The Gift

The Gift by Cecilia Ahern (2009)

When I picked up this book, I was actually hoping for a light chicklit read. I think it does look like it thanks to the book cover, and the author’s previous books I’ve read (P.S. I Love You, Where Rainbows End, Thanks for the Memories) kind of falls into that genre.

I like Cecilia Ahern’s previous books and I wish I could say I was pleasantly surprised to what I found reading it. I couldn’t.  The good part is the story was easy to follow and it does flow nicely. The problem is I couldn’t get pass the cliché in the story and most of the characters. To me, it felt too much like I was in a classroom, being taught a lesson of what I should and should not do in life by a teacher who likes to point fingers.

I do like inspirational books and I read quite a few of them. This one just doesn’t deliver it. It’s simply not inspiring to me. I found myself finished the book and thinking… what’s the point? Even if a lesson of finding out what is important in life is what you’re looking for, there are better ones out there. Ones that truly inspires you and touched your soul.

No, I couldn’t get myself to recommend this book. But if you want to read it, by all means read it. And if you like it, please let me know, maybe there was something I missed.

Tags: book review

A Certain Slant of Light

A Certain Slant of Light, by Laura Whitcomb.

I love the story idea of this book. It was told by Helen, a Light, a soul who can’t pass to the next world. Helen had been cleaving hosts, the Quick, for over a hundred year. The story started when she met a Quick teenager who could see her. Never in her Light years any Quick could see her. Later on she found out that the Quick turned out to be a former Light, James, who possessed a human body whose soul had left it. The conflict arises when they fall in love but they can’t exactly touch each other, being in a different state.

I like how she come up with a new definition of Light, which didn’t put it into something that was scary or weird… In another tale, the Light would be ghost or spirit, but ghost and spirit have an emotion attached to them, and Light is neutral.

Also, the book started with one of the best opening sentence I’ve ever read:

Someone was looking at me, a disturbing sensation if you’re dead.

I can feel the story unravels just from the first sentence. I wish I could write something like that . I find the storytelling goes on smoothly throughout the pages, making it a book I couldn’t put down. However, I was a bit disappointed near the end, because I felt it was somewhat rushed, as if it was sprinting when it saw the finish line. But maybe it could be also me, disappointed that the book was almost finished.

I think it’s a good book, the story is intriguing and different from what I usually come across. I would recommend it for people who like romance stories with a twist, or stories with more spiritual depth.

Tags: book review, review