Ако върнеш времето назад

by Alexandra Potter

Шарлот има успешна агенция за връзки с обществеността, прекрасен апартамент в зелената част на Западен Лондон и кара любимата си кола – новия модел фолксваген "Бръмбар". Храни се по ресторанти. Може да си позволи дизайнерски дрехи и скъпи почивки.
Не че го прави, тъй като все няма време, но ако поиска, може да отиде навсякъде.
Дори си има личен треньор. Както и сериозен приятел, готов да поеме отговорности.
На трийсет и една има живота, за който винаги е мечтала.
А дали е мечтала точно за това?

Странна среща със странно момиче – може би нейното по-младо аз - й показва какво е загубила по пътя си (една-две мечти и малко илюзии) и какво е натрупала (хипохондрия и по-добър вкус за дрехи). За да предпази „по-младото си аз” от собствените си грешки, Шарлот й прави списък с ценни съвети:

- Не давай на онзи идиот телефонния си номер.
- Започни да отделяш за пенсионния си фонд.
- Оформи бикини линията си.
- Не се опитвай да изсветлиш косата си с лимонов сок.
а/ Не върши работа
б/ Привлича оси.
- Спри да пушиш.
- Евтините обувки не струват. Спести и си купи дизайнерски...
Не се отказвай от мечтите си.

Остава обаче големият въпрос: Кой на кого всъщност ще помогне?

Изключително забавна и очарователна история за живота, любовта, мечтите и за това какво може да ти се случи, ако върнеш времето назад.

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Adult, Romantic Comedy

376 pages, Paperback

First published December 23, 2008

About the author

Alexandra Potter is the best-selling author of fourteen romantic comedy fiction novels including Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up (which is now the basis of a major US TV show, NOT DEAD YET on ABC, Hulu and Disney+) MORE Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up and One Good Thing. These titles have been published in twenty-five territories and have sold millions of copies worldwide (making the bestseller charts in the UK, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Serbia).

Yorkshire born and raised, Alexandra lives in London with her Californian husband and their Bosnian rescue dog. When she's not writing or travelling, she's getting out into nature, trying not to look at her phone and navigating this thing called mid-life.
https//www.instagram.com/alexandrapotter
https://www.facebook.com/Alexandra.Po...

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Who's That Girl? By Alexandra Potter
As I felt before with Alexandra Potter’s books, I think she picks great ideas and then doesn’t develop them enough.
The great idea here was: what if you could travel back in time and advise yourself not to make the same mistakes you did?
The poor development was:
1. The first 30% of the book was utter B.O.R.E.D.O.M.E.! You have to force yourself through it. I mean, if I buy a book about travelling back in time I can’t wait for it to happen! She makes you wait 115 pages!!! You get a vague hint it will happen, but no real action until page 116. To me it was such a waste; also because this overlong introduction is so dull, is just everyday activities, boring boyfriend presentation, and work related stuff! She should have cut this part in half, or her editor should have!
2. Once she gets in the past, it is all a minor, minor part of the story. I did expect some old good bottom line where you think you needed to change everything and then rediscovered yourself, but this book was totally shifted on present-day Charlotte, I wanted to know Lottie more, explore a little more her life… and I don’t say change it completely but at least SOMETHING!!! I mean there are so many useless part in the book, like I felt 60% of it was about her job, that she could have explored and developed the main plot, i.e. travelling back in time and advising yourself, so much more! And here we get to reason number three and why the stars of this book dropped dramatically.
3. REASON THREE IS A SPOILER… DON’T GO FURTHER IF YOU STILL WANT TO READ THE BOOK!! Ok this one was so bad it infuriated me. What is the point of writing a book, and supposedly, a happy, easy, funny book, as chick-lit should be for definition, and then drop this on the reader: when you are approaching the end of the book, you discover that the heroin in her youth becomes pregnant after a bad one-night stand and then decides to have an abortion. Already sad enough. But then the Author makes the story go down in the same way twice?? Is she crazy? Already she didn’t change one thing of the past, and this was disappointing and unexciting enough, but this one she should have changed!! Does anyone agree with me?

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the kind of book I love. Cheesy, fluffy, glittery.

Loved Bea - highly amusing. Miles is laugh out loud funny without meaning to be and Charlotte in her twenties is fab.

Loved it!

Five stars.

[mrsj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply amazing. A magical story that makes you reflect and ponder what you are doing in life and if you are really happy in what you are doing now?

Charlotte Merryweather is 31, successful, owns a PR agency, has her own apartment, dresses in designer wears, has a boyfriend and a very very busy and hectic lifestyle.
But, is she happy?

Out of the sudden, while out driving, she saw a girl who looks like her, 10 yrs ago.
And chance upon a guy whom she did not notice 10yrs ago.
What happened next is simply magical and beyond words and make you stop and think, wait a minute!! I was like her. What happened?

As quoted by an old lady in the book "Life isn't complicated. It's very simple, really. It's us who make it complicated."

Isn't that true?
Now, excuse me while I ponder about my life and see what I should do to the dreams I had 10 yrs ago. ;)

[Maven_Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who’s That Girl? by Alexandra Potter is a funny, whimsical romantic comedy about Charlotte Merryweather, a thirty‑something PR executive who seems to have it all; a successful career, a sleek wardrobe, and a steady boyfriend but still wonders whether she’s living the life she truly wants. A bizarre twist of fate brings her face to face with her own 21‑year‑old self (Lottie), and Charlotte becomes convinced that if she can just teach her younger self what she knows now, from wearing sunscreen and avoiding PVC trousers to steering clear of the wrong romantic choices, she can fix the regrets she carries.

But as Charlotte tries to steer her past toward “better decisions,” Lottie surprises her with lessons of her own, challenging the idea that rewriting your past will untangle your present in the ways you expect. The book is playful and lightly fantastical, blending self‑reflection with laugh‑out‑loud moments that make you wonder what you would do if you could meet yourself at a different age.

Opening this book felt like catching up with an old friend who’s funny, frazzled, and full of insight about life’s messy beauty. What moved me most was how Charlotte’s journey made me reflect on how we carry our “should‑haves” and “could‑haves” through so many years, only to discover that, more often than not, those experiences shaped us in ways we undervalue. There were moments that made me grin at the sheer absurdity of time‑travel‑style shenanigans, and moments that made me nod because who hasn’t thought about the person they were ten years ago and wished they could whisper some wisdom to them?

The humor, the wardrobe mishaps, and the tentative romantic sparks all added to a warm reading experience, though community responses range from delighted enjoyment to some disappointment with how the time travel element plays out in the ending and whether it truly changes Charlotte’s life.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars. I’m giving Who’s That Girl? three and a half stars because its heartfelt, humorous exploration of self‑reflection and love made me smile and think about my own “what ifs,” even if the narrative sometimes felt like it chose comfort over complexity.

It’s a cozy, witty read that will appeal to anyone who’s ever wondered how different choices might have shaped their life, and what part of who they are now is worth keeping regardless.

[kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intriguing premise, not well executed......and tedious.
This could have been a great story if the author had actually committed to what she was setting out to create, but she didn't seem to know how to actually do that.
If the story is about going back in time to help yourself make other decisions, then the characters should do that and as an author you should do that and not have it that she can't actually change anything. Other wise you've wasted not only the character's time, but also mine and I'm not happy about that.
Charlotte, in her present life, seems stupid for a woman who owns a company and all. She goes back in time to stop the one thing that she recalls changes her life from a happy-go-lucky girl into a driven cold-hearted name-that-someone-calls-her-which-she-deserves. And yet she fails. She just thinks she's so smart and, of course, her younger self is still her and she outsmarts herself.
Again, if this is the moment life changed, then put everything else on hold and make sure this one event does. not. happen. I was so angry reading that and then on page 339 what decision she made because of it. First of all, don't toss that into what's a light breezy read and expect me to just say oh, I see. Well that makes me dislike her quite a bit and not make me sympathetic toward her. And then this subject never comes up again. So why the heck is it even in here? A life-changing moment gets one page and yet there are page after page after page of lots of busines matters and her boyfriend and her friend's marriage.
If the premise of the book is how she goes in time to change the past, then the past should have been changed. Otherwise, Charlotte could have simply be remembering and this book could have been a w h o l e lot shorter. It is way too long for what's here and if the premise isn't actually going to be a part of the story, then why have it here?
Oh and one more thing, okay a few more things. Constantly telling me about how her groin feels whenever a particular guy is around is. not. amusing. It also isn't romantic or hot or making me want them to get together. It terms of romance, I don't want to read the word groin. And while we're at it, please leave out the word turgid as well. It doesn't appear in this book but just in general, not sexy.
And speaking of the romance, if that's the story being told, then again, tell me that story and not all of the stuff about her business and the skeevy dentist and her young self partying and all of the other stuff. The romance appears in almost the last page. And not worth waiting for, btw, although he is an interesting character who could have been developed more.
I was bored throughout most of this and I doubt I'd pick up another book by this author.

[honeybee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading the back of the book, I admit I was already excited at the idea of this story. I was thinking a little too much along the lines of "being Erica" (goggle it if you don’t know it as if you enjoyed this book you will enjoy the TV series) and perhaps even a little sci-fi-ish....? (I said ish). I know it’s a chick-lit but come-on, it’s time travel all mixed into the pot!
I thought Charlotte was a little dumb at times, I doubted she was made of the hard stuff a women needs to have to survive in ruthless business world of London, That aside, I enjoyed the narration and hay, its chic lit, what can you expect?

Now I admit it, I get sort of itchy and a little restless the moment a story shows a dysfunctional love interest (think of any film you've seen when the man and women hate each other then fall in love. Blah blah cliché Because "nice guys" bore some women who need some therapy but instead read books like this - and wish they too could meet a complete jerk who they could change. ya.)
Honestly I was almost cringing so much I dropped the book. Oliver the "waiter" who was rude and actually took rather a lot of pleasure in provoking Charlotte, turns out to be this guy, who ten years ago watched her from afar and fell madly in love with her, and she didn't even notice him!

spoilers inc.

Not only that, when ten years later she just happens to walk into a bar for a meal with her boyfriend, he remembers her and makes snide remarks to her. And oh, love grows.

worst thing about this book though? the ending!

We see Charlotte waking up in hospital. And guess what, everyone just happens to be waiting for her wake up, it’s all VERY jolly. Oh and whoopee do, she DREAMT IT ALL.

Is "the waiter" turns up (him having been real – obviously - because Charlotte must get everything she wants). having been told by Charlotte a few days before that he was "just a waiter!" ( totally emasculated him) But hey. He's back, having not even known her for 24 hours on a personal level. Hes great with the fact she's shallow and hay, hes even brought her some salmon and potatoes!

To make sure everything ends nice and sugary spicy, he tells her he’s NOT a waiter. He actually runs (and owns) several bars in London! Well that’s okay then? So now she can actually stop throwing in his face the fact that she makes more money than him! He takes her to France and marries her 9 months later, and Charlotte just happens to give her business away because now she has "a man" to replace her job with.

The end!

THIS is why i don't read chick lit ANYMORE!

[Stefani · Rating 1 out of 5]

The character tries to stop herself doing the mistakes she did when she was younger (Now that she knows it was wrong!) but she can't stop it. It is how it was supposed to happen.

I didn't understand the end. Did she dream of herself when she was 21 because of the medicines or what?
It has a happy ending, but it seems to me that something is missing.

Overall impressions: something is missing.

[Isabella · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is utterly boring!! The going back in time is barely explored... I expected some general end-line moral about how you shouldn't change your past because it would change who you are, BUT some things she should have changed!! By not changing it, and by mentioning what she didn't change, the author added sadness to an already dreadful book.
Plus i felt like the biggest part of the book was about her job, B.O.R.I.N.G.
Disappointing.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got about a 1/3 of the way through the book, but it is just boring. The premise is reasonably intersting, but the writing is just dull. I wouldn't recommend it, but maybe someone else would enjoy it.

[carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a wonderful book.
Hold on to your dreams!

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Time pulled a number on you and you ran into your younger self, what would you do? Would you try to change things or would you let things go? For Charlotte, trying to give her younger self advice only turns into her realizing she’s not happy with her current life - so she sets out to fix it and in doing so finds the right person for her. Oliver.
I love this concept, although I’ve gotta say I’m confused about the mechanics of this time portal thing and how Charlotte interacting with her younger self doesn’t end up in a huge and messy time paradox, but oh well. It didn’t take too much of my fun away.

[Lilly Hawkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not good to end a book with ‘it was all a dream’

[Norah Una Sumner · Rating 4 out of 5]

''OK, so I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm relaxed as such, but who is these days? I run a company. I have a mortgage, and responsibilities, and lines round my eyes to take care of. I mean, it's not like I'm twenty-one any more.And thank goodness.''

Okay,this was such a fun book.Like all Alexandra's characters,Charlotte(one of my favourite names,btw)is sooo relatable and lovable.She might be a PR manager,but she's not as serious as her title say she is.She changed a lot since her twenties-she takes off her make-up before going to sleep,she eats organic food,she has a good job and a perfect boyfriend,she's wearing expensive clothes and shoes...but is everything really that perfect? She thinks it is,but when she accidentally finds herself in 1997 with her younger-self Lottie,she'll get a chance to change some of the things she did in her twenties,like start using sunscreen or not sleep with Billy Romani.Unfortunately she'll also find out that her younger-self doesn't take advices from someone in her ''ancient years'' ,as Lottie would say.But in the end our main character will learn that maybe some mistakes shouldn't be fixed and that Lottie has a few aces up her sleeve that she could use.

Things I really liked:
1.) Charlotte/Oli. Ugh,they're soo adorable together.I mean,who could resist Oli?



Things I didn't like:
1.) Okay,I have to admit that Lottie was kind of getting on my nerves sometimes.Like,girl,take the freaking advice and think a little bit.When she did everything Charlotte told her not to I was like:



Favourite quotes:

''Goodbye, Dr Goldstein.' I start to walk away, then stop and turn. 'Oh, and for the record my name's Charlotte.' And turning back, I keep on walking. Somehow I don't think that's a name he's going to forget in a hurry.''

''Life isn't complicated. It's very simple, really. It's us who make it complicated.''

''And suddenly it hits me. Our roles have completely reversed.It's no longer me giving my younger self advice; it's her giving me advice. And I'm fast realising that actually I don't know better at all. About some things, yes - I glance at that terrible silver eyeshadow - but not about everything, far from it. Age and experience haven't made me this wise old master - they've made me this anxious, strung-out thirtysomething who worries about everything. Whose life is completely out of balance. Who's forgotten how to have fun. And who spends the whole time reading self-help books and trying to find herself when she's been here under her nose all along, I think, glancing at Lottie and seeing this smart, confident, vibrant person.''

''The first time I met you, I fell in love with you there and then, but you didn't notice me. Then you stood me up. And then I met you again and I hated you. Well, I tried to hated you, but then when you cleaned up after Welly... I fell in love with you all over again.''

[Miaoxiaoyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I'm fine, but I've grown up.“

To be frank, I was attracted by the sentence on the cover at first sight.
　　
　　Then, I couldn't help reflecting...what if...?
　　
　　To most people, Charlotte Merryweather is a successful thirty-something modern girl, who is running her own PR company and having a therotically perfect boyfriend. She used to think her life was perfect in all respects unitl she bumped into her younger self. Lottie, actually the younger Charlotte 10 years apart, lived a totally different life from Charlotte's.
　　
　　The point is not how Charlotte was able to meet her younger self...TIME TRAVEL...or PARALLEL WORLD...whatever. The point is what Charlotte wants to tell Lottie.
　　
　　Charlotte thinks she can help Lottie avoid doing sth. stupid, such as drinking or eating unhealthy food, being obssessed in sunbathing, and even falling in love with that bastard pop singer, YES, she thinks she can, since she's more mature and sophiscated in her thirties now.
　　
　　But that's just what she thinks she can.
　　
　　Talking of this, I can't help quoting these same lines as Fei did.
　　
　　"Here we are, sitting side by side, and ten years apart, both single and both talking about men...Some things never really change, do they? Except of course now I'm older and more mature and I read self-help books so I know how to deal with these things, I tell myself quickly, relieved I'm not the sobbing wreck I once was. "
　　
　　In fact, however, the author doesn't want to tell us that we can avoid doing sth. seemingly stupid by going back to our younger selves. She just hopes to make us realize whatever we do will NEVER EVER change anything in our past life, just take Charlotte as an example.
　　
　　When she had a bitter quarrel with Oliver, she could do nothing but seek comfort from Lottie.
　　
　　"And suddenly it hits me. Our roles have completely reversed. It's no longer me giving my younger self advice; it's her giving me advice. And I'm fast realizing that actuall I don't konw better at all...Age and experience haven't made me this wise old master--they've made me this anxious, strung-out thirtysomething who worries about everything. Whose life is completely out of balance. Who's forgotten how to have fun. And who spends the whole time reading self-help books and trying to find herself when she's been here under her nose all along, I think, glancing at Lottie and seeing this smart, confident, vibrant person."
　　
　　So in this book I've read how Charlotte learns to face herself more honestly and comes to realize what on earth she needs for the rest of her life, during which process she finds her true love and takes up writing as her dream again.
　　
　　Having finished reading this book, I couldn't help but ask myself, "What kind of life do I really need?"
　　
　　"Who's That Girl?" is the best of all Alexandra Potter's books I've read so far. I think she writes it well partly because the heroine Charlotte shares some of her own experiences, or in other words, she's written something about her own life and growth.
　　
　　So...I'm fine, but I've grown up.

[Elle Temu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why I decided to read this book?
I was looking through the library for a new book I would read, I saw the title and it reminded me of a well-known song so I thought I would grab it and read the synopsis. The synopsis made me want to read the book even more.

What category on the bingo board this book completes?
The category this book completes is a book with a female main character. I find it really interesting reading books about other females. It gives me an insight on how other females live and how different things can be.

My favourite quote from this book is:
"Life isn't complicated. It's very simple, really. It's us who make it complicated.” I really like this quote because its so true and relatable because everyone does over complicate life. Nobody realizes how simple life is, your life is pretty much set up for you. Your supposed to go to school, go to work, find true love, have children and then you die. Its not supposed to be complicated but as the quote says we ourselves make it complicated.

Something new I learned from this book is
that you shouldn't try to change something that has already happened. No matter how much you want to change what you did yesterday, you can not go back to try and change it. No matter how big of a mistake you made you can't change it, its like the saying everything happens for a reason. In this book Charlotte meets herself 10 years younger than she is now. No matter how hard she tries to dodge the mistakes she made when she was younger, if still ends up happening and she realizes everything that happened in the past her to be the person she is now. I learnt to leave the past as the past if people can't get over what you did than you don't need them in your life.

A character that really interested you?
Lottie is a character that really interest me. She is the main character Charlotte's younger self. She is 21 years old and doesn't have a care in the world. She has dreams that she aspires too and is independent. When I grow up I would like to be like Lottie, she is headstrong and knows what she wants, doesn't care about what anybody else thinks and shes so friendly. Lottie ended up giving her older self advice and kept living her life like nothing was wrong.

[iamnotabookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is some kind of time travel story. I really really like it. It's bizarre, witty and funny. If I were in Charlotte's shoes, I would also follow my younger self out of curiosity. And if meeting a younger version of me means I will be able to correct some mistakes, I would do it in a heartbeat. I have no regrets in life but like most of us, if we were given another chance to make things better, I would gladly take it. I too have what if's but I don't wallow in them. It's when I get nostalgic that I sometimes wonder what if I did this, would my life be like it is or would it be any better? Human as we are, we often feel that we could have done better. And I sometimes wish, maybe in an alternate universe there is a better version of me, someone happier right at this moment, especially when I am having a bad day.

I dig the story. Very imaginative yet it might just be a tad true. It's not too fictional. It's as if it could actually happen to you.

I give the book four shiny orange beettle cars. I really enjoyed it and I was riding shotgun with Charlotte on her bizarre meeting with Lottie. I was there laughing and crying with her "now self" and the younger version. This book surprised me. I thought this was one of those mushy romantic comedies but it wasn't. It is stories like these that I love finding new authors and getting to know them. Finding really awesome new books I could lost myself in and forget I was just sitting in a small bedroom in a row house in a city somewhere in Southeast Asia.

I would love to read more of Alexandra Potter and I am so curious what her other books are about. I am giddy with excitement and wonder, like a kid on Christmas ready to open my present. What would it be this time?


If the worst thing is going to happen, it'll happen. Worrying can't protect you from that. And if it doesn't happen then you've missed out on all the time that when you could have been having fun.
- Alexandra Potter, Who's That Girl? -

[Amy Herbert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Genuinely the worst book I have ever read. You can accurately predict the entire plot after a few chapters, it's hideously cliched in every way, dialogue, plot, structure, characters. Don't even get me started on Oliver, the guy Charlotte (who talks to herself every other sentence using her own name encase you forgot what it was) inexplicably hates on sight and in an amazing plot twist, ends up falling in love with him after two minutes. Charlotte even tells her boyfriend when they break up 'its not you it's me'. Vomit.

And let's not forget the car crash 'Boom! Everything goes black'. Really? Waking up in a hospital where everything comes inexplicably together for no reason other than to have a soppy happy ending. The face I had whilst reading the epilogue would pretty much explain my opinion on this entire book. Somewhere between disgust, horror and pity. HOW DID THIS GET PUBLISHED? SERIOUSLY?! Potter is obviously deluded.

Who's that girl (nobody cares) is more than pointless, it's ANNOYING. It's just fucking BAD.

[Nina Draganova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Какво да направя , като тези книги се четат с лекота, доставят ми удоволствие и ме карат да се замисля за много неща. Независимо, че има много фасмантагории в тях, това са нещата от живота, с които повечето от нас са се сблъскали.
И тази книга не прави изключение.
Върна ме в щурата ми младост, която много прилича на живота на младата Шарлот.
Дали бих се вслушала в днешното си мъдро Аз , ако имах шанса да го срещна на 21?
Разбира се , че не. Такава скука.
Винаги казвам , че човек трябва да вземе от живота всичко онова , което му предоставя и то навреме. И с шепи.

[Ivana Oltovska · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love it

[Ciara · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was just okay. i was intrigued by the concept ("what if you could go back in time & stop your 21-year-old self from making the mistakes you regret?"), but the writing dragged a little & the story execution failed to live up to its promise.

charlotte merryweather is soon to be 32 years old & seems to have it all: cute apartment, great job running her own PR firm, super-helpful assistant named beatrice, fun & sassy best friend with two adorable little kids, & trustworthy boyfriend. she's living the life of 6am work-outs with her personal trainer, designer heels, an addiction to self-help books, & rarely having time to go out to the country to see her parents.

on her way to work one morning, she sees a car that looks a lot like the old orange beetle she drove when she was 21. when she gets a glimpse of the driver, she is surprised to see that she looks a lot like she did when she was 21. she chalks it up to a coincidence & carries on with her day, having a business lunch with an american cosmetic dentist who wants to expand his star smiles empire to england. she has dinner that night at a posh pub with miles. miles gives her a lot of helpful tips of managing her pension, while charlotte has an unpleasant encounter with the bartender.

anyone familiar with the conventions of chick lit will see exactly where this is going: the girl in the beetle IS 21-year-old charlotte, through some poorly-conceived time travel/wormhole-type situation. charlotte will finagle a way to interact with her 21-year-old self & attempt to give her some helpful hints on improving her life, but surely the tables will be turned & her 21-year-old self will show buttoned-up professional charlotte how to let her hair down again. charlotte will ditch miles for one reason or another & a romance will blossom with the crotchety bartender. but there will be some kind of stumbling block in their road to love, most likely having something to do with charlotte's high-powered career, & even more likely having something to do with the cosmetic dentist client. the book will end with miles out of the picture, charlotte happily dating the bartender & on leave one way or another from her job, re-connecting with her best friend & her parents while her angelic assistant holds down the fort without ever compromising charlotte's trust or authority. having served her purpose, 21-year-old charlotte will vanish again.

& sure enough, this is exactly what happens. part of the appeal of any genre fiction (& chick lit is definitely genre fiction) is the familiarity of the formula. you don't know the characters yet or exactly what their problems are or how they'll play out, but you have a general sense of what's going to happen. it's like putting on an old pair of shoes. it's just comfortable.

what sets good chick lit apart from bad, or boring, is the quality of the writing & the characters. you know the happy ending is coming before the end of the book, but a clever twist or an especially engaging narrator really separates the wheat from the chaff. the reason i love the "shopaholic" series is because i really like becky, the narrator (usually--she starts to grate toward the end of the series). her best friend is also really endearing, & her husband is charming & good-natured. here...nothing grabbed me. charlotte's only connection with the bartender is that she discovers that he had a crush on her when she was 21. she never noticed him then, but when she goes back in time, she notes that he is serviceably cute. "well, he liked me ten years ago," isn't really a great reason to start a relationship with someone. it doesn't feel genuine.

there's a completely baffling side-plot involving charlotte's best friend, vanessa. vanessa is convinced that her husband, julian, is sleeping with his secretary. the evidence mounts: charlotte sees julian at a drugstore far away from both his home & office, buying condoms, after vanessa had complained to charlotte the night before that they hadn't had sex in months. charlotte's assistant, beatrice, sees julian at a posh hotel...holding the room key for the biggest suite in the place. vanessa finds an agent provocateur receipt for bunches of sexy lingerie in sizes far too small for her. it seemed damning to me. come to find out, julian had simply been making arrangements to re-ignite the romance with vanessa. by buying a jumbo box of condoms days in advance in a part of town totally out of his way, making a hotel reservation on a weekend evening in person for a completely different night & for some reason being given the keys in advance, & then wasting a bunch of money on lingerie not in his wife's size. (supposedly he told the shopkeeper, "she looks like cate blanchett, so the shopkeeper chose items in cate blanchett's size. o...kay?) this all sounds like a really hokey lie to me, but vanessa is happy so supposedly it's all true. it was a distraction that never felt true to me. so...fail on that.

i was also distracted by the fact that charlotte grew up in the states & didn't move to england until she was an adult (21, in fact). but she uses british words like "windscreen". there were several other examples of this sprinkled throughout the book. every time, i found it jarring. make a british person use those words, sure, but an american ex-pat? i don't buy it. it came across like a british person trying to write an american character living in england.

then there was a whole weird reveal toward the end of the book concerning an abortion...i was worried it was going to go down a strange "post-abortion stress syndrome" path, & it kind of took a few steps in that direction, before righting itself & managing to not be offensive. but it seemed kind of like a really weird throw-away designed to contextualize charlotte's personality, & again...it didn't really work.

& one more thing: i recently read an interview with literary agents on things they hate to see in fiction. they were unanimous that they hate it when characters are shown waking up in the morning with an alrm clock, because then you know you're going to have to slog through their whole boring daily routine. & even more annoying is when the character wakes up to an alarm clock & says, "oh no, i'm late!" why'd you set your alarm clock to wake you up late then? WTF? that totally happens in this book. *sigh*

[Sharlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a time travel book, that maybe was or wasn't. It was Charlotte at 32, seeing herself at 22. Very slow build romance, but more about the heroine finding out what will really make her happy.

[Аделина Фотенлиева · Rating 4 out of 5]

Увлекателна история за пътя към намиране на себе си .

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kniha ma zaujala už len anotáciou na prebale. Keď som začala čítať, naozaj ma zaujala ešte viac a od príbehu som sa len ťažko odtŕhala. Jediné, čo mi trochu vadilo bolo, že autorka mohla trochu viac objasniť, čo sa stalo a ako sa vlastne dostala do obdobia pred desiatimi rokmi. Päť hviezdičiek má u mňa zaslúžene :)

[Lia · Rating 1 out of 5]

BORING ....

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know what it is about this book, it's kind of like a warm hug and I actually have read it a few times over and over again just because I love it so much. It really is this "what would you say to your younger self if you could meet her today?" type of story and it always leaves me feeling great after finishing it.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Alexandra Potter book was Going La La and after that I read Be Careful What You Wish For. I’ve also read Me & Mr Darcy but can’t really remember it. Who’s That Girl? is more in the Me & Mr Darcy vein that the other two as both main characters see – apparently – someone from long ago – Mr Darcy in Me & Mr Darcy and Charlotte see’s her twenty-one-year-old self Lottie.

I enjoyed the book in as much as it was an easy, told-in-first-person read and didn’t seem the 363 pages it actually was. The ending was confusing – and I hate unclear endings – was it all a dream or did she actually see her 10-year-younger self? To be honest I have no idea.

I found Charlotte annoying until near the end of the book when she let go of all her problems and “allergies” and became a bit more normal and less controlling. I liked Lottie (Charlotte’s-21-year-old-self) so much more than I liked Charlotte although we do find out why Charlotte is the way she is near to the conclusion of the book.

Beatrice was by far my favourite character, she was hilarious. I don’t think we saw/heard enough of Miles. He wasn’t really in the book, he was more on the sidelines for the entire book. Vanessa and Julian’s relationship was strange. It seems Alexandra Potter had made up her mind to have him cheating and then changed her mind and changed the storyline completely. It just seemed very fishy. I really liked Oliver’s character and would have preferred to have him present through-out the book instead of when it was convenient to the story – back in 1997 or when Charlotte was in his restaurant. There were a few more minor characters; Oliver’s grandad, Larry Goldstein and his wife… they were only minor but I liked the scene with Oliver’s grandad in. I saw through Goldstein, though, and couldn’t believe Charlotte didn’t.

I think it was a great idea in theory but I don’t think it was written brilliantly. The alleged (I say this because I still don’t truly understand the ending of the book – did she or didn’t she?) time-travelling seemed wasted – it would have been good if Charlotte’s meddling actually effected things in the future and the list Charlotte made for Lottie was pointless filler, it had no real effect on the outcome of the book particularly since Lottie didn’t even listen anyway…

I also think it was a shame the ending was wrapped up so quickly – after the way things were with Oliver and Charlotte they resolved it pretty quickly, I’m sure there could have been a few more pages dedicated to Charlotte and Oliver explaining things out to each other.

I read the book quite quickly and did find myself wanting to read more to see if anything came of the Charlotte/Lottie time-travel thing but ultimately I found it disappointing.

Rating: 3/5

[Imogen]

Lovely stuff! Just what I needed to keep me happy and giggling!

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book that I read written by Alexandra Potter(The first is Me and Mr.Darcy, pretty boring to be honest!!) and I am SURPRISED how much I'm fond of it despite they are from the same author -.-

Most fantasy book make their characters able to change what they've done wrong during time travel, however Charlotte/Lottie(I prefer Lottie actually) didn't succed instead she understands the fact that maybe after 10 years, the moment to start with Mr.Barman right is finally right. Being able to change evrything you think it's wrong, may not be the best!!

The characters are described pretty well, no matter Lottie is in her 20s or 30s, she stil humors me.
And Beatrice too! As for the male characters, Miles is ok(I mean not everyone can be successful and interesting at the same time, right?!), Mr. Barman, oooooohh, one of the best book boyfriend I've ever met <3

The pot is good, the character is good,
with the only drawback is that it didn't mention did Mr.Barman able to recognize "Lottie's friend" aka Lottie in her 30s. I mean if Mr.Barman can recognize Lottie 10 years later, he sure will be able to remember meeting her 10 years ago!!
BUT this is like one of the grey areas which does not affect the story flow but it will be good to know if the author has written about it.

A 5 star book suitable for everyone to read(best to be over 20 to understand all the jokes written though).

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imagine if one day, you had the opportunity to meet your younger self? What would you tell this person? Would you have any specific advice for them?

This is exactly what happened to Charlotte Merryweather, a successful public relations executive in London. At age 31, she has her own PR firm, a stylish wardrobe, a personal trainer and what would seem like the perfect boyfriend for the perfect life. Underneath it all, is a stressed out executive who at the bottom of her heart, wonders if she's made the right choices in life? Is she truly happy? One day, she catches a glimpse of a young women driving the exact car she drove at age 21. Out of curiosity, she follows the car into some sort of space-time continuum that leads her to meet up with her younger self. As it slowly dawns on her what has happened, she comes up with a plan to keep her younger self from making the same mistakes that she did. Of course, the plan backfires, but Miss Charlotte ends up learning a lot about herself in the process, and finds true happiness afterall, in a place she would have least expected!

This is a wonderful story that makes one wonder what they would do if they could go back and make different choices? How would that change your current situation? I highly recommend this as a fun and engaging summer read.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book.
It raised some interesting questions, ok it's daft how she gets to time travel to meet her younger self but come on how many of us would love to do that? Or loathe to do that, but either way you probably have feelings about that.
The interesting point is there is a young girl - she doesn't have much - but she has the freedom that comes with not having much.
Then you have the older, more regal self who has all the things you think an adult should have, or nearly - she's not quite married with kids yet, but she is working hard, blah blah blah - but is she happy!
You can guess where this one is going but it's well worth the read.
And proof that materialistic posessions are not what makes a life a happy one!