Sophie Kinsella

I've Got Your Number

Poppy Wyatt is excited about her upcoming wedding to wealthy and famous Magnus Tavish, but before that can happen, she must find the heirloom engagement ring that she lost during a hotel fire drill.  When her phone is stolen, she picks up one left in a trash bin that belongs to a business owned by Sam Roxton.  What follows is a lot of miscommunication due to Poppy receiving and answering messages from that phone. As Poppy tries to find ways around revealing the loss of her engagement ring, she suffers doubts about her upcoming marriage.

I've Got Your Number might appear to be a whacky rom-com by some, but for me, it wasn't funny or romantic.  Poppy is an unlikable character that sticks her nose into Sam's business, while she lies to Magnus and his family about her missing ring.  The story is admittedly fast-paced with lots of silliness, but by the end, it doesn't seem that Poppy or Sam have really learned anything.  Overall, I've Got Your Number is a huge disappointment as it is a book I was expecting to love.

Lynn Braden

Poppy Wyatt is excited about her upcoming wedding to wealthy and famous Magnus Tavish, but before that can happen, she must find the heirloom engagement ring that she lost during a hotel fire drill.  When her phone is stolen, she picks up one left in a trash bin that belongs to a business owned by Sam Roxton.  What follows is a lot of miscommunication due to Poppy receiving and answering messages from that phone. As Poppy tries to find ways around revealing the loss of her engagement ring, she suffers doubts about her upcoming marriage.

I've Got Your Number might appear to be a whacky rom-com by some, but for me, it wasn't funny or romantic.  Poppy is an unlikable character that sticks her nose into Sam's business, while she lies to Magnus and his family about her missing ring.  The story is admittedly fast-paced with lots of silliness, but by the end, it doesn't seem that Poppy or Sam have really learned anything.  Overall, I've Got Your Number is a huge disappointment as it is a book I was expecting to love.

Nabila Azahra

Joy Bush

Sophie Kinsella bring another winner. I think I will love everybook she ever writes, shes brilliant. This one could be made into a great movie!

Janna Romano

3.5

This isn't her best. It seemed like a short story for me.

Colleen

This review contains large spoilers.

Sophie Kinsella seems to dominate the Chick Lit genre. I think I've read at least one of her books before, but it did not make a lasting enough impression for me to recall exactly which one it was. But I was in the mood for something light and thought I'd give her another try. I've Got Your Number seemed like a safe enough choice. I don't go into Chick Lit expecting too much; most of them end up being solid three stars. But sometimes I read something that is so unsatisfying, I have to give it a low rating.

As I mentioned, I don't expect much from Chick Lit books, but there are a couple of things I like to find in them. Mainly, a spunky heroine. Also a fun, lighthearted romance. But liking the heroine is what makes or breaks these books. And I loathed Poppy Wyatt. It started out as a feeling of annoyance, but it evolved into outright loathing by the end. 

Not to sound too harsh, but Poppy Wyatt was one of the most pathetic "heroines" I have ever read. She reached a level of wretchedness that is usually reserved for the sad sidekick. I tried to root for her; I really did. But the more she kept screwing things up, the more frustrating it was to read.

She does not start out well. Poppy is a flaky, ditsy character. I got the sense that the author was aiming for an endearing sort of ditsy, but she crosses "ditsy and endearing" and drives off the Cliff of Stupidity. The few amusing moments were towards the beginning. After that, it gets old fast. Because Poppy is more than just ditsy, she is a complete doormat in her life. A useless, soggy DOORMAT who lets everyone in her life walk all over her. (view spoiler)[A prime example of this is that she has a coworker who is extremely jealous of Poppy's engagement. This coworker and supposed friend is jealous to the point where she not only tries to steal Poppy's fiancé away, she also tries to get Poppy fired. And what does Poppy do? She lets her be a bridesmaid. That's right, she is such a spineless twit so desperate for everyone to like her that she lets the woman openly trying to sabotage her life be her bridesmaid! (hide spoiler)] There is a bit at the very beginning where Poppy says that in college people called her the White Knight or Kighty because she would crusade for causes. But that part of her must have curled up and died because she is a complete pushover in this book.

Poppy's expert level of spinelessness also led to her involvement in a notably unhealthy relationship. LARGE SPOILERS: (view spoiler)[She is so insecure that she accepted the first guy to show interest in her. Let's remove for a moment the love triangle. Even if you look at Marcus and Poppy's relationship prior to the events of this book, it is clearly toxic. Here you have two people who are less than two weeks away from getting married but hardly even talk to each other. It is blindingly clear that Poppy is only marrying him because she is extremely insecure and thinks she cannot catch anyone better. She lugs around a sense of obligation borne of insecurity. He is only marrying her because her hero worship feeds his ego, and because he wants to disprove his flightiness. Neither one of these characters has any business being in a relationship let alone trying to get married.

And that is before adding in the cheating! I strongly dislike books about infidelity. It would have been one thing if Poppy had discovered her fiancé was cheating, dumped his sorry butt, then after a healthy amount of time moved on to a better relationship. But instead, this entire process in cramped into about twelve days. And those things do not happen in that linear progression either. A large portion of the story is spent on the obnoxious "Should-I-Or-Not?" noncommittal procrastination while she tries to decide whether or not to go through with her wedding. Disturbingly, her main reason for moving forward seems to be her fear of causing a fuss. She is more willing to sabotage her entire life than stand up to anyone. All this is in spite of the fact that nearly everyone in their lives is trying to discourage them from marrying. And not in a forbidden love, Romeo and Juliet kind of way. No, it is because every other character in this book can see what a disaster this relationship is.

When it comes down to it, Poppy does not have a moral high-ground to stand on. Marcus is undeniably (though she spends a LOT of time denying it) an immature, self-absorbed, indecisive jerk. The fact that he is a cheater seems like a forgone conclusion. But Poppy is a cheater too. She really cannot hide behind the woman scorned excuse. And I don't feel like deliberating on the "Are certain types of cheating worse than others?" debate. Some might try to say that a subconscious knowledge that Marcus is a jerk is what drove her to go gallivanting off with Sam, but I am calling malarkey on that. She knew her relationship was not healthy. She knew what she was getting herself into with Sam was wrong. But she was too spineless to make any decisions. (hide spoiler)]

Poppy is also a meddling idiot. In her pathological desperation to be liked and needed, she intrudes into other people's business and personal lives. She is constantly going off half-cocked erroneously thinking that she knows how to improve other people's situations even though she is basing her assumptions on little or no information. The results are always disastrous. These are not comically endearing Anne of Green Gables type situations. No, these are the sort of situations where people end up with HR lawsuits and an entire company is nearly crippled. Yet somehow, readers are expected to be drawn to this idiotic, scatterbrained dolt. It does not matter that her intentions were good. The fact that she was oblivious and ignorant enough think she had the right to manipulate strangers' lives shows how inconsiderate and irresponsible she is.

The fact that Poppy is an orphan is dropped in so randomly and late in the book that it was almost pointless. Since she is days away from her wedding yet there has been almost no mention of her family, it is clear that they are either estranged or dead. And while it may have somewhat explained why her character was so desperate to be liked, it did not make her any more of an appealing person. This angle felt like it was dropped in almost exclusively for the pity. 

There is also a rather large amount of swearing in this book. I don't really have a problem with swearing, but it seemed so out of tune with the rest of the writing. Especially since many of these occurred in a corporate setting. Are London corporations a lot more lax out office swearing?? Poppy would be skipping along in her ditsy bubble of denial when all of the sudden there would be enough F-bombs going off to warrant an air raid warning.

You may notice that this rather long review contains almost nothing about the other point of this love triangle. Well, that is because Sam is barely there. He could be replaced with any stereotypical romance hero. Good-looking. Successful. Aloof but with a secret soft spot. Sam just was not a developed enough character to be truly interesting. He was barely more than a cardboard cutout halfheartedly inserted to fill the requisite slot of "dream guy."

The plot was a little far-fetched. But again, I don't read these sorts of books for the plots. So I was willing to suspend any disbelief in that area. In the second half, there was a long rabbit trail with some random corporate espionage. It really did not have anything to do with the story. I think it was only put in for two reasons. The first, to plump out the book and try to make it seem like more than just a romance. The second, to make Poppy seem more valuable than she was. But since the situation was largely due to her own incompetence, I was not drinking the Yay-Poppy-Saves-The-Day Kool Aid. Despite that, I did start to feel less disgust with the main character during this portion of the story. Party because it took a break from the angsty deliberation about whether or not to marry her jerk of a fiancé. And partly because it started to seem that Pathetic Poppy might actually grow a spine. But just when I thought she has matured as a character, she goes right back to being a doormat. BIG SPOILER: (view spoiler)[After only a matter of hours and hardly any persuasion, she takes Marcus back and goes forward with the wedding. This leads up to the terrible ending that sealed this book's fate to be classified as the lowly One Star. The reader is forced to endure her indecision right up to the last minute. Then (to abbreviate something that took way to long in the book) the wedding is called off and Poppy has a make-out session with Sam in front of the church, in front of all her friends and family, minutes after being about to marry someone else. The whole situation was handled with such a crash "well, life is messy but I'm sure people won't mind" attitude that I could not help but close the book in disgust. (hide spoiler)] I don't expect Disney level Happily Ever Afters in all books, but the way this ending was handled was completely off-putting. 

So in summation: Pathetic Heroine + Underdeveloped Hero + Uncompelling Romance + Patchy Plot = 1 Star and a future inclination to avoid Sophie Kinsella books.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 3 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 1 Star
Overall Content: 1 Star

Rachel Kanyid

I really liked this. listened to it on audio book, and it was very fun to listen to. A LOT of swearing, but even past that, I really liked it. it would totally make a great movie!

Jessica Ford

3.5 stars. Typical Kinsella. Cute story. Loved Poppy and Sam. As always, great characters and a fun story to read.

Noelia Abreu

Shannon Arputharaj

Sophie Kinsella never fails to entertain me. Her writing is similar to that of Meg Cabot's, especially in The Princess Diaries. It's for sheer entertainment. It was an easy read, as most of hers are. While you root for the main characters to succeed, you breeze through the pages. Just like that, it's over, leaving you satisfied, humored and entertained. I love reading these sort of beach reads in between more serious books, sort of as a pallet cleanser, preparing you to delve into a more pressing novel. 

The only vice I had with this one is that it went on for forever. It seemed to never end. 

Read it. Liked it. Moving on.

Mia DuMars

Classic meet cute. Loved the characters and the entire story line. One of those books you can read in a sitting because it’s just so easy to get caught up in. All of Kinsella’s books are similar in that way.

Stefanie Sugia

So this book is exactly what I needed after I finished Gone Girl; it's a light and easy read, cute and fluffly—and definitely a page turner. I've loved Sophie Kinsella's writing since Shopaholic, and have read several of her other books too. I was constantly giggling throughout the book because of all the things Poppy did, and also her interactions with Sam. Reading this book felt like watching a romantic-comedy movie: The story itself is quite predictable, but I think it's still sweet and very entertaining to read.

The book is written in first person POV of Poppy Wyatt, our main character. She's quite the typical romantic-comedy-kind-of-girl; who's quite reckless and would make quite unbelievable decisions. But I guess that's what makes this book fun to read; because we get to know what's going on inside her head, what led her to make those decision, etc. There are actually several problems going on in the story, the first is of course the lost engagement ring, and also Poppy's problematic relationship with the Tavishes. As I've mentioned in the plot summary above, Sam also got his own conflicts in the story—which Poppy also got involved in. I think the conflicts in the story that intertwines both our main characters is a really cute way to develop their relationship. What's going to happen is pretty predictable (like a said earlier), but I had lots of fun reading how Poppy and Sam's relationship grows naturally. They don't instantly go into love-romance mode, but more like enjoying each others' presence (?) if that makes sense. I'm really glad they didn't escalate their relationship too quickly, considering they only got to know each other for a fairly short time. The ending itself is satisfying enough for me, and still stayed very very cute until the end....

Read the full review here:
http://www.thebookielooker.com/2014/1...

Samantha 

Omg I loved this book. I seriously could not stop laughing. Poppy Wyatt is seriously something else LOL

Davina 

this book was so cute and i liked it so much. when the romcom genre makes a comeback, i want this to be recreated. it will be a hit

Sarah Sanchez

“If it's in the bin, it's public property.”

This Rom/Com begins with Poppy Wyatt going through a highly stressful dilemma; her engagement ring has gone missing. After just a month of dating her fiancée, Magnus, proposed to her with his family's ring that has been passed down for many years. On top of this, her phone is stolen. However, she happens to see someone else's phone in a bin and decides use it temporarily - at least until she finds her ring. Shortly after, she finds out that the phone belongs to a businessman's PA. The entire story is told from the perspective of Poppy as she interacts with her fiancée's genius family and the businessman, Sam Roxton. This book was amazing. It kept me glued to the pages as I tried to slow down reading it because I did not want the story to end. Kinsella brings tons of humor and wit to this enchanting read. It sets itself apart from many books in it's genre because of the interesting turns and innovative ways Kinsella takes the story.
I've Got Your Number takes place in London, which is one of the main reasons I picked it up (I love anything having to do with that city). This novel played out like a movie. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time waiting to see what would happen next. Although I read many books in this genre, it's rare for me to be this hooked to a rom/com. Most books in the genre end up having the same cliche stories and characters that end up with the same lovely (but also boring) endings. But not this book.
I loved the dynamic Poppy had with each character. All of the characters were very fleshed out in such a seamless way. I felt like I was taking a peek into someone's life. There were no dull characters, each had their own interesting backstory. I also really enjoyed how different this book was from every other book in it's genre. Things didn't always go as a reader of the genre would expect. There were many times while I was reading it where I fully expected one thing to happen but the complete opposite thing happened. 
This is one of the few books in it's genre that I would recommend to anyone. I think it has parts of it that could appeal to anyone despite what they would normally read. It has humor (I actually found myself laughing at parts), wit, cliffhangers, and much more. I honestly can't recommend this book enough. It is now one of my favorites and I intend on reading as many Sophie Kinsella books as I possibly can this year. 

Original posting at: http://sarahcadlereviews.blogspot.com

Camila 

I got so much fun reading this! 
Poppy and Sam were really cute together and I really loved the way their relationship developed, given their situation, I felt it was really genuine. 
The ending was cheesy but the kind you can’t help but love.

After she loses her engagement ring and her phone is stolen during a hotel fire drill, Poppy Wyatt, discovering an abandoned phone in a trash can, crashes into the life of the phone's owner, businessman Sam Roxton, when she uses his phone to make her wedding preparations. Reprint. 125,000 first printing.

Kayla 

As usual Sophie Kinsella writes another great novel filled with hilarious characters and realistic moments. I finished it in about 48 hours, I could not put it down.

Jelke Lenaerts

BOOKTUBEATHON 2018 BOOK 1

I did enjoy this but the characters annoyed me a lot at certain points. The ending is also a bit messy. Overall, I would recommend it, it’s very romcomy.

Prachi Jaiswal

Completed in one day. It was fun journey.

Tannie Davidson

I've lost it. The only thing in the world I wasn't supposed to lose. My engagement ring. It's been in Magnus's family for three generations. And now, the very same day his parents are coming, I've lost it. The very same day. Do not hyperventilate Poppy. Stay positive!! Poppy Wyatt has never felt luckier. She is about to marry the ideal man, Magnus Tavish, but in one afternoon her 'happy ever after' begins to fall apart. Not only has she lost her engagement ring but in the panic that followed, she has now lost her phone. As she paces shakily round the hotel foyer she spots an abandoned phone in a bin. Finders keepers! Now she can leave a number for the hotel to contact her when they find her ring. Perfect! Well, perfect except the phone's owner, businessman Sam Roxton doesn't agree. He wants his phone back and doesn't appreciate Poppy reading all his messages and wading into his personal life. What ensues is a hilarious and unpredictable turn of events as Poppy and Sam increasingly upend each other's lives through emails and text messages. As Poppy juggles wedding preparations, mysterious phone calls and hiding her left hand from Magnus and his parents... she soon realises that she is in for the biggest surprise of her life.

Pallavi Tirkey

I love Sophie!she adds the right bit of humor to her novels.This was a book with great plot. you know how you feel like when you finish the last page, i felt like i lost a best friend. i loved how it ended but still couldn't help but want more of the couple. this was a really fun read. i would recommend this to everybody who enjoys romantic comedies. :D

Kinsey

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 1/2 Finders Keepers Stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★





  
     “All I can say is, she's the one I think about. All the time. She's the voice I want to hear. She's the face I hope to see. - Sam Roxton”
  


This was the cute story Poppy and Sam "meeting" by chance. Brought together under less than ideal circumstances, yet forging a connection through all of it.


  Sophie Kinsella
 did a fantastic job of taking a crazy unbelievable storyline and making it totally lovable and hilarious! This story had it all:

* an unlikely situation,
* a rushed engagement,
* a lost family emerald heirloom ring,
* a stolen (not really since it was in a bin) cell phone,
* a sexy businessman,
* a song gram to the tune of Single Ladies by Beyonce,
* annoying best friends,
* creepy wedding planner,
* genius in-laws, 
* and most importantly a sweet love story



There were so many parts of this story that made me laugh. Sophie Kinsella has an amazing writing style that can have me laughing out loud one minute and the next getting tears of happiness in eyes.


  
     “Except...I do. Of course I do. Because as his hands gently cup my waist, I don't make a sound. As he swivels me around to face him, I don't make a sound. I don't need to. We're still talking. Every touch he makes, every imprint of his skin is like another word, another thought, a continuation of our conversation. And we're not done yet. Not yet.”
  


I felt some story lines had way too much time dedicated to them and not enough romance but it was still an overall good story! I really really want their to be a sequel for I want to get to know Poppy and Sam better. There wasn't a lot of detail on them but what there was I really enjoyed. 


  
     “But sometimes you have to be brave. Sometimes you have to show people what's important in life.”
  





  
     “Whoever it was, whether I knew them or not, if I could help in some way, I would. I mean, if you can help, you have to help. Don't you think? - Poppy Wyatt” 
  


♥I would recommend this novel to others for a light beach read♥

Anika | @chaptersofmay

This was a good book. It wasn’t the best piece of chick lit I’ve ever read and it certainly wasn’t the worst. I’m a Sophie Kinsella fan so when this popped up as a recommended read, I was happy to give it a try. The plot is a really fun idea, and I loved the relationship between Poppy and her friends. She thinks like every girl I’ve ever met which added a nice level of humour to the story. 

Overall, this wasn’t mind-blowing but it didn’t feel like a waste of time. It was just OK. It lacked a little in the romance department, I like a bit of cheese and this book didn’t have much of it. I found myself wanting to hurry and finish the book because it just felt static, the story wasn’t going anywhere until about 300 pages in. By that point, I’m committed. 

I wouldn’t reread but the writing was wonderful as always in this classic rom-com style of book.

Sali Nim

Tbh I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting of this book, but I was looking for a light read, since I've been in a slump for some time. The beginning of the book was funny and I found myself rooting for the main character and be invested in the story. Sure, I had my issues with some things that Poppy has done or some choices she has made (and especially the second hand embarrassment she gave me), but I still wanted her to be happy and I was angry at how she seemed to be all on her own. So I was really happy when she got closer to Sam and especially when I realized just how great of a guy he is, despite the first impression I might have had of him. I totally fell for him and am super excited since it's been a long time since I was so fond of a male character. So that was a big plus. Also the ending was super cute and made me feel good all over.

I've Got Your Number

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