The Gift

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The message, however, is pointed and universal, no matter what time of year, or what circumstances we are living in. For that reason, I'm glad I read the book!! 🎄 Such a, unique, extraordinary story, I was drawn in from the beginning and could almost feel the colours of the different characters as Alice saw them this was so beautifully written. I cried so many tears and will miss Alice kelly for a very long time. Ahern είναι ελπιδοφόρα βιβλία. Είναι βιβλία που μέσα τους κρύβουν μαθήματα ζωής και αλήθειες πασπαλισμένες με δόσεις φαντασίας και μαγείας. Είναι βιβλία που άλλοτε είναι χαρούμενα, άλλοτε νοσταλγικά, άλλοτε θλιμμένα.

The Gift Quotes by Cecelia Ahern - Goodreads The Gift Quotes by Cecelia Ahern - Goodreads

If you don’t feel your own pain, you cannot recognise it in others. Our own suffering can cultivate the ability to help others. Alice has a life changing experience when she is 8:years old, she realises she sees colours surrounding people, they vary as to what emotions they are feeling. She has a difficult family life with a mother who is bi-polar, a father who leaves when the children are young, an older brother, Hugh, she idolises and a younger brother, Ollie, who becomes a problem the older he gets. So many places to be, so many things to do, not enough time to do it in, so many people to spend it with. And we want each thing we do and each person we spend it with to feel valued. Time is precious and if we had the choice - and we do - who with and where would we choose to spend our precious time.From her extraordinarily difficult childhood, we follow Alice throughout her life, dealing with her strange gift which she cannot describe, therefore nobody can understand, and consequently has her labelled a troublemaker. Relationships with her siblings and her mother are complicated. Her school days are fraught with problems due to her condition preventing her from making friends, until she finds people she can relate to in a special school, just one of many breakthrough moments in the story. I haven't read anything by Cecila Ahern for quite some time, but when I saw this on Netgalley, I had to request a copy. Thank you to them and Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this book, it reduced me into tears, I was on a plane and had to contain myself not to sob loudly in front of everybody. Alice realised at 8 years of age that she could see the colours of people's moods swirling around them, changing with their thoughts and desires; manifesting their actions. Bewildered by her curse (or is it a gift?), it causes her to be distracted, distant, and different, as others' auras reach out and attempt to affect and influence her too. She must even deflect people's happiness because, 'you shouldn't steal someone else's happiness. You have to make your own.' Alice needs to find a way to live with herself and live her life, in spite of the colourful insights she sees, 'wondering why it is that I see every part of everyone and most of them never see me at all.' This book is her journey: hiding, deflecting and manipulating and finally accepting: her differences become her strength.

Cecelia Ahern - NetGalley In a Thousand Different Ways | Cecelia Ahern - NetGalley

Life goes on, until one day, before Christmas, he meets Gabe, a homeless man - the good ghost from the tale - that changes his cosmos completely.... A story that will make you stop and think more times that I have wanted honestly. It’s all about kindness, acceptance of our different abilities in life and most of all , the fear of not actually firing in a mood that this society is so set upon and likes to put everyone in a box. I suppose it's easy to be cynical about the character of Gabe in his mysterious guardian angel role, and I understand the whole point of this story is to emulate a type of Scrooge story in the city; a man who goes through an experience that forces him to see the world differently and prompts him to want to turn over a new-leaf. You have to introduce an element of magic and suspend disbelief to achieve that, that's fine. It's even set at Christmas time! It only narrowly avoids the cheesiness of a Hollywood Christmas movie by its ending, but by that point, I actually wanted to see the new leaf pan out and the characters to live happily ever after. ziua de Crăciun, sergentul Raphael O’Reilly şi Jessica Rabbit sunt de serviciu. La secţie este adus un adolescent, care aruncase un curcan îngheţat prin fereastra tatălui său, aproape rănind-o pe sora lui vitregă, pe motiv că tatăl său anulase cina cu el şi mama sa pentru a sta cu noua lui familie. Raphael crede că tânărului rebel i-ar trebui o lecţie, aşa că hotărăşte să-i povestească o întâmplare din care el a învăţat multe. Lou Suffern este un om de afaceri mereu ocupat. Pentru el, cel mai important este să fie promovat la serviciu, ignorându-şi astfel soţia şi copiii. Niciodată nu este atent la ce se întâmplă în jurul lui, fiind preocupat numai de afacerile Her books are wonderful. They deal with serious issues and serious problems. Real-life, every day shit. She also throws in a little bit of magic and intrigue. Her books have this creepy, eerie effect that I love. And most importantly they are not stupidly and hopelessly romantic in any way. *Insert cheers and applause here*

The Gift

I listened to this book on Audible, the narrator, Mark Meadows, had an Irish accent which fitted perfect with the Irish characters. In fact, I think Mark Meadows could become a favourite of mine, he’s so good to listen to.

The Gift | Cecelia Ahern

It must be so lonely and frustrating and scary to try to live your life just like everyone else but to have no one to turn to for an advice or just to talk about your feelings and emotions. Cecelia shares with us the inspiration behind her character and the lessons she learned while writing The Gift. People, like houses, hold their secrets. Sometimes the secrets inhabit them, and sometimes people inhabit their secrets. They wrap their arms tight to hug them close, twist their lying tongues around the truth. But, like gravy left overnight, the truth is a thin layer of film that forms and covers the surface. The truth prevails, rises above all else. It squirms and wriggles inside, grows until the swollen tongue can’t wrap itself around the lie any longer, until the time comes when it needs to spit the words out and send truth flying through the air and crashing into the world like…well, like a frozen dead bird through a living room window. Truth and time always work alongside each other.” Ahern is a wonderfully gifted writer with a writing style that is easy and enjoyable to follow through her magical tales. I found myself submerged in her story telling straight from the opening chapter. During the beginning of the book, she describes the warmth and calmness of Christmas with beautiful imagery, and manages to get you to feel that warmth inside as you read along. Although this book is set at Christmas time, it’s not exactly Christmas themed, though that didn’t stop me feeling the Christmas spirit as I read the first three paragraphs.I really enjoyed this book, if mostly for the narrator. The story was based around Christmas time and we get a look at the joys of Christmas celebrations Dublin style. The imagery is just right and although the minor characters are not written in too much detail, it doesn’t really matter. The focus is mainly on Lou and Gabe.