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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*****SPOILERS FOR THE ENDING****** I tried to write this without spoilers, but just not possible.
I was with this book for a while, but the ending severely disappointed. I thought the concept of being in two places at once was really interesting and I liked the way she explored it. The main character went through a lot of development, but the ending negated it all. I'm not usually this over-dramatic, but after reading the last ten pages, I threw the book across the room. Maybe I'm just a happy-ending kind of person, but I think what's the point of having a character learn a lesson if you're just going to kill them in the end? I get that the point was to have the people in the frame story (the cops and "Turkey Boy") learn from the main character's story, but I didn't care enough about them for that to matter and you didn't see enough of them outside the context of telling the story to see that the lesson made an impact in their lives. I usually like Cecelia Ahern, this one was just a misstep for me.
I was with this book for a while, but the ending severely disappointed. I thought the concept of being in two places at once was really interesting and I liked the way she explored it. The main character went through a lot of development, but the ending negated it all. I'm not usually this over-dramatic, but after reading the last ten pages, I threw the book across the room. Maybe I'm just a happy-ending kind of person, but I think what's the point of having a character learn a lesson if you're just going to kill them in the end? I get that the point was to have the people in the frame story (the cops and "Turkey Boy") learn from the main character's story, but I didn't care enough about them for that to matter and you didn't see enough of them outside the context of telling the story to see that the lesson made an impact in their lives. I usually like Cecelia Ahern, this one was just a misstep for me.
This is the kind of story I'd adore if it was a Hallmark movie but as written work just didn't land for me.
The "shock" at the end was hampered by the foreshadowing, although in a way quite clever.
It's not a cosy Christmas read which I was expecting, it requires suspending disbelief but it's not a bad read overall
The "shock" at the end was hampered by the foreshadowing, although in a way quite clever.
It's not a cosy Christmas read which I was expecting, it requires suspending disbelief but it's not a bad read overall
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to like this one. It's supposed to be a cosy christmas novel with a moral at the end but ... I didn't enjoy this one. I struggled through it and whilst it had some good moments they were just so few and far between.
Lou is a really unlikable character and the audiobook narration doesn't really help him by making him sound super snobbish and like he thinks he is more important than everybody around him. He is a major prick and even after he has a change of heart I didn't like him - so when he (view spoiler) instead of me feeling sad or sorry for him I was like: "Oh finally, I just wish that it happened sooner." - I rarely dislike the main characters quite as much as I dislike Lou and I didn't really enjoy Gabe or any other characters either. It's a fairly fast read, I think that the audiobook is around 6 hours long but man did it drag, this took me about two weeks to finish solely because I couldn't connect with any characters and I didn't enjoy any of them. I love a good christmas miracle story with a moral at the end, but I hated this one with burning passion. It's not cosy it's not warm and it's not nice and I just wish that Lou died at the beginning of the book so we wouldn't have to suffer through the story with him as the main character.
Lou is a really unlikable character and the audiobook narration doesn't really help him by making him sound super snobbish and like he thinks he is more important than everybody around him. He is a major prick and even after he has a change of heart I didn't like him - so when he (view spoiler) instead of me feeling sad or sorry for him I was like: "Oh finally, I just wish that it happened sooner." - I rarely dislike the main characters quite as much as I dislike Lou and I didn't really enjoy Gabe or any other characters either. It's a fairly fast read, I think that the audiobook is around 6 hours long but man did it drag, this took me about two weeks to finish solely because I couldn't connect with any characters and I didn't enjoy any of them. I love a good christmas miracle story with a moral at the end, but I hated this one with burning passion. It's not cosy it's not warm and it's not nice and I just wish that Lou died at the beginning of the book so we wouldn't have to suffer through the story with him as the main character.
A beautiful holiday story. Cecelia Ahren is such an amazing Author!
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
I'm a big fan of her previous work, but this did not work for me.
I didn't like this one, I understood what they went for, but it took too long to get there, I just hated the main character the whole way, ended up powering through, when I should have just DNF'ed it. I think others might like it more, but it triggered me too much
