| | Remember Me? |  | Author: Sophie Kinsella
Creator: Charlotte Parry
Publisher: Random House Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $14.99
Buy New: $10.19
You Save: $4.80 (32%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  203 reviews
Sales Rank: 601199
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Abridged
Number Of Items: 5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 5.9 x 5.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 0739382365
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780739382363
ASIN: 0739382365
Publication Date: December 30, 2008 (In 28 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet published
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Amazon.com Review
Behind The Book: A Note to Amazon Readers from Author Sophie Kinsella It's hard, in hindsight, to say exactly how a book comes into being. There are so many ideas and themes that get explored and discarded along the way; so many layers that are built up. Plus it's a bit like having a babyonce the hard work is over it becomes a blur! But with all my novels, I usually start with one little kernel of an idea--and gradually build it up over months of thinking, plotting, the "coffee shop stage" as I call it. With Can you Keep A Secret? it was: what if you told someone all your secrets? With Remember Me? it was: what if you woke up and didn't recognize your life? What if you lost three years of memory--and everything had changed in that time? All my books involve some kind of wish-fulfilment; some kind of escapism--whether it's shopping, or a whirlwind romance, or stepping off the career treadmill--and Remember Me? is maybe the ultimate form of wish-fulfilment. What if you didn't recognize your life... because it had become so perfect? The image that kept coming to me was of a girl, blinking up at her Greek God of a husband, whom she doesn't recognize. It made me giggle every time I thought about it. And so I created my amnesiac heroine Lexi, and her perfect new glossy, unrecognizable life--from the new shiny teeth to the designer handbag, to the perfect millionaire husband. The potential for comedy was irresistible. Another theme I wanted to explore was identity, which I've always found fascinating. Our lives take unpredictable turns and we all change over time. But it's so gradual we don't always notice it. Would your younger self recognize your older self? Put another way, if you woke up tomorrow in the year 2011... what would you find? I grew incredibly close to Lexi whilst writing this book, and really felt all her ups and downs. I laughed and cried and cringed at every embarrassing moment (of which there are plenty!) I think of all my heroines she has maybe the biggest challenge to face and journey to make--as her biggest obstacle is herself. I hope you enjoy her journey!
Product Description
With the same wicked humor and delicious charm that have won her millions of devoted fans, Sophie Kinsella, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Shopaholic & Baby, returns with an irresistible new novel and a fresh new heroine who finds herself in a life-changing and utterly hilarious predicament….
When twenty-eight-year-old Lexi Smart wakes up in a London hospital, she’s in for a big surprise. Her teeth are perfect. Her body is toned. Her handbag is Vuitton. Having survived a car accident—in a Mercedes no less—Lexi has lost a big chunk of her memory, three years to be exact, and she’s about to find out just how much things have changed.
Somehow Lexi went from a twenty-five-year-old working girl to a corporate big shot with a sleek new loft, a personal assistant, a carb-free diet, and a set of glamorous new friends. And who is this gorgeous husband—who also happens to be a multimillionaire? With her mind still stuck three years in reverse, Lexi greets this brave new world determined to be the person she…well, seems to be. That is, until an adorably disheveled architect drops the biggest bombshell of all.
Suddenly Lexi is scrambling to catch her balance. Her new life, it turns out, comes complete with secrets, schemes, and intrigue. How on earth did all this happen? Will she ever remember? And what will happen when she does?
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 198 more reviews...
Lightweight, but great fun February 26, 2008
69 out of 71 found this review helpful
Lexi wakes up in hospital after a car accident. She's lost all memory of the last three years and is amazed at how her life has changed: suddenly she's married to a gorgeous guy, she's running her department at work and on paper her life suddenly seems perfect. But slowly she starts to realize that things are not quite as wonderful as they initially appeared to be. For starters, her best friends seem to have distanced themselves from her. And her husband Eric doesn't really seem to be her type.
This is a fast and fun book to read. The premise hooks you in and some parts are laugh out loud funny (particularly when Lexi realizes why her husband keeps making the Mt Blanc references). Okay, so it doesn't stretch your brain too much and you need to suspend your disbelief that she would have made some of the changes in her life, but overall it's still very entertaining. A perfect holiday read.
This is the third Sophie Kinsella book that I've read, and while I enjoyed it, I don't think it's as good as her others. If you like her books you'll enjoy this too, but if you're new to her as an author I think her others are better.
 Out of an overused made for Tv movie plot comes Kinsella's best novel yet April 9, 2008
41 out of 47 found this review helpful
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.
Sophie Kinsella Strikes The Mother Lode of Chick Lit Fun April 7, 2008
26 out of 28 found this review helpful
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.
The Review I Can't Remember July 21, 2008
16 out of 20 found this review helpful
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 cliched 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 and hilarious mishaps, have a happily ever after ending.
Likewise, Kinsella's new character is just as lovable as Becky Bloomwood in the much loved Shopaholic series. Lexi is a believable and down to earth character whose spunky personality is being crushed by the unfeeling, no nonsense world of business and high finance. We love Lexi both for her romanticism and her forced practicality and, above all else, for her vivid interpretation of emotions that we have all been subjected to. Her description of Loser Dave, her odious boyfriend, will bring chuckles to the readers' hearts, as we all secretly stand behind her, remembering those Loser Daves that we were saddled with. Her clumsiness in her new ultra modern home will remind us of those times at friends' houses when we have accidentally toppled something irreplaceable and ghastly expensive. Lexi is vivid and bright, lovable and laughable, and, above all, just like us. Life rains on her parade, just like it rains on ours and, just like us, she regretfully keeps picking herself up and moving on.
Lexi's character is supported, nurtured, and conversely deprived by an equally fleshed out cast of background characters and friends including her whippet crazy mother, her con artist blue-haired sister, her multimillionaire husband, and one other special character. These characters are just as alive and vivid as Lexi, each with their own believable personality forcing the reader to form bonds of love and hate, enmeshing him or her even deeper into the unfolding drama.
Unlike most of Kinsella's previous offerings, Remember Me is never slightly predictable. The conclusion is satisfying, startlingly realistic, and, most important, suitably sentimental. While the happily ever after element is present, it does bow to life's little cruelties as well as producing a well rounded conclusion that the reader would never have predicted. Remember Me is most certainly a novel that the reader will "remember" after the last page has fluttered into place.
But, Kinsella's concentration on the emotional and dramatic does not diminish her penchant for the comedic. The dialogue was witty and charged with sarcasm and the circumstances that Lexi found herself in were fraught with physical comedy unrivaled by the Three Stooges. Her mishaps in her new high tech home, her run ins with her mother's pack of pet dogs, and her budding relationship with her new, and somewhat strange husband, all culminate to keep the story continually bouncing from one outrageously side splitting dilemma into another all the while retaining the novel's bittersweet edge.
In creating her masterpiece, Kinsella expertly weaves the tale together with a witty, tongue in cheek writing style that backs the comedic aura. The unfolding tale relies entirely on Lexi's mental narration. Through her eyes, the story unravels blending modern language with vivid descriptiveness and a surprising understanding of the inner workings of the mind. By using this method of character narration, the entire work encapsulates a down to earth aura, making the reader feel as though he or she has a direct connection to Lexi's thought process, instead of feeling as though the tale is merely being narrated by an omnipotent, detached being. This style is highly effective and is the final touch to a grand masterpiece.
Conclusion: Kinsella has an almost magical way of appealing to modern audiences, using clever language, unique circumstances, and a down to earth appeal to people's emotions that never fails. Kinsella combines everything that makes a tale truly great and presents the reader with a modern drama of epic proportions. So, in acknowledgment of the novel, the only way to truly conclude is to ask the all important question: What would you really do if you won the Publishers' Clearing House sweepstakes and forgot?
- Ravenova
A fun, flawed heroine as only Kinsella can write them March 22, 2008
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
When Lexi Smart wakes up following an accident, it's to learn that it's three years later and her life is nothing like she remembers it. The last thing Lexi remembers is clubbing with her girlfriends, and falling down some stairs while trying to get a cab home. The girls were drinking away their problems--in particular, that everyone in Lexi's company got a bonus except her, because she was too junior, her loser boyfriend stood her up, and that her father's funeral is the next day. In the hospital, Lexi learns that not only has her father's funeral come and gone, but that she's now a member of the senior management team at her company, she's two sizes smaller and much more sleek and sophisticated, and she's got a husband who is rich, successful, and gorgeous.
Thinking she's woken up in a fairy tale, Lexi jumps headfirst into her new life. She moves into her immaculate and pristine loft with her real-estate developer husband and is determined to fit in with her new image as a woman who only dresses in neutral colors, whose ambition and drive are what she is known for, and who bears no resemblance at all to the woman who Lexi remembers. Despite her frustration at her inability to remember, Lexi is determined to persevere. But when her husband's lead architect gives Lexi some more startling information about her past, things begin to turn a little topsy-turvy in Lexi's already confusing life.
Remember Me? is classic Sophie Kinsella. Lexi is an fun, flawed, laugh-out-loud heroine as only Kinsella can write them. She's full of self-deprecating charm, witty banter, and quick retorts, despite the fact that half the time she doesn't know what she's talking about. I have to admit that at first the whole waking up three years later with amnesia plot seemed a bit too Alias for me, but it worked out well. It was interesting to navigate the twists and turns of Lexi's life with her as the tried to acclimate herself to the person she'd become. It was also great to read a fun and clever story with such a (partially) unique storyline. Sophie Kinsella fans won't be disappointed with this new offering, and anyone in the mood for a lighthearted and amusing story will appreciate it as well.
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