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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
16-year-old Tamara Goodwin's life as she's known it has come to a screeching halt thanks to her Dad's suicide. When the bank takes away the only home Tamara has ever known, she and her Mum move to a rural village just far enough away from Dublin to isolate her. Moving in with her oddball Uncle and Aunt, Tamara is desperate to get back to her real life, especially when her Mum disappears into a bedroom, and her Aunt Rosaline won't leave her alone. When a chance encounter with a traveling librarian puts a magical book in her hands, Tamara begins to look a little more forward to her days, especially when she discovers the book is a diary she's been writing in and allows her to alter what's going to happen in the future. But should the future be altered? Who's to say that what seems to be a negative won't turn out to be the best thing for her?
I was irritated almost immediately by this story—both the story itself and the characters, specifically Aunt Rosaline. I think Ahern meant for the Aunt to be mysterious, but instead, she just came off as super annoying, frustrating, predictable, and distasteful. And when all was said and done with the character of the Aunt, I felt like I had wasted a lot of my time indulging the story. It felt like Ahern was trying too hard to create a conflict in addition to the conflict already present in the death of Tamara's dad. It just didn't work well. It was clunky and tedious to read.
I was irritated almost immediately by this story—both the story itself and the characters, specifically Aunt Rosaline. I think Ahern meant for the Aunt to be mysterious, but instead, she just came off as super annoying, frustrating, predictable, and distasteful. And when all was said and done with the character of the Aunt, I felt like I had wasted a lot of my time indulging the story. It felt like Ahern was trying too hard to create a conflict in addition to the conflict already present in the death of Tamara's dad. It just didn't work well. It was clunky and tedious to read.
I read this book. A few months ago. And I know I wrote up a review, but it's apparently been lost in the interwebs. SO... I'll try to remember to give a decent review.
I really quite liked it. Maybe even loved it. The main character, Tamara, is a spoiled rich girl that you want to hate because her behavior is honestly appalling. BUT she is our narrator and you can see she actually has a good heart in there who is dealing with some of the worst trauma you can imagine.
There are fantastical bits to the story (she finds a diary written by herself... each day shows the entry from the day before. From the future. I didn't explain that well. Anyway...), but it still feels almost believable.
The writing style is beautiful. Cecilia Ahern really paints with her words and I was sucked in to this world she has created. I'd read this one again.
I really quite liked it. Maybe even loved it. The main character, Tamara, is a spoiled rich girl that you want to hate because her behavior is honestly appalling. BUT she is our narrator and you can see she actually has a good heart in there who is dealing with some of the worst trauma you can imagine.
There are fantastical bits to the story (she finds a diary written by herself... each day shows the entry from the day before. From the future. I didn't explain that well. Anyway...), but it still feels almost believable.
The writing style is beautiful. Cecilia Ahern really paints with her words and I was sucked in to this world she has created. I'd read this one again.
I loved this book!! it was just enough magic, mystery and family drama all wrapped up into one for me. I thought it might be a little too "teen drama" for me, but I loved it and couldn't put it down.
Excellent book, a bit of mystery, a bit of magic, a bunch of drama. Granted, I'm a bit obsessed with anything Ireland, but the book was very well written. I especially like the character of Sister Ignatius. Check it out and let me know what you thought.
I read this because I've enjoyed this author's previous work and the description pointed to the type of story I would enjoy reading but this was a disappointment in many ways. It was difficult to connect with the narrator and the diary device was not well developed. Basically it read like a somewhat raw novel with untapped potential.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
This was my first real audio book, and I quite enjoyed it. I’ve never been a fan of audio books. I’m the kind of person who hates to be read to. I could always read much faster than a teacher or narrator could in class, so I saw no use sitting around waiting for someone else to read a story; I simply had to finish it first. I tried out a Georgette Heyer audio book a few months back, and I absolutely hated it. The narrator’s voice sounded very arrogant, and I kept having to resist the urge to whip my steering wheel around every time something surprising happened in the plot. It was very distracting, and I couldn’t get into it.
The Book of Tomorrow, however, was a completely different story. It follows a girl named Tamara as she copes with her father’s suicide and her affluent family’s sudden poverty. She leaves her posh Dublin mansion and ends up living in the countryside with her strange aunt and uncle. A spoiled brat, Tamara suddenly finds herself having to make due without her private jet, multiple vacation homes, swimming pool, and tennis courts. Instead, she oddly takes refuge in the ruins of an old castle adjoining her uncle’s property, burnt down in a horrible fire decades before. She spends her days caring for her sick mother, making a few odd new friends, and reading a secret diary that seems to tell the events that will take place the following day. The diary, or the “book of tomorrow,” helps Tamara make better decisions, one day at a time. The story is basically a coming-of-age tale of a young woman recovering from a devastating shock.
Meanwhile, though, there is mystery: strange feelings, unanswered questions, and suspicious activity all have Tamara on high alert. A few chapters away from the end, a few things clicked for me, but upon reaching the climax, I realized that the whole story was a lot more intricate than I originally suspected. As there is already a hint of magic with the future-telling diary, the mystery becomes even more intriguing.
At first, Tamara seems like a really hard person to relate to. She’s around high school age, which is young for the kind of books I usually read, and she’s led a very priviledged life. As the book continues, though, she becomes more sympathetic of the people around her and aware when she’s acting out because of the teenage hormones surging through her body. She becomes endearing as she begins to process the things happening in her life.
At points, the audio version of this text was a little hard to understand. With one reader and a first-person narration, it was sometimes hard to distinguish what was a diary entry and what was really happening in audio-form. However, I really loved the reader’s Irish accent (even though I found myself trying to repeat what she was saying and had to rewind the CD a few times), and it added a lot to the atmosphere of the book (can books have atmospheres? I think so). Also, whenever the narrator said “The Book of Tomorrow,” “tomorrow” sounded a lot like “Tamara” with her accent, which I thought was really cute.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the book. The audio version of it was nice on my hour-long commute in the mornings and 1.5 hour commute in the evenings, but after coming back from work last night at the height of the most important part of the book, I had to take the last CD inside with me and listen to the last few chapters on my computer.
Altogether, I enjoyed the book very, very much, and I am anxious to check out other books by Ahern.
The Book of Tomorrow, however, was a completely different story. It follows a girl named Tamara as she copes with her father’s suicide and her affluent family’s sudden poverty. She leaves her posh Dublin mansion and ends up living in the countryside with her strange aunt and uncle. A spoiled brat, Tamara suddenly finds herself having to make due without her private jet, multiple vacation homes, swimming pool, and tennis courts. Instead, she oddly takes refuge in the ruins of an old castle adjoining her uncle’s property, burnt down in a horrible fire decades before. She spends her days caring for her sick mother, making a few odd new friends, and reading a secret diary that seems to tell the events that will take place the following day. The diary, or the “book of tomorrow,” helps Tamara make better decisions, one day at a time. The story is basically a coming-of-age tale of a young woman recovering from a devastating shock.
Meanwhile, though, there is mystery: strange feelings, unanswered questions, and suspicious activity all have Tamara on high alert. A few chapters away from the end, a few things clicked for me, but upon reaching the climax, I realized that the whole story was a lot more intricate than I originally suspected. As there is already a hint of magic with the future-telling diary, the mystery becomes even more intriguing.
At first, Tamara seems like a really hard person to relate to. She’s around high school age, which is young for the kind of books I usually read, and she’s led a very priviledged life. As the book continues, though, she becomes more sympathetic of the people around her and aware when she’s acting out because of the teenage hormones surging through her body. She becomes endearing as she begins to process the things happening in her life.
At points, the audio version of this text was a little hard to understand. With one reader and a first-person narration, it was sometimes hard to distinguish what was a diary entry and what was really happening in audio-form. However, I really loved the reader’s Irish accent (even though I found myself trying to repeat what she was saying and had to rewind the CD a few times), and it added a lot to the atmosphere of the book (can books have atmospheres? I think so). Also, whenever the narrator said “The Book of Tomorrow,” “tomorrow” sounded a lot like “Tamara” with her accent, which I thought was really cute.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the book. The audio version of it was nice on my hour-long commute in the mornings and 1.5 hour commute in the evenings, but after coming back from work last night at the height of the most important part of the book, I had to take the last CD inside with me and listen to the last few chapters on my computer.
Altogether, I enjoyed the book very, very much, and I am anxious to check out other books by Ahern.
I generally love books from this author, but this one i Found it a tad boring and stopped mid-way. Which is a shame as I can now count on one finger how many times I’ve stopped a book half way.
This book had a pretty good story line and was hard to put down at certain points. Dragged a little at others but pretty well written.