Can You Keep a Secret?

I truly laughed out loud from beginning to end. The character of Emma Corrigan and her flat mates are so hugely believable. I loved reading Emma’s thoughts in different situations. I liked those the best. A fun read! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book. I read it in three days and if it hadn’t been for daily chores and grown up responsibilities, I’d have been done in one sitting. Thank you for this entertaining story Sophie Kinsella. I look forward to reading more from you.

Omg. I cannot even fathom my frustrations. What a waste of my time and money! I wanted to give it 1 star but my principle is that anything I can finish reading deserves 2 stars.I just finished reading two other books by Kinsella which were ok. My not so perfect life was a very fun read. The undomestic goddess was tolerable. But this one is insufferable and will be my last Kinsella book for a while. Its premise is intriguing and promising. But by the end of chapter 4 I was ready to quit but forced myself to read on.To be fair, the book did deliver a few giggles for me but that was it. The main character Emma is beyond annoying. I cannot tolerate a nasty self-centred incompetent judgemental lazy fool. I lost it at "I have to get a promotion to impress my family". Perhaps the reasons why she didn't get promoted is because she is highly unprofessional? Perhaps don't skip work to go out to Starbucks or make out with your bf on work time. Perhaps if you jam the damn printer then fix it. Oh my, I can go on and on. She is so mean to her colleagues, her boyfriend, her flatmates etc. How can she not respect her flatmates' boundary on personal space and personal belongings? Best friend or not you can't wear their clothes with no permission, and definitely cannot break in to investigate if they are having sex or not. There has to be limit. I honestly feel sorry for Connor because she dumps him for a practically stranger when he is nothing but caring and attentive. It's her own fault to be so pretentious. She lead him on to the level of intimacy and commitment that they were about to move in together then she just left him on a whim for a rich guy. That's how shallow Emma is. Is just my moral compass mixed up or is this the standard practice for the rest of the society? There is nothing to like about her.The next intolerable thing is the relationship between Emma and Jack. It is so wrong on many levels. Haven't they heard about rebounds? She is so judgemental of Katie going out with an old guy but I'm sure the age gap between Emma and Jack is not insignificant. Jack is poorly portrayed. They have zero chemistry, just Emma's delusion. They practically know nothing about each other and spends minimal time (like 2-3 times) together yet they are ready to squash other people for the so called "love". He declares to fire anyone who tease her. How can that be considered romantic? Isn't it a gross violation of labour laws? I'm all against the boss dating employee. I guess it's like Cinderella-like fantasy for a lot of people but when I go to work, I'm a professional. I'm there to work not to hunt my boss or even just colleagues to bed. It's disgusting and belittle of women in the workforce imo. How can you ensure there won't be any favoritism? The reasonable course of events should have been for Emma to resign when she decides to date her boss. At least in the other Kinsella's book they pursue their relationship when one of them not working for the same company. Plus I cannot tolerate the cliches rich guy throwing money to woo poor girl. The £500 bus detour is totally disrespectful of other passengers and socially irresponsible. How can that attitude "I have money I can do whatever I like" be cute?And then there's the ending that literally left me gasp confusingly "wtf did I just read". That guy literally belittles her, disrespects her privacy, humiliates her, betrayed her trust yet with one nonchalant sorry it's all undone?!?! Or is it because he is rich nothing matters?!? How can she continue working there dating him with no complaints from other employees? Everything she achieves there even if it's from her own initiatives can hardly be recognised or respected if she is going out with him. No resolution whatsoever for the office gossips. Then there's logistical challenges with him living in the US and her in the UK. I guess it can be implied that he moves for her but still would be less frustrated if it was addressed. It's just WTF?Do I recommend this book? No way in hell.

The thing about Sophie Kinsella is that I could read her grocery list and find it hilarious. Her writing style and sense of humor are just completely on my wavelength, more than most anything else I've read. She never fails to make me laugh. So in that regard, I did enjoy the book and can't give it less than three stars. There were, however, quite a few issues I had with this one so I will just make a bulleted list:* The main character, Emma, spills all of her "secrets" to a stranger on an airplane during a bout of turbulence. Okay sure, she's scared she's going to die, and she's kind of drunk, but COME ON. The way its written, she appears to be talking to this guy for hours (never mind that it's supposed to be an hour long flight back to London). She doesn't even notice when the turbulence stops, and doesn't even notice when THE PLANE HAS LANDED. Huh? Was there Ecstasy in her vodka? Really, I don't like to have to suspend disbelief that early in a book.* I'm guessing that Britain doesn't have the same "harassment in the workplace" policies that they have in the U.S.?? I mean, everybody that Emma works with is just rude and horrible to her, yet she acts like this is the best company to work for ever. What? After Jack spills all her dumb secrets on television, her coworkers harass her about it relentlessly for days until she hides in the bathroom practically in tears. Um, HR anybody? And then there's the photocopied G-string picture that's up on the office bulletin board, that an employee PROUDLY POINTS OUT TO THE CEO. I don't think that kind of thing has flown in the workplace since 1974.* The big secrets that supposedly ruined Emma's life are idiotic. She pretended to read Great Expectations! She's actually a size 8! She hates jazz! She has a Barbie bedspread! I mean, part of the point of the book is to show that these secrets aren't a big deal and that she should just accept herself the way she is. But her coworkers harass her about this stuff as if they're in the third grade. Nobody acts like that, I'm sorry. They make joke after joke about "read any good books lately?" or just make snide, jerky, remarks to her all day. Hey look, I'm back to bullet point #1, also known as "What the heck is wrong with these people?" It was just too much.*Which leads me to my next point: Why does Emma never stand up for herself? Tell your coworkers to shut up! Quit! Call HR! Do something!! It was infuriating. The same thing went for the way her cousin Kerry talked to her. She just hid it away, always lying and pretending everything was great, never telling anybody to shove it. And her roommate Jemima (Jemima? Really?) was a complete psychopath who I didn't find funny at all. Emma's inability to make her call off the tabloid journalist's investigation was just way too over the top (not to mention why she would even be friends with such a person).* Jack's big secret. I won't say what it is. But Jack is the equivalent of the CEO of Pepsi. Do you know who the CEO of Pepsi is? Is their family splashed all over the tabloids? Probably not. So the whole big deal about nobody finding out his late partner's secret was ludicrous. Nobody would care. He's not a movie star or Prince William....he's not even Steve Jobs. It didn't make sense.*What kind of stupid t.v. interview did Jack do where he's allowed to ramble on for twenty minutes giving away all of Emma's secrets? It was moronic. It was just as moronic as Emma telling him all that stuff in the first place.*There were a few inconsistencies in the story that bugged me. Like at one point Jack says to an employee that he came up with the company slogan "Don't Pause" in three minutes on a cocktail napkin. Then later on he says that Don't Pause was "all Pete," meaning it was his partner's idea. Huh? And then Emma says she knew Jack was doing a t.v. interview, but later when she's talking to him says "You didn't even tell me you were doing a television interview." Aaahhhh!Long story short...funny book if you are a Kinsella fan, but totally unrealistic and too many nasty characters for my liking. I also kind of wish that Emma had ended up with the juice bar guy.

This book, like the other Kinsella standalone novels I have read, is a joy.When nervous flier Emma Corrigan thinks they are going to crash, her little corner of the plane becomes a confessional as she spills all of her little secrets to the random bloke sat next to her. Emma expects never to see him again so when he appears in her life she is mortified, he however, is intrigued.I loved Emma from the moment she opened her mouth. She is ''just an ordinary, nothing-special girl'' (p257). Except she isn't. Emma is bright (so what if she doesn't know what NATO stands for), funny resourceful, ambitious (but nor ruthless), and kind - well it is Artemis' plant she is trying to annihilate not Artemis herself. I was rooting for her and I was happy when she wiped the smile off her cousin's face.I found her relationship with her parents really sad,, but unfortunately it does happen, parents do sometimes compare their child to a cousin and find that child wanting. I was surprised that she forgave them so easily.Maybe I am wrong to do so, but I loved bad girl Jemima and the lengths she goes to to protect her expensive items from Emma and Lissy. I think a love-to-hate character adds colour to a story.I loved Jack Harper. I loved the way he toyed with Emma, letting her know in not too subtle ways that he remembered her secrets one after another, and letting her worry that there would be consequences. My only grumble was him calling her a ''nothing-special girl''. In Emma's shoes I am not sure I could forgive those three words...well it would take lots of sparkly things.I agree with Emma's last words at the end, that it is normal to have a few secrets. I am glad that this book is not a secret and I recommend it.

Between a 3-star and a 5-star read. When I reached 70% of the book, I thought let’s scrape it, what a cliché. Girl-meets-boy-girl-fancies-boy kind of story.But as it turned out when I moved pass 70%, it was just kind of fall in the place. Maybe this could happen... just maybe.My first Kinsella book was The Undomestic Goddess, it was impressive. I thought her other books should be as good, but this one was a bit off the mark for me. Yet, still strangely satisfying.Her kind of soh dai je crazy big sister self babbling was kinda rib tickling. There were a few sections in the book I burst out laughing. It was truly hilarious and it got me thinking - really? Do girls really think like that? Amazing, isn’t it? About the lipstick, handbags, length of skirt and who is doing what?It was fun and... I enjoyed it. I’ll keep her books to be my go-to-release-tension books especially after some ‘heavy’ reading prior.

Just read Can you Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella. I wish I hadn’t. It kidnapped my brain cells and ran away to a dark corner to weep in misery over wasted time over a bunch of poorly put together words. I desperately need a good book next to sooth my brain. I don’t know why this author’s main characters always have to be such wet fish sometimes.

This was my first book by Sophie and it won't be my last!Very funny, some of those 'secrets' I guarantee we can all relate to them!Good, nice lighthearted fun read

Absolutely hilarious. First of Sophie’s books I’ve read, it certainly won’t be the last. Bit annoyed that I was only up to 88% in the book when it ended as I thought I was going to get a lot more. But other than that I loved it, and I honestly have cracked up so much at most pages! Brilliant, feel good, makes-you-feel-normal and I hate jemima!!! Lol