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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was easy enough to read and follow if you could get past the main concept, which I just couldn’t get on with. The execution wasn’t fantastic and the main character was not my cup of tea at all.... Not one for me unfortunately!
I always enjoy Cecelia Ahern's books but this one is probably one of my favorites so far. It was so witty and when a book makes you laugh out loud on packed public transport, you know it's a good one.
The idea of having to face to someone who has had to deal with all the consequences of your choices is brilliant and the fact that meeting your Life was a norm in this book and no-one questioned it was great. It meant the reader could just accept it as well.
Lucy was a great character, we could tell she used to great fun, vivacious, spontaneous and very open but that was all a part of her with Blake and we could see how all the lies turned into someone who was just a shell of her old shelf. Watching her slowly come out was great.
One of the best things I liked at the end was that not everything had a simple solution...yes, her wrong number was actually the right number for her but she didn't suddenly have a magic epiphany of what she wanted to do with her life job-wise and has ended up probably cleaning carpets and there wasn't a magic reconciliation with her father and they became best friends. She realizes that is never going to happen and that is fine by her and she tells herself that it's ok and she will just have to try her best in not going out of her way to annoy her.
And the very last paragraph made me well up a little bit. It felt very emotional and I think if there was anybody reading the book going through a tough time, it would be a really great and inspirational help to them.Beautiful :)
The idea of having to face to someone who has had to deal with all the consequences of your choices is brilliant and the fact that meeting your Life was a norm in this book and no-one questioned it was great. It meant the reader could just accept it as well.
Lucy was a great character, we could tell she used to great fun, vivacious, spontaneous and very open but that was all a part of her with Blake and we could see how all the lies turned into someone who was just a shell of her old shelf. Watching her slowly come out was great.
One of the best things I liked at the end was that not everything had a simple solution...yes, her wrong number was actually the right number for her but she didn't suddenly have a magic epiphany of what she wanted to do with her life job-wise and has ended up probably cleaning carpets and there wasn't a magic reconciliation with her father and they became best friends. She realizes that is never going to happen and that is fine by her and she tells herself that it's ok and she will just have to try her best in not going out of her way to annoy her.
And the very last paragraph made me well up a little bit. It felt very emotional and I think if there was anybody reading the book going through a tough time, it would be a really great and inspirational help to them.Beautiful :)
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
This started off really weirdly. It was all a bit too much. Lucy was irritating, with her compulsive lying that I just did not understand, and her lack of interest in her life. She wasn't just drippy, but she was plain annoying. I'd enjoyed Cecelia Ahern's One Hundred Names, and adored How to Fall in Love, and this being the third book of hers I have read in a month-or-so, I was expecting to be disappointed, particularly after the unimpressive start.
But I loved this.
Cecelia, I have read three of your books now, all within a very short space of time, and I have thoroughly liked/loved every single one of them. I will most certainly continue to read more of your books, because, quite frankly, you are just awesome.
Some may ask - why? Why is Cecelia Ahern so 'awesome'?
Well.
Her writing is just lovely. It is not chockablock full of metaphors. There is no attempt to cram as much beautiful prose in as possible. Her books are written brilliantly, matter-of-factly, without any pretense. The writing is realistic, and captivating, easy to read but not simple. The writing simply hooks you, and the stories do the rest of the magic.
The Time of My Life was no exception to this. There was character development, and it was touching, and I felt completely wrapped up in and a part of Lucy's life. I felt attached to her, despite her faults and the fact that she irritated me on numerous occasions. She felt the need to lie about her life all the time. She did not have the ability to see that the people she needed most, and who cared for her, were right in front of her. She was irresponsible and sometimes selfish, lacking empathy at times. She did annoy me, quite a lot, hence the subtraction of 1/2 a star. But I was still attached to her, I still cared about what happened to her.
But, let me share one character-trait, if it can be called that, or rather an event that happened towards the end of the book, that exasperated me. I'll just spoiler-tag it.Why did she run across the country to her ex-boyfriend, the ex-boyfriend she had not seen for three years? Don was perfect for her. He cared, he was there, right in front of her eyes, and she rejected him. She pushed him away to chase the ex-boyfriend of three years, who she then realised she did not love, this realisation only hitting her after she had run to him and seen him again. I mean, come on! But at least she did realise that loving him was a habit. I was afraid she was going to stay with him. But that didn't happen. Thank God.
What a great book. I find that every single one of Cecelia Ahern's books is different in its own way, and for that reason, as well as many others, I will continue to read her works.
This started off really weirdly. It was all a bit too much. Lucy was irritating, with her compulsive lying that I just did not understand, and her lack of interest in her life. She wasn't just drippy, but she was plain annoying. I'd enjoyed Cecelia Ahern's One Hundred Names, and adored How to Fall in Love, and this being the third book of hers I have read in a month-or-so, I was expecting to be disappointed, particularly after the unimpressive start.
But I loved this.
Cecelia, I have read three of your books now, all within a very short space of time, and I have thoroughly liked/loved every single one of them. I will most certainly continue to read more of your books, because, quite frankly, you are just awesome.
Some may ask - why? Why is Cecelia Ahern so 'awesome'?
Well.
Her writing is just lovely. It is not chockablock full of metaphors. There is no attempt to cram as much beautiful prose in as possible. Her books are written brilliantly, matter-of-factly, without any pretense. The writing is realistic, and captivating, easy to read but not simple. The writing simply hooks you, and the stories do the rest of the magic.
The Time of My Life was no exception to this. There was character development, and it was touching, and I felt completely wrapped up in and a part of Lucy's life. I felt attached to her, despite her faults and the fact that she irritated me on numerous occasions. She felt the need to lie about her life all the time. She did not have the ability to see that the people she needed most, and who cared for her, were right in front of her. She was irresponsible and sometimes selfish, lacking empathy at times. She did annoy me, quite a lot, hence the subtraction of 1/2 a star. But I was still attached to her, I still cared about what happened to her.
But, let me share one character-trait, if it can be called that, or rather an event that happened towards the end of the book, that exasperated me. I'll just spoiler-tag it.
What a great book. I find that every single one of Cecelia Ahern's books is different in its own way, and for that reason, as well as many others, I will continue to read her works.
I love the idea behind this book, I love the message and I love Cecelia Aherns magical realism books but for some reason this book just didn't do much for me. It took me over half a year to read, picking up other books because I didn't care about continuing this one. The idea behind it was great but this book just wasn't for me.
I was really doubting when I started this book, while waiting to read this book for a while, I wasn't convinced for quite a while with this Life business but somehow, I liked the message of the book more than the book itself.
Oh my Gosh! This book was amazing. It was so well written and the subject of it was so good. I mean anybody could read this book. No matter the gender or age. (Well, adults, not kids) Also this book was funny and I read it in three days I think. I haven't read anything this good in a long time.
In this book there was a clever way of talking about life. We never think of it like that and I can totally see myself in this book. Not as one of the characters but just generally.
Of course I liked the characters too. Especially Don and Lucy. And Life too. This book was just so hilarious but still it talked about a very serious thing. I really liked it a lot.
And of course one the best of Cecelia Ahern's books I've read so far.
Everybody should read it.
In this book there was a clever way of talking about life. We never think of it like that and I can totally see myself in this book. Not as one of the characters but just generally.
Of course I liked the characters too. Especially Don and Lucy. And Life too. This book was just so hilarious but still it talked about a very serious thing. I really liked it a lot.
And of course one the best of Cecelia Ahern's books I've read so far.
Everybody should read it.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Another fun one from Cecelia Ahern. I loved the concept of Lucy's life being a person, and that this person visually reflected how Lucy felt about her life, or how much she put into living her life. It is interesting to read about someone being called out for lying to themselves by their own life. Lucy convinced herself of many things, but they were all built on lies, the biggest being that she was happy with her life. So, when she first met the manifestation her life, face to face, it was not described in a complementary way, and Lucy could not bear to be in the same room with her life.
I found the book very funny, but also thoughtful.
Another fun one from Cecelia Ahern. I loved the concept of Lucy's life being a person, and that this person visually reflected how Lucy felt about her life, or how much she put into living her life. It is interesting to read about someone being called out for lying to themselves by their own life. Lucy convinced herself of many things, but they were all built on lies, the biggest being that she was happy with her life. So, when she first met the manifestation her life, face to face, it was not described in a complementary way, and Lucy could not bear to be in the same room with her life.
I found the book very funny, but also thoughtful.
This novel has a storyline that startled me and then captured me. Lucy Silchester lives in a studio apartment with her cat, goes to work translating instructions for appliances, and avoids questions about her life. But she's been receiving invitations that she finds she can't keep ignoring. The invitations invite her to book a meeting, a meeting with her life. Not only has she been avoiding other people's questions about her life, she's been avoiding dealing with her life herself.
Lucy split with her live-in boyfriend nearly three years ago, and still hasn't completely dealt with it. She is operating in automatic, making no plans for the future, just going to work and coming home and hiding from her life. But her life won't let her hide anymore. When she meets with her life, she finds it unsatisfying and tries to avoid facing up to the truth, but her life won't let her.
She finds herself spending a great deal of time with her life, facing up to the truths that she has been avoiding and a few that spin her life into new directions, and getting to know herself again.
This is a book that will have you looking at your own life, and asking yourself what you've been avoiding. It doesn't package everything up with happy endings, but it does offer hope and that dealing with reality is a lot better than not dealing with it, because your life is still there, even if you're ignoring it.
Lucy split with her live-in boyfriend nearly three years ago, and still hasn't completely dealt with it. She is operating in automatic, making no plans for the future, just going to work and coming home and hiding from her life. But her life won't let her hide anymore. When she meets with her life, she finds it unsatisfying and tries to avoid facing up to the truth, but her life won't let her.
She finds herself spending a great deal of time with her life, facing up to the truths that she has been avoiding and a few that spin her life into new directions, and getting to know herself again.
This is a book that will have you looking at your own life, and asking yourself what you've been avoiding. It doesn't package everything up with happy endings, but it does offer hope and that dealing with reality is a lot better than not dealing with it, because your life is still there, even if you're ignoring it.
I loved this book. It was light and funny but also had way more depth than I expected. I loved the main character and how the author wrote her in a way that I rooted for her even as I shook my head in shame for the lies she told.
A must read!
A must read!