Surprise Me: A Warning Against Marriage?

Me describing this book to people: It's about a married couple that finds out that they're both super healthy and have a good sixty-eight years ahead of them. Instead of being happy about their long life expectancies, they begin freaking out about how they're going to make their marriage work for that long, because apparently when people make marriage vows and claim they'll love each other forever, they don't actually mean forever.

I was pretty hesitant going into this book, both when adding it to my tbr as well as when I actually picked it up and began reading. I've read a couple Sophie Kinsella novels before, and loved quite a few of them, but this would be the first one I've read that features a married couple, and I wasn't sure I'd be into that. And taking that further, a married couple story always leaves a window open for affairs and whatnot, and I'm certainly not here for something as depressing as that. Nevertheless, I figured I'd give the book a chance, because the only Sophie Kinsella I've read that bored me to tears was The Undomestic Goddess, and what are the chances of that happening again? (And you'll be happy to note that thankfully, this is not a married couple story that revolves around that open window.)

As I continued reading Surprise Me, I grew convinced that an alternate title for the book could be "Marriage: You Should Know What You're Getting Into". Things went so horribly wrong - sometimes hilariously - with the two partners, Sylvie and Dan, and at times, the stress of their marriage made we want to forswear marriage completely in favor of a happy and healthy mental state. Which begs the question the title of this post poses.

Luckily, I kept reading, because oh, this book so has that Kinsella British romance thing that her other books have. Also, apparently I was really in need of some British love and humor because this book totally did it for me despite my hesitancy in picking it up. The characters grow on the reader fairly quickly, and you really see the effort both Sylvie and Dan make to make each other happy, and wow, that's the kind of love you want, y'all. There's also an interesting bit about Sylvie's family that adds an extra oomph to the story; you don't exactly see it coming, but at the same time, you knew there was something off. I don't know how Kinsella writes such likable, well-rounded stories - that sounds so boring but I swear it's perfect - but there it is.

Additionally, I just adore the idea of poking your marriage with a stick. It's exactly as scary as it sounds.