Review: A Song For Tomorrow by Alice Peterson

Tom fell in love with Alice the moment he saw her. He realises that being with her will not be easy, but she is a force of nature, a burst of sunlight in his otherwise ordinary world. 

Some people might look at Alice and think she has everything, but Alice knows she is not like other women. Her life is complicated, unpredictable, difficult. Alice does not like pity. All she wants to do, has ever wanted to do, is sing.

Alice has been told not to follow her dreams. But when fate has already dealt a tough hand, it’s time to stop listening to everyone else and only follow their hearts.

Review: this is going to be a hard review to write because I loved this book so much and I don't want to give away any spoilers so excuse me if this one gets a little bit gushy! Alice Peterson does an amazing job of writing books which deal with tricky topics, difficulties for her characters, illness and heartbreak and I think she does an amazing job of it. There are many of you out there who will have reservations about picking up one of her novels because of the difficult subjects that she deals with. But the reason you should definitely read any of her novels, especially this one is because she manages to take these difficult subjects and come out with an amazingly heart-warming and uplifting read that will make you want to go out into the world and face your own demons, however small or large they might be face on. 

This book deals with Tom and Alice, characters who do have a lot of difficulties in life, but who are determined to live life to the full nonetheless. I loved getting to know these bright young people and I loved watching them bond and grow as the story progresses. This is very much a book about people and Alice is the lynch pin that hold the book together. But there are other people in this book who the reader will definitely fall in love with to. As much as this book is about Alice, it is also about family and I love the way this author wove the concept of a strong family model, be that blood relation or the family you make for yourself in the form of your support network of friends, throughout this difficult story. I loved the values that Alice's family groups had a I loved reading about their journey over the course of this novel too. 

I really loved the way this novel was structured, it has chapters written from Alice's point of view, from Tom's point of view and also from Mary's point of view in the form of extracts from her diary. This means we switch between person as well as point of view and we get to see how the things that are being thrown at Alice are affecting Tom and Mary, and vice versa. I'm a big fan of multiple narratives and, although this is a long book, this structure made for a well-paced read. 

Yes I did cry more than once during this read, thankfully I didn't listen to any of this in public though, I would definitely keep this one as a home read. Even though I cried though, this book still left me feeling optimistic and filled me with joy. I loved getting to know all these characters and relationships and I loved being back in an Alice Peterson novel once again! If you haven't read anything by Alice Peterson before, or you were wary of picking up one of her novels then this would be a great starting point for you-whilst there may be a few tears, this really is a wonderfully uplifting and fulfilling read which has laughter and sadness in equal measure. I would definitely recommend dropping what you're doing and reading this one immediately!

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Review: The Woman Who Stole My Life by Marian Keyes

Stella Sweeny is back in Dublin. After living the dream in New York for a year - touring her self-help book, appearing on talk shows all over the USA and living it up in her 10-room duplex on the Upper West Side - she's back to normality with a bang. And she's got writer's block.

Stella wants a clean break as she didn't exactly leave New York on a high. Why is she back in Ireland so soon? Who is it who keeps calling? Stella wants to get back to being the woman she used to be. But can she? And should she?

Review: there's always a great sense of anticipation surrounding a new Marian Keyes novel, and you always think to yourself, am I going to enjoy this one as much as the last? Well I though this novel was very enjoyable. It felt very different to her previous stand-alone novels (i.e. those not about the Walsh family) a little but darker and yet still with that hilarious Irish humour and charm! It's one of those novels that drops you right in the middle of things, you meet Stella, you discover she is back in Ireland but she really doesn't want to be, and you know that she is a writer. The rest of the characteristics about Stella, you have to pick up as you read about events that are happening and have happened to her and I really enjoy a novel that allows you to do that, gives you a bit of credit for your ability to decipher what is going on with characters and plot without being explicitly told so.

I'm undecided as to whether I like Stella as a character or not. Just to state that this in no way impeded upon my enjoyment of the book overall. I found her to be a little indecisive and selfish but not in an overtly selfish way because she still takes care of her kids and the rest of her family, but just in the way she makes some of the larger decisions in her life, or doesn't, as the case may be. The supporting characters in this novel are just as well-developed and just as major players and the main characters and I really enjoyed reading about the quirks of Stella's children, Betsy and Jeffrey, and her husband Ryan. They were all really interesting characters, larger than life and totally unique.

Of course there is a lovely man to ogle over in this book too, never fear! Mannix is a wonderful character. I did grow to like him slightly less as the novel progressed, but he is a hot doctor who is called Mannix, what's not to like?

There are some great settings in this book, in Ireland and in New York. I realty like the fact that that novel is set between these two locations and the descriptions of life on the road in America are also really interesting and really well-developed, not detail is left out. The humour in the novel is still right-on. Whilst there are some very, very dark moments in the book, there are some seriously hilarious moments too, and some just random things happen which is just a real break from everything being so serious all of the time. Sometimes the novel did feel a little darker and a little more serious, but this is a reflection of life, I suppose, so I can't really complain about that.

A Marian Keyes novel is something that can be enjoyed at any age, at any time of year and whatever mood you're in, and this novel is no exception. Although it is a large book and not particularly fast paced, it never felt like a chore to read and I actually read it very quickly considering its size and general structure. It is definitely something for fans of this writer and represents something a little bit different for those that have never read anything by her before! I would definitely recommend reading this, and any other Marian Keyes novel for that matter-it would make an excellent Christmas present!