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Rating: 5 out of 5.

Introduction: The Burnout

The Burnout by Sophie Kinsella was one of those books that hit at the perfect moment. Obviously Sophie Kinsella wrote it with her trademark fun and witty style, but the subject matter is something that so many Gen Z and millennial workers relate to. Life is hard, and there’s so much to worry about! Kinsella captures this perfectly, adding in some humor and romance along the way. I was on a waiting list for this for a few months at the library, and I almost broke down and bought it in an airport. It was well worth the wait, and I finished it in one sitting, enjoying it immensely.

Summary

Sasha is burnt out. She’s lost interest in everything: food, friends, sex, TV…you name it, and she doesn’t care. After finally being pushed too far by a forced positivity program, she has a breakdown and takes some time off work. Her goal? To go to her childhood seaside resort and find wellness by becoming a smoothie-drinking, yoga-doing paragon of health.

She immediately encounters a few major problems. First, the hotel is an almost entirely abandoned mess. Second, she immediately butts heads with Finn, another guest who’s just as high-strung as her. As time moves on, however, Sasha must learn how to process her feelings–and figure out who’s leaving them mysterious notes on the beach.

Filled with humor, memorable characters, and warmth, this is a read you won’t want to miss this year.

Context

Published in late 2023, Kinsella really summarized our generation(s) in a nutshell: exhausted, overwhelmed, and tired of toxic positivity/boundary-less work environments. She writes about this inspiration–both personal and worldwide–in her introduction to the book here.

Kinsella has been a bestselling author since 2000. She’s most famous for her Shopaholic series (remember the movie with Isla Fisher?), although she has published several other award winning books as well. She’s written in several different genres, spanning from young readers to adults. A fascinating fact about her is that she actually started her career as a financial journalist. She lives in London with her family.

Review of The Burnout

If you couldn’t already tell, I loved The Burnout. Even more than the Shopaholic series.

Why?

Like any successful book, it resonated. Boy, did it resonate. From the first few pages, I was hooked, and I felt a bit of myself there. As Kinsella eases us into the opening pages, Sasha says something that really stuck with me:

I’ve got precisely one entry in my bullet journal, which I made a year ago. It reads, Task: work. And it’s never ticked off.

The Burnout

Honestly, the book demanded some reflection. It was uncomfortably close, and while it was wonderful to feel seen, it also made me think. How many of us are in the same routine as Sasha? Where everything feels like a giant checklist, and work takes priority over life?

Every night, Sasha does the same thing. She goes to the same restaurant, orders the same meal, has the same wine, watched Legally Blonde, and responds to more emails. I mean, seriously, how relatable is this? I hope for your sake that it’s not, but for many of us, it is. Going back to the same things for comfort, and not wanting to quit your job simply because of the torturous effort it takes to look for a new job…Kinsella really had her finger on the pulse with this one.

Here’s another wonderful quote that summarized how so many of us feel or have felt:

I can’t do life. The stark truth lands in my brain with a thud. I can’t do life anymore. If I just acknowledged this one fact, everything would be easier. Life is too hard. I want to give up…what, exactly? Working? Being? No, not being. I like being alive. I think. I just can’t be alive like this.

The Burnout

This is what I love most about Kinsella’s writing, especially in The Burnout. She manages to tackle these difficult concepts with the right balance of bubbly humor and respect. Obviously her writing is fantastic otherwise–great character development, good use of detail, wonderful setting building, etc.–but this is what stands out to me, because many authors can’t handle the balance with this skill. Again, she really felt like she had her ear to the ground and voiced a generation’s stress.

Sasha’s breakdown–running away from work to become a nun and literally hitting a brick wall–should feel hilariously impossible, but it doesn’t. That’s what makes it so funny! Her subsequent wellness journey, filled with every possible thing you could imagine on a lifestyle influencer’s Instagram, also feels so realistic. How often have you seen someone desperately grasping at the most random things to escape the pit they’re in? Sasha’s focus on this ideal, supported by the hilarious hotel staff, honestly feels so plausible that that itself is funny.

And all of the other elements worked, too!

Speaking of the hotel–great setting choice! It was a wonderful mental picture, and I loved the idea of the wellness setup contrasted with the crumbling hotel. The beach was also scenic in a very mentally cinematographic way. Kinsella did a wonderful job of capturing the nostalgia of youth with the difficulties of becoming a full-fledged adult.

I also enjoyed the relationship between Sasha and Finn. They bond over their mutual burnout, and this feels so true to life. How many times have you struck up a friendship over your mutual misery? Their banter and dynamic are both fun as well, and I found myself rooting for them. Even though they had two separate (but similar paths), I enjoyed exploring both personalities.

The supporting cast and beach mystery were also wonderful. They kept my attention and made me laugh several times as a read the book. Overall, I didn’t have any complaints, and I found it to be a wonderful (and recommendable) book that I will certainly return to.

Recommendation A La Carte

Conclusion

The Burnout was one of my favorite books that I’ve read this year. Sasha’s struggle is one that many of us feel, and even if we might not be able to follow her trajectory, it provides some food for thought. How can we address the burnout in our own lives? And furthermore, how can we re-examine where we’re at as a society, as it’s such a common occurrence?

If you’re in the mood for a relatable laugh out loud comedy, this is for you. It’ll strike the perfect balance between covering an important mental health topic and warming your heart. What did you think??? Let me know!

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