I think what I liked the most about this book was that both the main characters had icky problems that pissed me off throughout the book, but I was pleasantly surprised when they confronted each other with these problems and changed as people. I love personal personality progress. ( )

This book was very hard to get into. And this is coming from someone who cuts the author a lot of slack usually. ( )

This was brilliant and over the top and dramatic and frivolous and absolutely delightful.

And there's a dog. Five stars for Harold!

I am a fervorous hater of instalove. ButI am a fan of people who break the rules when they know what the rules were in the first place. In this, Sophie Kinsella has taken some instalove, added a lot of self-awareness and humour, and turned it into something really brilliant. In addition to the trademark ridiculous scenarios and crazed characters, this featured people who grow and get better and realise they are flawed. It featured distinctive characters with their own goals and ambitions. It featured strong friendships and aspirations. It featured a love story I rooted so far for Topher's and Nell's, duh.

I actually managed to read this slowly because I wanted to savour it and enjoy every moment. And I laughed out loud. I forgot how Sophie Kinsella makes me laugh out loud. She's the bestest. ( )

Sophie Kinsella books are a delight and will make you full-out belly laugh a lot of the time. It is no different with Love Your Life.

In need of a sabbatical Ava goes to a monastery in Italy for a romantic-fiction writing retreat, a place she can clear her mind and work on her historical romance book. This should be easy since no personal information is to be shared and they aren’t allowed to know each other's real names. This becomes a challenge when a different retreat being held at the monastery is canceled. Soon Ava is finding it much harder to concentrate on writing her book when Matt of the martial arts group joins in on the writing retreat. They soon find the attraction mutual and are in a love bubble.

The majority of this book is about what happens when they are out of the bubble of Italy and the realities of their real lives and personalities are brought to life. This part where we get to know them in their everyday setting is full of strange anticipation. At times their personalities were so different I was worried for them. Ava was so optimistic and a bit unreasonable that at times she was blind to the truth. At times their character growth was tense to watch. That being said it was still full of humor and what I really love about this book are the secondary characters in Ava and Matt’s life. Their friends make the second part of this book enjoyable as each has their own distinct personality and quirks. Each of them helps the atmosphere as you navigate through the sometimes blindingly optimistic Ava and the gruff stark Matt.

Overall the beginning and the end were the strongest. You get to see them fall in like in the beginning and in love in the end. The middle was the tough part. Not that it wasn’t enjoyable because it was but it was like seeing a train crash coming and you knew it had to happen. Love your Life keeps you in anticipation of what's going to happen character wise and relationship wise. It’s realistic, but full of humor, and It was overall a joy to read and see the outcome of their relationship with their friends by their side.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Dial Press for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review. ( )

Ho letto quasi tutto della Kinsella, visto che in passato la serie di "I love shopping" era una divertente evasione da libri più impegnativi, ma noto un costante declino negli ultimi anni.
Trama piuttosto improbabile, a tratti noiosa, da libro dei sogni più che da vita reale: non lo consiglio nemmeno ai seguaci dell'autrice. ( )