lengths her charming (well-narrated) sister Fliss goes to to try and prevent consummation of the marraige do extend even the far-fetched extremes one should be prepared to overlook in this type of chick-lit. But taken with the requisite pinch of salt, overall this isnt a Kinsella-corker but its certainly not a Kinsella write-off either. And if you've enjoyed her and don't mind entering into the spirit of some slightly dubious plot premises - the central one being is it really so expedient to get an annullment in this day and age - then give it a go.

3 people found this helpful

Unfortunate choice...

Unfortunate choice…

To coin one the phrase of one authors own characters choosing purchase Wedding Night was indeed for me an ‘unfortunate choice’.

I have always loved the ‘Shopaholic’ saga Sophie Kinsella books and very much enjoyed ‘Twenties Girl’ so was very much looking forward to settling down to relax and unwind with this new offering however I was sadly disappointed with the story line which is more yawn making than relaxing.

Can a whole book centre on one couple trying to get it on in various locations with a variety of ‘Faulty Towers’ type scenarios with aside serving of bitter divorcee?…decide for yourself but for me the answers is resounding ‘No’.

I also found the narration very jarring and annoying.

6 people found this helpful