GYM BUDDY

I’m now working my way through all Cecelia Ahern’s books, and they are the best gym buddies a girl can have!

I’ve read this book a few years ago, but it came to live in this audiobook! At times I was laughing and other times I was close to tears, but most of the time I looked like an idiot with my goofy grin!

Ivan is by far my favorite!

This book is by far my favourite romance.

This book fills my heart with hope and so much happiness. it's so damn sweet.

Rubbish. Avoid.

What disappointed you about If You Could See Me Now?

A number of things disappointed me in this book. One was the story, which was slow to get going and moved along at a slow pace. So was boring and hard to follow. Another was the characterization, which was shallow. So the characters were hard to get to know and I didn't care what happened to them at all. The narrators were another disappointment, as personally I found their reading styles irritating and hard to follow, especially the male narrator. So I had to listen intently all the time, which was not relaxing and beat the point of listening to the book to chill out. A further disapppointment was the twee and stereotypical, ersatz Irish music played at irregular intervals during the book, which got on my nerves and added nothing to the already poor narration and weak story. So kept pulling me out of the book. All in all, a very disappointing waste of time.

What was most disappointing about Cecelia Ahern’s story?

I found this book more patronizing than the others. It assumed, for example, that the reader must not know what basic Irish words mean, which was the most patronizing thing--anyone who has read Ahern's previous works or is familiar with Marian Keyes' books will be familiar with these. So instead of pulling me into a whimsical, grown-up fairytale, I felt that this book was talking down to me and ruined my enjyment of the story.

What didn’t you like about Susan Lynch and Rupert Degas ’s performance?

Both readers were inconsistent in their reading--inconsistent reading speeds, speech patterns and (mis)use of volume for (no) dramatic effect. Degas' portrayal of the child Luke was the most irritating thing. So I didn't finish the book. I had to stop after little more than one chapter as Degas' reading style was so irritating.

What character would you cut from If You Could See Me Now?

I would cut Ivan from the book. The premise of having an imaginary friend character that was actually real was the most intriguing thing and could have worked well for a whimsical tale. However, the execution was poor and the character seemed like a muddle of disparate elements--not fully adult or fully child and about as boring as the adult characters.

Any additional comments?

Such a shame to come across this weak offering from Ahern after enjoying some of her other books.