My Not So Perfect Life (A Review)

I know it’s an old saying but I think more than ever, this is something that applies: Don’t judge a book by its cover. Back in the day this would refer to us not negatively judging someone because of their appearance but today I think it should be the opposite. We shouldn’t accept the beautiful, bright, and shiny at face value because, in this age of social media, these perfect lives are not so perfect. This is what Sophie Kinsella’s book, My Not So Perfect Life, is all about.

Cover credit: Penguin Random House

The book centers on Katie, who loves to make her not so perfect life seem perfect through her Instagram feed. She makes an effort to show that her feed is nothing but perfect even when in reality it’s not. It takes her losing her job and moving in with her father and stepmother to finally find a path where she doesn’t need to make her life perfect to realize that her not so perfect life is perfect just the way it is. 

Like most Sophie Kinsella lead characters, Katie is quirky, funny, and determined to make a success of herself in the life she chose to lead, even if that did lead her to a path she didn’t expect to take. I loved that she was very relatable, like someone you know personally or someone that reminded people of themselves at some point. I think that is the thing that makes Kinsella’s books so good: her leads are always people you could picture for real. The fact that Katie moved from the city to the farm and found an even better life in the latter reminds me of my own journey from city to provincial life. I think in some ways I also saw myself in her too. 

I don’t want to give too much away about this book because Katie’s journey goes through a lot of twists and turns, often with hilarious results. Safe to say, this book is not just a personal journey story but also a story about work drama, romance, family, friendships, and social media. 

Some parts of the book remind me of The Devil Wears Prada in the sense that Katie and her relationship with her boss Demeter appear very Andy and Miranda. Demeter seems as perfect and flawless like Miranda was in The Devil Wears Prada. But, like Miranda, Demeter also reveals in the end that her life is not as flawless as it seemed. It is the relationship of these two women that make up some of the best parts of the book and I love how everything played out for both characters in terms of their growth and their friendship. 

I love that this book isn’t too focused on the romance but I was a little disappointed that the male lead felt a little flat for me. Sure, that wasn’t what the book was about but still, it would have been nice for Alex to have more personality apart from who he was in the lives of Demeter and Katie. He just felt like he was there because he had to, just so that there could be a romantic element in the book. 

If there’s anything that you can take away from the book it’s that social media has a profound effect on people and how they see themselves and the rest of the world. There is so much value placed on image and perfection that we fail to see that sometimes the beauty in life can be found in the imperfections and the failures that go along with what real life actually is. 

I’ve always enjoyed reading Sophie Kinsella’s books. This is one of them. She never fails to entertain me!