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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
Couldn't connect with the writing. Found it to be really slow and dull. Nothing about the story or the characters was grabbing me.
Loved the concept of this but was disappointed with how the story played out.
Very mundane read, lacked the heart I would expect from a Cecelia Ahern novel.
Very mundane read, lacked the heart I would expect from a Cecelia Ahern novel.
This is a very good book, I learned a lot from it. I'm only giving it 4 stars because I got a little annoyed at the "truth then lie" style of writing at first but I later learned that this style is vital for the story. Overall, this is a really good book and it's the fourth book that I've read by Cecelia.
I read this book in two days, mostly because I really couldn't put it down. I liked the main character, I liked the concept of her having to meet her life because she messed up and I liked the way it was written. Of course, it's not a very superliterary book, but hey, it made me feel good and think a tiny little bit about my own life and imagine what it would be like if I got to meet up with it. A really nice read, though not if you ought to get things done, for it is hard to stop reading!
Couldn't put this down! It's perfect holiday/beach chic lit but also gives you a lot to think about. Personifying life is an interesting concept and the heroin was hilarious! Her sarcasm and wit were just right and often her life reminded me of Bridget Jones!
*Summary* A pathological liar meets her life, literally face to face.
Think "I Heart Huckabees". I was apprehensive that I wasn't going to enjoy this, but it was actually interesting and mostly funny. I read the Uncorrected Proof edition, so I'm pretty sure some of the stuff that bothered me about the writing style (super long paragraphs, single quotes, several grammatical errors) won't be around in the final edition. I also felt like most of Chapters 1 - 4 could have either been edited out, or rearranged. The first family meeting was so boring to me that I nearly gave up reading.
But then Life shows up and things start getting fun. Lucy's lies (to herself at first and then to others) begin to be revealed for what they are, and the trickle down consequences keep smacking her in the face. Ahern has fun with being able to pull double-meanings out of sentences since in this story "Life" is both a thing and a person. So saying something like the the title of the book "The Time Of My Life" can mean what you would normally expect, or it can be read more like "The Time of Cosmo Brown". Or perhaps something like "Life has a funny way of changing" can mean that life is unpredictable, or it can mean that a man named Life looks funny when he changes his clothes. You get the idea.
Along with that concept, symbolism in "The Time Of My Life" abounds. It wasn't quite prominent enough that it annoyed me, but whenever Life was around, symbolism was always skirting around the edges of the paragraph. Someone likes You but not your life, or perhaps vice versa. You want one thing, but your life demands another. Again, I think Ahern makes it clever enough that you don't necessarily notice the hidden message until after it happens.
I kept drawing parallels to [b:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|11275|The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|Haruki Murakami|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327872639s/11275.jpg|2531376] which is constantly in the running for my favorite book. Ahern anthropomorphized a concept into a character, which reminded me a lot of what Murakami likes to do. I generally enjoy this type of plot, and I enjoyed it here. It didn't feel borrowed, just similar. Ahern never feels the need to explain why having Life as a physical person doesn't seem completely crazy to anyone. Still, not going into the technicalities of this doesn't detract from the story. As a result, the reader also must accept this fact as normal and not dwell on it, but instead focus on Lucy's slow realization of what her Life truly is.
There were a few parts of the plot that I had some problems with (mainly the "big" lie), but they'd be too spoiler-ish to go into here. All in all though, a fun read.
Think "I Heart Huckabees". I was apprehensive that I wasn't going to enjoy this, but it was actually interesting and mostly funny. I read the Uncorrected Proof edition, so I'm pretty sure some of the stuff that bothered me about the writing style (super long paragraphs, single quotes, several grammatical errors) won't be around in the final edition. I also felt like most of Chapters 1 - 4 could have either been edited out, or rearranged. The first family meeting was so boring to me that I nearly gave up reading.
But then Life shows up and things start getting fun. Lucy's lies (to herself at first and then to others) begin to be revealed for what they are, and the trickle down consequences keep smacking her in the face. Ahern has fun with being able to pull double-meanings out of sentences since in this story "Life" is both a thing and a person. So saying something like the the title of the book "The Time Of My Life" can mean what you would normally expect, or it can be read more like "The Time of Cosmo Brown". Or perhaps something like "Life has a funny way of changing" can mean that life is unpredictable, or it can mean that a man named Life looks funny when he changes his clothes. You get the idea.
Along with that concept, symbolism in "The Time Of My Life" abounds. It wasn't quite prominent enough that it annoyed me, but whenever Life was around, symbolism was always skirting around the edges of the paragraph. Someone likes You but not your life, or perhaps vice versa. You want one thing, but your life demands another. Again, I think Ahern makes it clever enough that you don't necessarily notice the hidden message until after it happens.
I kept drawing parallels to [b:The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|11275|The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle|Haruki Murakami|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327872639s/11275.jpg|2531376] which is constantly in the running for my favorite book. Ahern anthropomorphized a concept into a character, which reminded me a lot of what Murakami likes to do. I generally enjoy this type of plot, and I enjoyed it here. It didn't feel borrowed, just similar. Ahern never feels the need to explain why having Life as a physical person doesn't seem completely crazy to anyone. Still, not going into the technicalities of this doesn't detract from the story. As a result, the reader also must accept this fact as normal and not dwell on it, but instead focus on Lucy's slow realization of what her Life truly is.
There were a few parts of the plot that I had some problems with (mainly the "big" lie), but they'd be too spoiler-ish to go into here. All in all though, a fun read.
Well, I think it's a bit unfair that this book got so many negative reviews. Certainly, it was somewhat cheesy and predictable, but it was very well written [something rarely found these days - especially if you tend to agree that Fifty Shades of Grey is a well written book], intriguing and had lovely, lovely characters. The beginning was slow, a very gradual build-up of places, names and people to immerse us better into the story. Some may have found it too slow, but then from like a third into the book it got fast paced to the extent that I couldn't stop reading.
I was also extremely glad that the ending wasn't mushy or cheesy at all. For an anti-romance book person like me, this was heavenly.
Last point - the humour was delightful. Ahern writes with such warmth and wit that it's a real joy to read. I'm so glad I chose this book to read.
I may not have enjoyed it quite so much if I wasn't in this particular transition point in my life where I've no clue what I'm doing with it. As it is, I found the book the perfect manual for how to get myself out of a rut and pay more attention to myself.
I was also extremely glad that the ending wasn't mushy or cheesy at all. For an anti-romance book person like me, this was heavenly.
Last point - the humour was delightful. Ahern writes with such warmth and wit that it's a real joy to read. I'm so glad I chose this book to read.
I may not have enjoyed it quite so much if I wasn't in this particular transition point in my life where I've no clue what I'm doing with it. As it is, I found the book the perfect manual for how to get myself out of a rut and pay more attention to myself.
Nobody has to be lonely. Everybody deserves to be happy. My thought while reading this book.
Lucy Silchester thought that her life is fine. She felt content. Until her life started to contact her.
Lucy has become an antisocial, secretive from her friends and family after being dumped by her boyfriend almost three years ago. Her life is a mess and the lies that she told them to cover the truth has become a big pile of lies that she cannot tell the truth without revealing the whole thing. Ironically, after all that, she finally able to tell her true feelings to a wrong number, a man whom she didn't know personally, a stranger.
Since everything she does reflected to her other half, her life is miserable as Lucy didn't care much about her own life. So he set up a meeting with Lucy in order to rectify the mess. At first, Lucy denied everything but slowly she saw the errors of her way and started to see the right path with her life by her side.
The thing about Cecelia Ahern writing is, for me, is that you can relate to the main character's feeling. It's like reading part of your life through the fiction. The feelings, the loneliness, even the denials . You can feel that somehow 'she' was you. And their journey will become your journey too.
P/S - I love this book but somehow towards the end I felt like it was similar to If You Could See Me Now.
Lucy Silchester thought that her life is fine. She felt content. Until her life started to contact her.
Lucy has become an antisocial, secretive from her friends and family after being dumped by her boyfriend almost three years ago. Her life is a mess and the lies that she told them to cover the truth has become a big pile of lies that she cannot tell the truth without revealing the whole thing. Ironically, after all that, she finally able to tell her true feelings to a wrong number, a man whom she didn't know personally, a stranger.
Since everything she does reflected to her other half, her life is miserable as Lucy didn't care much about her own life. So he set up a meeting with Lucy in order to rectify the mess. At first, Lucy denied everything but slowly she saw the errors of her way and started to see the right path with her life by her side.
The thing about Cecelia Ahern writing is, for me, is that you can relate to the main character's feeling. It's like reading part of your life through the fiction. The feelings, the loneliness, even the denials . You can feel that somehow 'she' was you. And their journey will become your journey too.
P/S - I love this book but somehow towards the end I felt like it was similar to If You Could See Me Now.
A bit of a slow start but overall loved the story. The ending was really good too.