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whatkarireads's review against another edition
4.0
bought this book on impulse for two reasons - the cover and I was intrigued by a book shelved in the romance section that was written by a man.
This “romance adjacent” book is a blend of the movie 'Family Man' and the classic 'A Christmas Carol'. The story is told from Ben’s perspective as he relives key moments in his past and gets a glimpse of what his life may have been had he made different choices. How would his friendships, relationships and most importantly, his marriage, be different? I really appreciated that this was written from a male perspective- it made for a refreshing change.
The writing is engaging and clever. The characters were flawed yet endearing. The story was thought provoking and magical. (Hand claps) to me for this impulse buy because it was an unexpected gem.
This “romance adjacent” book is a blend of the movie 'Family Man' and the classic 'A Christmas Carol'. The story is told from Ben’s perspective as he relives key moments in his past and gets a glimpse of what his life may have been had he made different choices. How would his friendships, relationships and most importantly, his marriage, be different? I really appreciated that this was written from a male perspective- it made for a refreshing change.
The writing is engaging and clever. The characters were flawed yet endearing. The story was thought provoking and magical. (Hand claps) to me for this impulse buy because it was an unexpected gem.
emperius's review against another edition
3.0
3.5⭐️
A wintery Christmas themed love story about how the choices we make impact our lives. Kinda a modern retelling of A Christmas Carol. Really enjoyable if a bit predictable.
A wintery Christmas themed love story about how the choices we make impact our lives. Kinda a modern retelling of A Christmas Carol. Really enjoyable if a bit predictable.
dwoe_reviews's review against another edition
4.0
Originally posted on Dreaming With Open Eyes
“If you don’t like your life, you can change it.
My twitter feed was flooded about All about Us on its realse date. I’ve seen so many bloggers gushing about it that I couldn’t wait to find out what the fuss is about. Last year, when Christmas was around the corner All About Us was on sale and I couldn’t resist this offer. During my Christmas holiday, I sat down on my sofa with a nice cup of chocolate and read the book in no time. All About Us was a pleasurable journey from beginning to end. I just lost myself in the book and just couldn’t put it down (until I had to and I was really annoyed waiting until I could continue reading it)
In All About Us, we are introduced to Tom’s main character Ben. Ben has always wondered how his life would have turned out if he had chosen a different path. He has been married to Daphne for a while but their marrige has hit a very rought spot. He fears that they have fallen out of love and wonders what life would have been like if he had chosen his old flame Alice, when they were at University.
On Christmas Eve 2020 Ben is out for a drink with his best friend Harv. In the pub Ben is approached by a man selling watches, he gives him a watch that is stuck at one minute to midnight. This is a beginning of an eye-opening journey through Ben’s past, present, and future that will help Ben see what is really important in life.
All About Us is the kind of story that makes you want to skip Christmas parties so that you can stay home to read. Every review that I’ve read for this book has been positive and mine will be no exception. I’m so glad that I’ve read this book and can now see what all the fuss is about. It’s amazing. I loved Ben and really enjoyed seeing some of the important events in his life. The story is original, funny and easy but at the same time heartbreaking. This book went in a different direction than I thought it would – for the better and I loved it. I enjoyed reading about Bens early days with Daphne, how he met Alice and especially the moments with his mother, they were so touching and emotional. His mom was such a hearth-warming character, I wish she had an even bigger part in the book. I can’t believe this is a romance debut novel for Tom Ellen. I will without hesitation pick up the next book Tom Ellen brings out. Recommended to anyone and everyone.
“If you don’t like your life, you can change it.
My twitter feed was flooded about All about Us on its realse date. I’ve seen so many bloggers gushing about it that I couldn’t wait to find out what the fuss is about. Last year, when Christmas was around the corner All About Us was on sale and I couldn’t resist this offer. During my Christmas holiday, I sat down on my sofa with a nice cup of chocolate and read the book in no time. All About Us was a pleasurable journey from beginning to end. I just lost myself in the book and just couldn’t put it down (until I had to and I was really annoyed waiting until I could continue reading it)
In All About Us, we are introduced to Tom’s main character Ben. Ben has always wondered how his life would have turned out if he had chosen a different path. He has been married to Daphne for a while but their marrige has hit a very rought spot. He fears that they have fallen out of love and wonders what life would have been like if he had chosen his old flame Alice, when they were at University.
On Christmas Eve 2020 Ben is out for a drink with his best friend Harv. In the pub Ben is approached by a man selling watches, he gives him a watch that is stuck at one minute to midnight. This is a beginning of an eye-opening journey through Ben’s past, present, and future that will help Ben see what is really important in life.
All About Us is the kind of story that makes you want to skip Christmas parties so that you can stay home to read. Every review that I’ve read for this book has been positive and mine will be no exception. I’m so glad that I’ve read this book and can now see what all the fuss is about. It’s amazing. I loved Ben and really enjoyed seeing some of the important events in his life. The story is original, funny and easy but at the same time heartbreaking. This book went in a different direction than I thought it would – for the better and I loved it. I enjoyed reading about Bens early days with Daphne, how he met Alice and especially the moments with his mother, they were so touching and emotional. His mom was such a hearth-warming character, I wish she had an even bigger part in the book. I can’t believe this is a romance debut novel for Tom Ellen. I will without hesitation pick up the next book Tom Ellen brings out. Recommended to anyone and everyone.
booklifebalance's review against another edition
4.0
“Your life is the decisions you make. Those decisions have led you here.”
“All About Us” is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ Classic, “A Christmas Carol” and it’s absolutely wonderful.
At different points in life, some people question decisions and what led them to where they are and where they are headed. In Ben’s case, he is so depressed (from multiple things that are discussed in the book), that it takes traveling back to moments of the past, the present and future for him to see what got him to where he is and also provides the opportunity for him to try to do things a little differently. Although his actions in the past have no effect on the future, they allow him to see things in a new light and work through his issues.
It’s a beautiful exploration of a life and a reminder to slow down in life to consider not just what he’s thinking and feeling, but to consider the other person as well, especially his partner, Daphne, but also his best friend, Harv, his mum, and even his father. It also touches on typical communication practices between men and the difficultly of sharing emotions and being vulnerable with each other.
The phrase, “Hindsight is 2020,” could not be more perfect for this book, written in 2020, about a man named Ben in 2020.
I truly loved this book and will be thinking about it for a while.
“All About Us” is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens’ Classic, “A Christmas Carol” and it’s absolutely wonderful.
At different points in life, some people question decisions and what led them to where they are and where they are headed. In Ben’s case, he is so depressed (from multiple things that are discussed in the book), that it takes traveling back to moments of the past, the present and future for him to see what got him to where he is and also provides the opportunity for him to try to do things a little differently. Although his actions in the past have no effect on the future, they allow him to see things in a new light and work through his issues.
It’s a beautiful exploration of a life and a reminder to slow down in life to consider not just what he’s thinking and feeling, but to consider the other person as well, especially his partner, Daphne, but also his best friend, Harv, his mum, and even his father. It also touches on typical communication practices between men and the difficultly of sharing emotions and being vulnerable with each other.
The phrase, “Hindsight is 2020,” could not be more perfect for this book, written in 2020, about a man named Ben in 2020.
I truly loved this book and will be thinking about it for a while.
ccxo's review against another edition
3.0
https://clavie.co/2020/12/30/bookclub-reads-all-about-us/?preview=true&frame-nonce=0bd4538a8c
It was interesting reading this novel from a man’s point of view. At the very start I didn’t quite like him as he constantly thought about cheating on his wife and justified it.
During his dream or during the magic transitions of going back in time and into a potential future it was interesting to see as he began to become more grateful of his wife, mother and best friend. You just begin to appreciate the small things instead of feeling self-pity and actually see what others have done for him that he didn’t realise before. Overall I really enjoyed reading this novel and learning the life lessons along with him.
It was interesting reading this novel from a man’s point of view. At the very start I didn’t quite like him as he constantly thought about cheating on his wife and justified it.
During his dream or during the magic transitions of going back in time and into a potential future it was interesting to see as he began to become more grateful of his wife, mother and best friend. You just begin to appreciate the small things instead of feeling self-pity and actually see what others have done for him that he didn’t realise before. Overall I really enjoyed reading this novel and learning the life lessons along with him.
markalkman's review against another edition
5.0
"If you don't like your life, you can change it.
5 glorious stars to this wonderful novel. It was SO GOOD. I loved it from start to finish; a great take on the classic 'A Christmas Carol'.
I loved the fact that the main character was a man with tons of issues, he was nowhere near perfect and he keeps on making mistakes, basically ruining his marriage on his own. I was worried at first that this would turn into a 'I married the wrong woman' kind of story, but it didn't and I'm so grateful it didn't, because that would've ruined the story for me. But, thankfully, 'All About Us' is the story of a man who has to evaluate his life and his choices, and while doing so, he falls in love again. And it's BEAUTIFUL. Ugh. I highly recommend this!
5 glorious stars to this wonderful novel. It was SO GOOD. I loved it from start to finish; a great take on the classic 'A Christmas Carol'.
I loved the fact that the main character was a man with tons of issues, he was nowhere near perfect and he keeps on making mistakes, basically ruining his marriage on his own. I was worried at first that this would turn into a 'I married the wrong woman' kind of story, but it didn't and I'm so grateful it didn't, because that would've ruined the story for me. But, thankfully, 'All About Us' is the story of a man who has to evaluate his life and his choices, and while doing so, he falls in love again. And it's BEAUTIFUL. Ugh. I highly recommend this!
jenbibs's review against another edition
4.0
I was kindly provided with a copy of All About Us by Netgalley in exchange for a non biased review.
Everyone at sometime has thought about how different their life would be if they had made different choices at different times. This book plays on that and is a spin on the age old tale of The Christmas Carol.
I enjoyed this book and it most definitely pulls on your heart strings and I took away from this it an appreciation for how life decisions can have big consequences, even if we don't expect them to.
Everyone at sometime has thought about how different their life would be if they had made different choices at different times. This book plays on that and is a spin on the age old tale of The Christmas Carol.
I enjoyed this book and it most definitely pulls on your heart strings and I took away from this it an appreciation for how life decisions can have big consequences, even if we don't expect them to.
acdom's review against another edition
3.0
A very sweet Christmas romance in the style of A Christmas Carol. One thing I found interesting about this one is it's told from a guy's perspective, which are stories that seem few and far between in the romcom world. That device aside, this was cute enough for a pre-Christmas read.
One spoilery thought:
One spoilery thought:
Spoiler
I think the description makes the book sound like it's going to be about Ben actively trying to pursue Alice, when it's really about trying to save his marriage. I'm fine with either plot line, but the summary should be more clear.mayelaam's review against another edition
3.0
Quite enjoyed the twist on A Christmas Carol, the Christmas feels, and the grappling with the questions of "What if?" and "Who do I want to be?" However, it felt like the only properly fleshed out character was the protagonist. The love interests were one a Mary Sue and the other a self-absorbed Kensington Princess. The best friend was pretty okay, but the other friends were all cliches. The Mother seemed like a perfect suffering saint and the father was an irredeemable bastard. Sure, some people are irredeemable bastards but when characters are so black and white, even a good story becomes predictable.
lbhavkillo's review against another edition
5.0
A very heartfelt take on the Christmas Carol with hints of time loop without being overly Christmasy.