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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
As with all genres and narratives, Chick Lit has one or two main character archetype—one being the quirky, relatable girl who can’t catch a break and the other being the workaholic, stressed career woman who just needs to learn to take life as it comes (from the very studly ne’er-to-do-well). In either case, we’re supposed to like and sympathize with the main character, and it does feel particularly harder with the second archetype. But that’s the whole point of the latter’s journey; that even though we might not necessarily like her at first, there ought to be something that endears her to the reader.
Lucy Silchester, our main character, ought to fit into the secondary category. She is, by all accounts, not a horrible person, but a pretty unlikable one: she makes fun of her coworkers and friends behind their backs, she frequently ducks out of gatherings early, and she’s convinced that her ex was cheating on her. Surely, her family’s admission that Lucy has to go to this meeting with the representation of her Life will change her for the better.
By the end of the book, I’m not entirely convinced that Lucy’s even improved herself. It’s stated repeatedly that Lucy’s big problem is that she continuously lies about her life to everyone she knows, and that’s why her Life’s so shabby-looking. Which…no, not exactly. Yes, her constant lying is an issue, but why isn’t her Life going “Hey, you know you’re pretty awful to your loved ones, right?”
Let’s talk about the whole premise overall. This whole meeting’s one Life isn’t completely fleshed out. I don’t think that I would be as bothered if Ahern had explained exactly how this works. Lucy’s Life aka ‘Cosmo’ apparently has his own life and interests but he’s entwined with Lucy but because comedy purposes they don’t have anything in common and *head implodes* And then it’s discussed numerous times that even though one of these meetings is fairly rare, other people know about the fact that “Hey, there’s this person who’s your Life that you may meet one day.” (And can we please kill the whole thing of “Hey, this really big concept like Death or Life or Heaven or [insert here] is run just like a bureaucracy!” It’s very rarely done well.) I hate to be told that I don’t have to think about the concept too hard, but when it’s the driving force and it’s not fully explained, yes the concept is going to bother me.
And it never feels to me that Lucy nor ‘Cosmo’ fit each other. I don’t mean as romantic soulmates, but I never felt like Lucy needed ‘Cosmo’ in her life. This is extremely problematic with Lucy’s anvil-dropping last paragraph about how “There’s someone out there who’s rooting for you!” She spends 80% of the book ragging on how ‘Cosmo’s’ so shabby and terrible looking and yet they never have a moment of connection. I also don’t feel why Lucy has such urgency to change her life, especially since we never get to see what ‘Cosmo’s’ life is like away from Lucy.
I get the fact that Lucy has to let go of her ex, Blake, in order to move on with her life. But what I don’t like is that her admittance that “Oh, btw, he left me instead of me leaving him like I told you all,” makes everything magically better. I’m actually still wondering why Lucy has friends if they all think she’s a horrible person for allegedly breaking up with Blake and all of the other things she does. And actually, Lucy’s character is really inconsistent—one second, she’s dismissive of everyone around her, and the next, she’s flirting with new love interest Don on the phone.
The writing isn’t terrible, but the lack of explanation of the plot, and even what was occurring in one scene at times is extremely confusing. I couldn’t tell if I was too bored to keep up with what was going or if Ahern forgot to clarify things at points. Not to mention, there’s a lot of plot points that feel extremely contrived. For example, when Lucy is confronted with a Spanish-speaking office member when she can’t actually speak Spanish. I would have been fine with a number of language-related mishaps until Lucy is forced to blurt out the truth. Instead, we get a life-and-death situation that forces the truth out of Lucy…and then we find out that oh, wait, it’s not really life-and-death, so nevermind! I would have preferred the series of mishaps, honestly.
It’s an interesting premise, but the story is so bland and Lucy is such a terrible character that I can’t really root for her. (Especially with that last paragraph. I honestly rolled my eyes at that speech.) There’s better chick lit books out there that you could check out, with stronger premises and heroines.
Lucy Silchester, our main character, ought to fit into the secondary category. She is, by all accounts, not a horrible person, but a pretty unlikable one: she makes fun of her coworkers and friends behind their backs, she frequently ducks out of gatherings early, and she’s convinced that her ex was cheating on her. Surely, her family’s admission that Lucy has to go to this meeting with the representation of her Life will change her for the better.
By the end of the book, I’m not entirely convinced that Lucy’s even improved herself. It’s stated repeatedly that Lucy’s big problem is that she continuously lies about her life to everyone she knows, and that’s why her Life’s so shabby-looking. Which…no, not exactly. Yes, her constant lying is an issue, but why isn’t her Life going “Hey, you know you’re pretty awful to your loved ones, right?”
Let’s talk about the whole premise overall. This whole meeting’s one Life isn’t completely fleshed out. I don’t think that I would be as bothered if Ahern had explained exactly how this works. Lucy’s Life aka ‘Cosmo’ apparently has his own life and interests but he’s entwined with Lucy but because comedy purposes they don’t have anything in common and *head implodes* And then it’s discussed numerous times that even though one of these meetings is fairly rare, other people know about the fact that “Hey, there’s this person who’s your Life that you may meet one day.” (And can we please kill the whole thing of “Hey, this really big concept like Death or Life or Heaven or [insert here] is run just like a bureaucracy!” It’s very rarely done well.) I hate to be told that I don’t have to think about the concept too hard, but when it’s the driving force and it’s not fully explained, yes the concept is going to bother me.
And it never feels to me that Lucy nor ‘Cosmo’ fit each other. I don’t mean as romantic soulmates, but I never felt like Lucy needed ‘Cosmo’ in her life. This is extremely problematic with Lucy’s anvil-dropping last paragraph about how “There’s someone out there who’s rooting for you!” She spends 80% of the book ragging on how ‘Cosmo’s’ so shabby and terrible looking and yet they never have a moment of connection. I also don’t feel why Lucy has such urgency to change her life, especially since we never get to see what ‘Cosmo’s’ life is like away from Lucy.
I get the fact that Lucy has to let go of her ex, Blake, in order to move on with her life. But what I don’t like is that her admittance that “Oh, btw, he left me instead of me leaving him like I told you all,” makes everything magically better. I’m actually still wondering why Lucy has friends if they all think she’s a horrible person for allegedly breaking up with Blake and all of the other things she does. And actually, Lucy’s character is really inconsistent—one second, she’s dismissive of everyone around her, and the next, she’s flirting with new love interest Don on the phone.
The writing isn’t terrible, but the lack of explanation of the plot, and even what was occurring in one scene at times is extremely confusing. I couldn’t tell if I was too bored to keep up with what was going or if Ahern forgot to clarify things at points. Not to mention, there’s a lot of plot points that feel extremely contrived. For example, when Lucy is confronted with a Spanish-speaking office member when she can’t actually speak Spanish. I would have been fine with a number of language-related mishaps until Lucy is forced to blurt out the truth. Instead, we get a life-and-death situation that forces the truth out of Lucy…and then we find out that oh, wait, it’s not really life-and-death, so nevermind! I would have preferred the series of mishaps, honestly.
It’s an interesting premise, but the story is so bland and Lucy is such a terrible character that I can’t really root for her. (Especially with that last paragraph. I honestly rolled my eyes at that speech.) There’s better chick lit books out there that you could check out, with stronger premises and heroines.
This is a book about Lucy and her life.....literally. Lucy told a lie several years ago which webbed into more lies, and now she is stuck in a job she hates, all alone and scared to try to develop any deep attachments to anyone again, and unable to move forward. So she gets a letter telling her she has an appointment with Life. She tries valiantly to ignore the letter and more keep arriving until she can no longer ignore her Life. She meets with him and he is determined to help her "turn her life around". Not only will you laugh and cry with Lucy, but you will start to feel the need to take stock in your own life and may even realize you have been putting your life on the back-burner as Lucy was.
Lets be honest this is not your usual chick-flick kind of book. It's not about finding a man or falling in love, it's about finding yourself and being happy and confidence. I have to give it to Cecelia for writing about a character which would normally be the antagonist, and making us pity her in her struggles and somehow even root for her, and associate with her.
I love Cecelia Adhern so much 😍 Her books are always so thought provoking! When I read the blurb I thought it was metaphorical but turned out to be reality with the whole meeting your life thing, but wow I always finish her books with a new sense of life
This a book I really needed to read. So much of it connected deeply with me. I found it at the right time in my life <3
This was more a 3/3.5 for me, but I loved Life so much, it gets the full four :)
While it had a good concept behind it, everything tied up too nicely at the end and was predictable throughout.
Cecelia Ahern books have always been hit or miss with me. Sometimes they are great while other times I find them to be too predictable. This book was somewhere in the middle for me.
It follows the life of Lucy Silchester who is having a difficult time with her life. She is still pining over her ex and she is apt to tell little white lies that then snowball into insane fictional stories. This is where she is when her life calls her up and requests a meeting.
Ahern presents this magical realism and doesn't offer up any convoluted explanations for this but just presents it as a normal part of the story. I much prefer this to characters in a book just accepting some sort of strange explanation for magical things. If I know up front about the magic and it's just a part of the world then I am good with it. I thought the idea was actually pretty cute. Imagine getting a call from your life when things are a little out of sync. I could have used a call from my life once or twice.
Anyhow, I have to admit that while Lucy is a hot mess I couldn't help but she was endearing in so many ways. She is always looking out for others rather than thinking of herself at times. I was interested in seeing her grow with a little help from Life.
I also enjoyed the cast of minor characters in this novel. The overbearing father, the wacky co-workers, and Lucy's mystery love interest all reveal little details about Lucy's character.
Something that bothered me about this novel was it's predictability. It is a love story and so while there are bumps and difficulties along the road you know that inevitably things will all end happily ever after. It was fun to read and that's why I enjoyed it but I don't think it'll be going on my favourites list.
I do think that if you are looking for something light and fun to read for the summer or while you're on the beach then this may be just what you are looking for.
It follows the life of Lucy Silchester who is having a difficult time with her life. She is still pining over her ex and she is apt to tell little white lies that then snowball into insane fictional stories. This is where she is when her life calls her up and requests a meeting.
Ahern presents this magical realism and doesn't offer up any convoluted explanations for this but just presents it as a normal part of the story. I much prefer this to characters in a book just accepting some sort of strange explanation for magical things. If I know up front about the magic and it's just a part of the world then I am good with it. I thought the idea was actually pretty cute. Imagine getting a call from your life when things are a little out of sync. I could have used a call from my life once or twice.
Anyhow, I have to admit that while Lucy is a hot mess I couldn't help but she was endearing in so many ways. She is always looking out for others rather than thinking of herself at times. I was interested in seeing her grow with a little help from Life.
I also enjoyed the cast of minor characters in this novel. The overbearing father, the wacky co-workers, and Lucy's mystery love interest all reveal little details about Lucy's character.
Something that bothered me about this novel was it's predictability. It is a love story and so while there are bumps and difficulties along the road you know that inevitably things will all end happily ever after. It was fun to read and that's why I enjoyed it but I don't think it'll be going on my favourites list.
I do think that if you are looking for something light and fun to read for the summer or while you're on the beach then this may be just what you are looking for.
I want to be clear that 4 stars is an enjoyment rating and not a quality rating. There were several things about this book that I had a really hard time with, but I tried stupidly hard to like it and so I did. I enjoy Cecelia Ahern's book because they are fun and light and silly and weird. The weird really shone through in this particular story. So much so, that on occasion the personification of "Life" became confusing and unwieldy. However, I think I just enjoyed the voice of the main character, her love for Gene Kelley, her unbelievable quirks, and the strange side story of her sad neighbor who was so traumatized and fascinating.
This book makes me want to read more chick lit, but I'll probably stick with Cecelia Ahern's because she is just a little bit nutty and I enjoy it.
This book makes me want to read more chick lit, but I'll probably stick with Cecelia Ahern's because she is just a little bit nutty and I enjoy it.