Remember Me?

by Sophie Kinsella

book data

8,937 ratings, 3.62 average rating, 1,959 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		18%
4		37%
3		34%
2		8%
1		1%

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published

February 11th 2008 by Bantam Press

binding

Hardcover, 409 pages

characters

Eric, Mum, Jon, Lexi Smart, ...more

isbn

0593053893 (isbn13: 9780593053898)

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...more

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04/30/08

Trin rated it:

bookshelves: amnesia, english-lit, fiction

Read in April, 2008

This would usually be the time when I would ask the largely rhetorical and semi-pathetic question, “Why do I keep reading Sophie Kinsella books?” Well, this time the answer is blatantly obvious—the plot of this one involves amnesia, yo, and I can never resist amnesia—and the question is kind of unfair. Because this wasn’t so bad—far less annoying than the last few Shopaholic books. Kinsella’s strength has always been her ability to create an amusing, fast-paced narrative, and coup...more This would usually be the time when I would ask the largely rhetorical and semi-pathetic question, “Why do I keep reading Sophie Kinsella books?” Well, this time the answer is blatantly obvious—the plot of this one involves amnesia, yo, and I can never resist amnesia—and the question is kind of unfair. Because this wasn’t so bad—far less annoying than the last few Shopaholic books. Kinsella’s strength has always been her ability to create an amusing, fast-paced narrative, and coupled with the amnesia plot, I really didn’t want to put this book down. However, it also shares many of the same irritating traits as Kinsella’s other novels. The protagonist is once again a flighty, shallow woman who spends most of the book flailing and helpless, wriggling out of scrapes mostly through luck and/or the help of a strong, powerful man. Also, Kinsella really has no idea what it means to be poor. Not only are these novels full of rich people, the “poor” characters still have large country houses (but they smell kind of funny!) or can afford their own flats in London. Uh-huh. I wish I had your problems, ladies.

For what this was, it was fun enough. Actually, in some ways it’s becoming funnier in retrospect, because I’m realizing what the plot reminded me of. In Remember Me?, 24-year-old Lexi wakes up after receiving a bump on the head to discover that she’s actually a very different and successful 28-year-old version of herself who’s lost four years of her memory after a car accident. Which brings to mind a book I read as a teenager, The Other Side of Dark by Joan Lowery Nixon, in which 13-year-old Stacy wakes up after a four-year coma to solve a murder and embark on a vaguely squicky romance with a 23-year-old. Mostly I remember the latter book due to its having one of the most unintentionally hilarious last paragraphs ever: “My cheek glows from the warmth of his skin through his shirt, and I can hear the steady beat of his heart. I put my arms around him. I’m Stacy McAdams. I’m seventeen. And I’m definitely in the right body!” Ahahahahaha. I guess we should all be glad that in Remember Me?, Lexi merely engages in some rather embarrassing activities involving muffins.

Since this review has clearly descended into tangent city, I’d also like to call attention to something that was in no way Kinsella’s fault, but which made me want to laugh/cry almost as much as Stacy’s self-affirmations. Dear American publishers of English novels: We, your readers, are not idiots. We can figure out that, if a novel is set in London, “football” means the sport with the round ball and “crisps” are not some unfathomable food, even more impossible to decode than this “Philosopher’s Stone” I’ve heard stories of. We might, in fact, be reading this book set in London in part to soak up the English atmosphere and indulge our Anglophilia. So you are in fact helping no one when you take a manuscript from across the pond and do a find/replace on all the “British” terms, leaving you with a long scene that involves your heroine making repeated and unintentionally comic reference to a “packet of chips.” Yes, thank you for clarifying that the characters did not just purchase a plastic bag of French fries from a gas station; however, you’ve now got them sounding like poor confused souls with horrible mid-Atlantic accents. NO ONE SAYS PACKET OF CHIPS. Americans say bag of chips. English people say packet of crisps. Please choose one or, better yet, LEAVE IT THE HELL ALONE. Next thing you know all novels will take place in North Generica, because god forbid readers be exposed to something unfamiliar or spend half a second feeling CONFUSED.

[/rant]

So annnnnnnyway…like I said, way way back in my first paragraph, this was actually pretty fun and diverting. Much better than the later Shopaholic books, and a perfectly decent beach or plane read. Or in my case, couch and bathtub read. If you’re in need of some froth, you could do a lot worse. After all, this is froth WITH BONUS AMNESIA.(less)

Like this review? yes (17 people liked it)

2 comments

05/18/08

Susan rated it:

(review of isbn 0385338724)

bookshelves: guiltypleasures

Read in May, 2008

Sophie Kinsella's books follow a formula that's as simple and delicious as my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Start with a twenty-something heroine who's slogging away at her career in London. She's far from perfect. Neither an Oxbridge graduate, cover girl, or WAG of a world-class footballer, our girl's best quality is that she's a true-blue friend. She's a pretty hard worker, decent and well-meaning. She hasn't a mean bone in her body. Her flaws tend to run in the direc...more Sophie Kinsella's books follow a formula that's as simple and delicious as my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Start with a twenty-something heroine who's slogging away at her career in London. She's far from perfect. Neither an Oxbridge graduate, cover girl, or WAG of a world-class footballer, our girl's best quality is that she's a true-blue friend. She's a pretty hard worker, decent and well-meaning. She hasn't a mean bone in her body. Her flaws tend to run in the direction of materialism. This may manifest itself in a shopping addiction, or a tad too much lusting after designer goods, or a bit too much interest in the glitzy trappings of material success. The recipe in The Undomestic Goddess is slightly different--like an inverse chocolate chip cookie recipe, I suppose. (Chocolate dough with white chocolate chips). The heroine was a brilliant, high-powered City attorney or investment banker(can't remember which), who lived for her work but was clueless outside the office.

To these raw ingredients is added a crisis: a nasty workplace conspiracy (The Undomestic Goddess), a terrifying plane ride that loosens her lips(Can You Keep a Secret?), or an automobile crash(Remember Me?). If I recall, the Shopaholic books' crises pretty much revolve around the pitfalls of overspending. :)

The crisis performs a function as essential as the baking soda in the cookie recipe: it forces our heroine to rise to the occasion. She draws on qualities that she never knew she possessed, using them to make lemonade from lemons. The sugar is of course provided by Mr. Perfect, who crops up somewhere in her newly-jumbled circumstances. Our lucky London heroine grows in important ways, and finds true love in the process.

Lexi Smart, the central character in Remember Me?, learns an especially important lesson: the perfect life-- with a perfect body, career, and husband--just isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I know that cookies aren't good for me. I should be eating fruits and veggies, right? But once in a while I really need to indulge myself in something that's unrealistically sweet, simple and predictable. What fun to imagine that career success can come so easily from selling vintage carpet designs--and in London, no less!

Conclusion: Remember Me? is an especially quick and fun read that's driven by an admirable philosophy that I'm determined to adopt. I give it four yummy stars.

(less)

Like this review? yes (9 people liked it)

3 comments

02/26/08

Laura rated it:

Read in April, 2008

This book represents every reason why I do not just pick up adult novels and read them without getting a trusted opinion. But, I'd heard of this author from her previous work (even though I've never read them), it's been well received, and the description sounded interesting, so I thought I'd try it. The fact that every other page contained the f-word (not an exaggeration) was enough to turn me off to the book. Add in the fact that the characters discussion of sex made it sound more like a boys ...more

Like this review? yes (8 people liked it)

6 comments

05/01/08

Kym rated it:

bookshelves: contemporary-or-chick-lit

Read in March, 2008

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 hospit...more 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.(less)

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02/25/08

fbuser570980403 rated it:

From the Associated Press:
¶ "Remember Me?" (Dial Press Hardcover, 389 pages, $25), by Sophie Kinsella: Lexi Smart is living a fantasy. She woke up from an accident to find herself rich, successful and married to a smoking hot man.
¶ The only problem is that she can't remember how she got to this happy place in life. Amnesia after a car accident has wiped out her memory of the past three years.
¶ In trying to recover her past, Lexi gradually discovers that her p...more From the Associated Press:
¶ "Remember Me?" (Dial Press Hardcover, 389 pages, $25), by Sophie Kinsella: Lexi Smart is living a fantasy. She woke up from an accident to find herself rich, successful and married to a smoking hot man.
¶ The only problem is that she can't remember how she got to this happy place in life. Amnesia after a car accident has wiped out her memory of the past three years.
¶ In trying to recover her past, Lexi gradually discovers that her perfect life isn't everything it seems. Nor is she the person she thought she was.
¶ Best-selling author Sophie Kinsella uses a familiar framework in her latest novel, granting Lexi's dreams and then poking holes in them. Dozens of books and movies follow characters who discover their true selves only when they give up commonly held notions of success.
¶ But Kinsella, who wrote the popular "Shopaholic" series, isn't a chick lit icon for no reason." Remember Me?" is good fun, a page-turner that will keep a reader up all night.
¶ Twenty-eight-year-old Lexi is a sympathetic heroine who dreams of having her teeth fixed and hosting a disco party in her plush new loft apartment in London. After suffering with an absentee father, loser boyfriend and a lame job as an "associate junior" flooring sales manager, she's understandably thrilled by the sudden windfall.
¶ But she quickly learns that there's a lot of work involved in dressing like a supermodel while being both the perfect corporate wife and a corporate executive for a struggling carpet company. Nevermind the fallout from her appearance on a reality show strikingly similar to "The Apprentice."
¶ There's also the matter of men _ two of them. Lexi wakes up to find herself with a "drop-dead gorgeous" husband and a lover who's even better. It's a shock for someone who can't remember cheating before she got a knock on the head.
¶ Unsurprisingly, Lexi manages to resolve her conflicts in the boardroom and bedroom and emerge happier than in either her "old" or "new" lives. But while the ending may be expected, it isn't unsatisfying.
¶ And there's a few inspired moments along the way _ such as Lexi discovering that she and her lover have been commemorating rendezvous by planting sunflowers on his balcony. Her throat tightens with emotion, and perhaps in spite of oneself, so will a reader's.(less)

Like this review? yes (4 people liked it)

1 comment

03/13/08

Michele rated it:

Read in March, 2008

My First Sophie Kinsella Book
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 straig...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

2 comments

11/30/07

Ann added it (review of isbn 0385338724)

bookshelves: stalled

Read in March, 2008

Well, sadly, sniff sniff, this book wasn't quite as fun as I was hoping. I mean, it's a comedy, but I just wasn't as into the story or character as the Kinsella Shopaholic books. Too bad, too. I've kind of counted Kinsella as a "favorite chick-lit author" and she still is, just, maybe I'll have to limit it to her Shopaholic series. I only made it half way through this book, so, who knows, perhaps the ending is great! But, I figured there were so many other books I'm anxious to rea...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

5 comments

11/30/07

Kathryn added it (review of isbn 0385338724)

bookshelves: annie-and-katie-bookclub, stalled

Read in March, 2008

Well, sadly this book was NOT up to Kinsella's standards, in my opinion. I made it about half way through and decided that it just was not picking-up, was not that amusing or entertaining or enjoyable, and really not worth my time to finish it. The plot seemed rather predictable, the humor stilted, and I couldn't get into the characters. Sigh. Annie and I were so looking forward to it, too. Oh well, this will give us more time to read other books together, like the sequel to "Larklight"...more

Like this review? yes (3 people liked it)

8 comments

08/15/08

Norabee rated it:

(review of isbn 0385338724)

Read in July, 2008

recommended to Norabee by: friend
recommends it for: hospital patients, friends

The idea behind this book is thought provoking - Ladies, what would you do if you suddenly woke up in the hospital to find out that not only have you no memory of the last three years of your life, but that everything you do remember has changed? This would include your appearance (for the Better!), your career (you've been Promoted!), your love life (You're Married!! & to a really good-looking guy), your lifestyle (Fantastic! Your husband is rich and you make three times as much as you used to)...more The idea behind this book is thought provoking - Ladies, what would you do if you suddenly woke up in the hospital to find out that not only have you no memory of the last three years of your life, but that everything you do remember has changed? This would include your appearance (for the Better!), your career (you've been Promoted!), your love life (You're Married!! & to a really good-looking guy), your lifestyle (Fantastic! Your husband is rich and you make three times as much as you used to) and that your social life has changed too. Well, maybe not everything new is better - you seem to have all new friends but your old friends; the one's that matter the most to you act like you don't even exist. This is the case of Lexi Smart - a young woman who has the misfortune (or would that be fortune?) to suffer a brain injury after falling down a set of steps.

Sophie Kinsella is a masterful story teller; she mixes real life with just enough drama to carry you along and helps you invest in her characters. She takes Lexi from an average "any woman" to an ambitious, super styler who now has the sleek body of an athlete and makes us all wish that we could be her; then Sophie switches it up and we discover that there are cracks in the perfect exterior and that not everything is picture perfect.

The story gets even more involved when we find out that Lexi's last memory is indeed from three years earlier, but that the reason she's in the hospital is because of a very recent car accident. Somehow her brain injury jumps her memory back three years and it was during those three years that she consciously made all the changes in her life. She just doesn't remember how or why. She decides to jump right in, thinking that if she plays along, hopefully her memory will return. So she moves in with her gorgeous husband, makes plans to visit her job and see her friends. She just can't understand why she's no longer tight with the girls at work that she used to always hang out with. She even meets a man that seems to know her more than he should and before long, the sparks begin to fly!

Readers are treated to a mystery as Lexi takes on the task of discovering who she is and what is really important to her - she learns just what events sparked the tremendous changes in her life and as she gets to know herself, she discovers who she really wants to be. We ride along with Lexi as she takes on challenges and wonder if she'll ever regain her memory and if or when she does, how will it change her life?

As a personal aside, after reading this book description, I actually gasped! This is ME! Well No, not really but this book really meant something to me personally, as I too, woke up in the hospital after a bump to the had after falling down the stairs and I had no recollection of it either - my life hadn't changed much - except I did lose almost 10 pounds (feeding tubes are great - there's practically no fat pumped in there!) Fortunately, all my important memories are still intact, but it was so intriguing to me when I saw the description of this book that I just had to read it and I'm so glad that I did! Everyone can enjoy this tale; even if you haven't found yourself in Lexi's shoes (or mine!) because the story speaks to everyone about the perils of wanting "the good life" and what can happen as you discover that maybe, just maybe you may already have it!
(less)

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03/12/08

Therese rated it:

Read in March, 2008

I’ll admit that I enjoyed this book; after all I gave it 3 stars. The plot line was intriguing – albeit not entirely believable. Lexi Smart wakes up in a hospital thinking that the year is 2004 and that she has bad teeth, frizzy hair, and a lacklustre job. Imagine her surprise when she finds out that it is 2008 and she not only has amnesia, but a whole new (and improved) appearance, job, and relationship! But along with the positives of her new life are plenty of negatives, most notably ...more

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02/28/08

Lisa rated it:

Read in April, 2008

I love Sophie Kinsella. Whenever I read her novels, I can't help but think she seems like the kind of woman I'd be friends with. She writes the way I think, and I can relate to at least one aspect of every single one of her characters. I AM her demographic.

I also love Kinsella's imaginitive plots. In Remember Me?, Lexi wakes up in hospital with a head injury and quickly realizes she's lost three years of her memory. In her mind, it's 2004 and she's your typical, underpaid twenty-some...more

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02/21/08

Karina rated it:

(review of isbn 0385338724)

bookshelves: contemporary-fiction-chick-lit

Read in March, 2008

Really good chick lit/women's fiction about what drives a person to change their life around...and the repercussions one then regrets.

The main character, Lexi, suffers amnesia after a car accident and can't remember the last three years. Her last memory was of her self as a loser with a loser life...but she wakes up to a hunk of a husband, a promotion at work, and a new look. Seems perfect, right, but she soon discovers it's not and has to figure out what made her change before she c...more

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02/27/08

Keris rated it:

bookshelves: reviewed

Read in February, 2008

It's not the waking up in hospital that freaks out Lexi Smart. It's the fact that she's got nails to die for, porcelain veneers, a glossy mane of hair, a Louis Vuitton handbag, she's Manager of a whole department ... and, oh yes, she's married to a drop-dead gorgeous millionaire husband.

The only drawback she can see is that she's aged three years. But then so has her mother and (not-so-now) little sister.

How the hell did all that happen?

And what happened to the las...more

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04/16/08

Christina rated it:

Sorry Ms. Kinsella, but this book did not live up to my expectations based on the Shopaholic series. The characters were not at all likable and the plot never meshed. Like a good meal that's been eaten too many times, the chick-lit recipe of "kooky single girl has life fall apart, meets boy of her dreams, loses him, gets him back and lives happily ever after" is getting worn out and stale. Authors of this genre need to bring some aspect to the story that's unique in order to make th...more

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02/28/08

Heidi rated it:

bookshelves: adult

Read in February, 2008

I was very disappointed in this book. I felt like the author was spending more time trying to use every swear word she had ever heard than developing a good story. The concept intrigued me -- who isn't interested in amnesia? But the story was really about unhappiness and unfaithfulness. It was uninspired. That being said, if any of my friends still want to read it I read it with a black marker in my hand and now at least the bad language and some scenes are edited out!

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09/16/08

Bev rated it:

(review of isbn 0385338724)

I can always count on Sophie Kinsella's books for a delightful escape, and this one is no exception. Her newest heroine, Lexi, is just as lovable as her others, and she has retained the knack of making me laugh out loud and tear up at the same time. When you finally learn about the sunflower reference on the cover, I hope it takes your breath away as it did for me. Enjoy this charming story!

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05/06/08

Melissa rated it:

bookshelves: chick-lit

Read in May, 2008

This book was so satisfying, I actually closed the book and sighed when it was over. I love Sophie Kinsella. She's just a guilty pleasure. I know this is not great literature, some of her characters are one-dimensional (Eric, the husband) and I can always see the end coming a mile away, but I just feel so good after reading one of her books.

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07/26/08

Amanda rated it:

(review of isbn 0385338724)

bookshelves: chicklit, funny, romance

Read in September, 2008

recommends it for: Chick lit fans/Kinsella readers

Sophie Kinsella has a knack for writing fun, humorous stories that sometimes take a different turn than most chick lit novels. Though the Shop-a-holic books became slightly repetitive, her other stories always have a touch of refreshing originality.

In “Remember Me?,” Lexi, the main character, wakes up in a hospital room. The last thing she remembers is a night on the town with her friends that ended with her falling down some stairs onto the sidewalk. Unfortunately, that event h...more

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07/09/08

Barbara rated it:

bookshelves: 2008

I picked up Remember Me? because a member of an online group I’m in suggested it. That and I like Sophie Kinsella. While her books aren’t deep, they are fun. I’ve read all of the Shopaholic books (and, really, who hasn’t known a Becky Bloomwood?) but I loved Domestic Goddess.
The premise is simple: Lexi Smart has a car accident and wakes up in a hospital thinking it’s three years earlier. She has a husband she doesn’t know and an entire life she doesn’t recognize. Nothin...more

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07/07/08

Michael rated it:

bookshelves: audio-book, read-in-2008

Read in July, 2008

Imagine waking up one day to find you have the "perfect" life--great job, ideal spouse, the right look and money to satisfy your every need and whim.

In "Remember Me?" Lexi Smart does just that--wakes up to the perfect life. Lexi wakes up in a hospital following a blow to the head and having amnesia. The last three years of her life are missing and she's gone from a frumpy girl with the nickname "Snaggletooth" to a high-powered corporate career woman w...more