Love your Life by Sophie Kinsella

 Hello!

Today's review is on Sophie Kinsella's Love Your Life! Sophie Kinsella is also the author of Confessions of a Shopaholic and Undomestic Goddess (which I reviewed back in early 2011!)

I hope everyone is having a good week so far!  It's been a little rough for me, but getting through it slowly.  Taking it one day at a time. :)

From Goodreads:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of I Owe You One, an utterly delightful novel about a young woman who ditches her dating app for a writer's retreat in Italy -- only to find that real love ones with its own filters.

Call Ava romantic, but she thinks love should be found in the real world, not on apps that filter men by height, job, or astrological sign.  She believes in feelings, not algorithms. So after a recent breakup and dating app debacle, she decides to put love on hold and escapes to a writer's retreat in remote, coastal Italy. She's determined to finish writing the novel she's been fantasizing about, even though it means leaving her close-knit group of friends and her precious dog, Harold, behind. 

At the retreat, she's not allowed to use her real name or reveal any personal information. When the neighboring martial arts retreat is canceled and a few of its attendees join their small writing group, Ava, now going by "Aria," meets "Dutch," a man who seems too good to be true. The two embark on a baggage-free, whirlwind love affair, cliff-jumping into gem-colored Mediterranean waters and exploring the splendor of the Italian coast. Things seem to be perfect.

But then their real identities -- Ava and Matt -- must return to London. As their fantasy starts to fade, they discover just how different their personal worlds are. From food choices to annoying habits to sauna etiquette... Are they compatible in anything? And then there's the prickly situation with Matt's ex-girlfriend, who isn't too eager to let him go. As one mishap follows another, it seems that, while they love each other, they just can't love each other's lives. Can they reconcile their differences to find a life together?

My Thoughts:

Love Your Life was cute.  It was fun, had travel, friendship, family, laugh-out-loud moments.  I did, however, have some issues with it for, at least, half the book....For one: Ava.  

My God!  Do you know Kate Hudson's character in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days?  Well, if you do, think her character when she's trying to get Matthew McConahey's character to fall in love with her for the article, but for REAL.  Like not acting.  

That's who Ava reminded me of.

My goodness, was she clingy!  The Italy trip takes place over a week.  Then they go to London, and by the time they have been together a total of a month, she has a drawer in his place (which she made herself, without asking!), has a key to his place, and wants to know about his family, friends, and life.  Like at one point, she does this super awkward thing, where as she is about to his friends, she blurts out "Do you want to have kids?"  It was so cringeworthy, because at that point they've been together maybe a week, week and a half, and for that first week they didn't even know each other's real names!  There is another part where, she is spending the night at his house (first night back in London), and she just gets up and helps herself in his kitchen.  Matt has roommates, and she just digs around in their cabinets and helps herself to their food and drink.  Maybe, I'm just old school, but I thought that was a bit presumptuous.  

That's the other thing, can you really have a "baggage-free" relationship?  I mean, how do you really get to  know someone?  Like, how can it be a serious relationship?  I guess, if you're not into the serious thing, fine, but Ava and Matt were telling each other they were.  

I also, just overall didn't like Ava's character, up until the last third of the book.  She acts really selfish.  The book is in her POV, and she does not see anything wrong with herself or her dog (who, I'm going to be honest, while yes a sweetheart, is extremely misbehaved with some of his regular behavior).  She doesn't seem to want to acclimate herself into Matt's world, but instead expects him to change everything about himself.  

Luckily that does change by the end.  I think Ava learns a lot, and while she annoyed me through most of the book, I actually grew to enjoy her at the end.

One last thing that I have to mention.  I had never heard of the word "beleaguered" before reading this book.  In fact, I looked it up.  It means "in a very difficult situation".  This word was way too much in this book.  It really felt like the author had looked it up using the thesaurus and then never looked at the thesaurus again.

Overall Rating:

I know with all those complaints above, you would think I'd give it a lower score.  However, its saving grace really was the last third of the book.  I ended up liking the ending.  Both characters grew by the end, and were learning about themselves and each other, and actually taking the time to do so.  I also really loved the dynamic of Ava and Matt's friends.  Both of them had interesting friendships.  Ava has a really great girl group that she is unbelievably close with, I wish I had friends like that!  And Matt has a couple of funny roommates.  While, I'm not 100% convinced that Ava and Matt would make it in real life, I thought their love story was entertaining and fun, and cute.  

The Romance Bookie :)