Lekker boekje met een beetje fantasy erin. Heerlijk voor tussendoor, met nog een nadenkmomentje gratis erbij. ( )

Livro leve, promove reflexão. Final triste, mas satisfatório. ( )

It brough tears to my eyes I loved every second of the book and couldn't put it down. At first I didn't care for the main character but as the story progresses, he pulls at your heart strings.
A true Christmas Story that brings tears, joy and leaves you feeling a sense of guilt. ( )

Love it! And yes...time is indeed a kind of gift you can not wrapped and lay underneath the Christmas tree. And it is way more precious than all the materials things we give and received this Christmas. I definitely love this book made me cry while reading the last few pages. ( )

Love it! And yes...time is indeed a kind of gift you can not wrapped and lay underneath the Christmas tree. And it is way more precious than all the materials things we give and received this Christmas. I definitely love this book made me cry while reading the last few pages. ( )

Cecelia Ahern does it again! As always, she makes you live a fairytale, a story full of hope, love & warmth! Even when you're going down feeling empty or despair just read a novel written by Cecelia & your spirit will be lifted immediately!

It's the story about a very busy business man (Lou) who's main concern is to make deals with clients, get a promotion, salary increment, a bigger office forgetting the other important lives in his life! His family: wife, kids, siblings, & his own parents because of his work!

Comes in Gabe (I believe he was an angel in the novel) & gives Lou the gift of time to settle things down & have more time with his family!

The plot was nicely written! The climax almost made me cry! Cecelia knows how to touch that soft spot in you :( Characters were well described & characterized! Each one of them had their own role to play the novel, no one was un necessary!

Moral gain from this novel: Money can be gained over & over again, but time Can't! ( )

I thought this would be a pleasant light read for the Christmas season, and expected to finish it quickly, reading a chapter or two each evening. It took me over two weeks... and it wasn't a difficult read. Just - strange. Not as quirky as some of the author's other books, but bizarre; a tale within a tale. A teenage boy, angry at his parents, is taken to a police station and then told a long story about a guy called Lou whom the police dealt with that morning.

Lou is a workaholic who neglects his family... but his life changes when he meets Gabe. It's never spelled out who Gabe is but the Christmas theme and the events that unfold make it fairly obvious. Gabe is a homeless man whom Lou buys a coffee.. and then employs in his mailroom. And it just gets odder and odder, Gabe eventually giving Lou some tablets that have a very peculiar effect which temporarily seems to make his busy life rather easier. Only it's not that simple...

I kept finding myself forgetting who was whom (other than Lou and Gabe) and slightly startled when there was a temporary return to the teenage boy at the police station. And I really struggled to like Lou. He does start to feel more human towards the end - and then there's a depressing conclusion.

The moral is clear - don't neglect family for work - but this is not a light and frivolous Christmas story. The writing is good and the story flows... but when I'd finished, I rather wished I hadn't bothered.

Not really recommended. ( )

This book is for you if:
you are in the mood for a good old Christmas-ly cry
you feel introspective and open to reflect on the sense of life
you want to reconnect with family values
you want something that will remind you what are the important things in life
This book is NOT for you if:
you need something easy-breezy with no drama
you DO NOT want to cry
you're looking for more of a happily ever after novel
you are looking for a girl-meets-boy novel

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.
Ahern initial description of the quiet street on Christmas morning was sublime.
Overall, a sad book with plenty of moral... but one of the good ones ( )

A good story from Cecelia Ahern. Lou Suffern - successful, married, 2 children, big house but not enough time. Always needing to be 2 places at once and puts his family second. He then meets Gabe, a homeless man who he gives a job to and the the story begins.
I liked this book, its set at Christmas time and it sets the scene for the story. I liked Gabe for most of the book. Lou I found quite difficult to relate to. The book moves on at a steady pace and there almost an element of unpredictability in some cases. I can't explain or it would ruin the story for you.
This gets a 4.5/5 from me. It was just missing a little something so I didn't make it quite 5 star but a great read nonetheless. ( )

I don't often read "chic lit" but chose this for our book club to read for our December novel as it appeared on my Amazon recommendations. With that in mind, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it and was very pleasantly surprised not only by the novel itself but by the ending (which I won't spoil here).
In her main character Lou Suffern, Ahern creates a protagonist that is difficult to empathise with at the same time as he is very easy to understand. A driven, work is priority while his family suffers at home man is not the first choice when it comes to a "hero" for the reader to root for. However, by the end of the book not only was I rooting for him, I was convinced by his transformation, introduced through the character of Gabe.
I think Ahern uses Gabe well, there's always an element of doubt about whether he's a real person, whether he's been sent there ala "A Wonderful Life" to show Lou what life would be/could be like or whether he's there with a nefarious purpose in mind.
With the central premise that time is precious and something that can never be reclaimed, Ahern gives us a somewhat updated twist on Dicken's A Christmas Carol which is perfect for the season, even if it ends with a bittersweet note. ( )

I don't often read "chic lit" but chose this for our book club to read for our December novel as it appeared on my Amazon recommendations. With that in mind, I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it and was very pleasantly surprised not only by the novel itself but by the ending (which I won't spoil here).
In her main character Lou Suffern, Ahern creates a protagonist that is difficult to empathise with at the same time as he is very easy to understand. A driven, work is priority while his family suffers at home man is not the first choice when it comes to a "hero" for the reader to root for. However, by the end of the book not only was I rooting for him, I was convinced by his transformation, introduced through the character of Gabe.
I think Ahern uses Gabe well, there's always an element of doubt about whether he's a real person, whether he's been sent there ala "A Wonderful Life" to show Lou what life would be/could be like or whether he's there with a nefarious purpose in mind.
With the central premise that time is precious and something that can never be reclaimed, Ahern gives us a somewhat updated twist on Dicken's A Christmas Carol which is perfect for the season, even if it ends with a bittersweet note. ( )

This was a so-so story that takes place in Ireland shortly before Christmas about Lou Suffern, who works really hard at the office and neglects and disappoints his family continually. On a whim, he hires a homeless man, Gabe, to work in the mailroom. Soon he finds that Gabe is showing up often in and outside of the office. Slowly Lou discovers what Gabe is trying to tell him.

The story idea was interesting with a bit of a supernatural angle that may or may not be true. But I found the story itself a bit slow and the writing was not that engaging for me. ( )

Gives you much to think about - with a twist at the end! Highly recommended. ( )

I have very mixed feelings about this book. While I thought it was decently written, I hated the ending!!!!! Hence three instead of four stars. ( )

This book is not a chick-lit. At times, language and story seems somber. But it has a beautiful hidden message. With dash of supernatural and corporate hi-life thrown in. Apt for Christmas gifts since it does have a Christmas background too! ;) ( )

What do you get when you combine George Bailey, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Don Draper?

You get Lou Suffern.

Lou's the main character in this Christmas-novel-with-a-timeless-message by Irish author Cecelia Ahern, whose books I tend to enjoy. (See my review of There's No Place Like Here.) I'm usually not a Christmas book reader, but I was in the mood for such a novel this past week. When I saw this on display at the library, I grabbed it because Ahern's novels tend to be light reads (guilty pleasures, a little piece of literary chocolate at midnight) and I hadn't realized she'd written a Christmas story.

If you've never read Cecelia Ahern, her stories are almost in a genre all to themselves; they're light reads, but with an element of the modern day and the fairy tale. Picture BlackBerries next to a magic wand. If you like Sarah Addison Allen, chances are you'll like Cecelia Ahern.

From Publishers Weekly: Lou Suffern is a busy man, and his family’s growing weary of constantly taking the backseat to his career. On a whim, he offers Gabe, a homeless man he meets outside his office, a low-level job, and the uncharacteristically kind gesture plays out in a very unexpected way when Lou learns that Gabe has the power to be in two places at once. As the holidays draw nearer, Gabe tries to make Lou realize the importance of his family, but slow-to-change Lou might not come around to Gabe’s way of thinking until it’s too late.

It's a somewhat predictable premise, and while there are some unexpected moments in The Gift, this one didn't seem as magical to me as Cecelia Ahern's other novels. I didn't fully connect with Lou nor have much sympathy for him, and there were several elements of the plot that didn't quite seem to fit. There's a secondary storyline happening at the same time (a policeman is telling Lou's story to a juvenile delinquent in an attempt to get him to see the error of his ways). I kept thinking there was some way they were all connected ... but other than a shared epiphany of "we all have the same amount of time on this Earth and none of us ever know when that time will end," there really isn't a connection between these characters, which makes for a bit of a disjointed story.

As I said, I went into this one looking for a bit of a lighter read than usual and that's what The Gift is. Sometimes that's OK. Although this one wasn't quite for me, I still think Cecelia Ahern has a literary gift. ( )

Ugh. Took forever. Two not very good stories mixed together. Gave me bad dreams. Have no idea why I finished it. ( )

despite reading this from a recomendation I did not like this book. The sentiment that it expresses in that a workaholic would wnat to spend more time with his family and would find this the perfect gift once he realioses it (and as usual he only figures this out towards the end) is a good premise and i did enjoy the opening chapters. But the pill to split in two just did not ring true - I do read lots of fanticy so it should have been acceptable to me but the author just did not make this work for me. despite this it is a well written book that does not put me off trying this author again

I loved this book about a man who is given the opportunity to make amends with the people in his world before he is taken from all of them. It was just what I needed to read at Christmas. ( )

This book had me all teary at the end. The second book (after If You Could See Me Now) by Cecelia Ahern which gave me that effect. I love how Ahern splatters reality with an ounce of magic.

The change in Lou's behavior and the purity of his love warmed my heart right to the very core. I finished reading this book in about three days and that's saying something.

The Gift is a must-read. It captures the essence of life, how we tend to forget the truly meaningful things because we are too engrossed in chasing after what everyone else deem important.

It blew me away! ( )

I discovered Cecelia Ahern only few years ago, well after the 'PS I Love You' hype, and enjoying her full of magic books since. The Gift is a lovely contemporary story of a young businessman learning to realize what really matters in life. I imagine this won't be a hit with a lot of people, but I found it quite endearing and a very pleasant and quick read. Well done Cecelia! ( )

Synopsis: Lou Suffern is a successful business man who works hard at his job. However, he is so tied up with his work that he neglects his family who can't rely on him to turn up to family outings on time if at all. When Lou meets homeless man Gabe, he slowly starts to realise what's most important.
My Opinion: A bit cliche'd but still well written with important lessons for everybody. ( )

Picked up as a holiday read (hence also reading the German translation).

Where to start? The translation is clumsy, full of half-English words and badly-translated idioms. (A heart attack is not a Herzattacke, it's a Herzinfarkt, dammit!)

The writing it heavy on exposition and full of similes which the author undoubtedly thinks are incredibly clever - she is wrong.

The real trouble with the book, though, is the one-dimensionality of the characters. Lou, the main character, is a "businessman" who works for a "development company". He is a workaholic who doesn't spend enough time with his family, and the book is supposed to show us how he realises what's really important in life before it's too late. I work in a business environment, I occasionally spend more time in the office than I should, there are months when my cat forgets what I smell like - I should be able to identify with this character. And yet I struggle, because he is simply play-acting at being a "businessman". Cecelia Ahern has clearly never worked in that kind of environment herself, and it shows. Every time she attempts to describe Lou's work life, it ends up as a string of meaningless buzzwords - he might as well be negotiating the BlackBerry and closing the deal on the paperwork. The environment itself feels like a cliche from the 50s (or Germany in the 90s): the only women working in Lou's company are secretaries, and they sleep with their bosses.

None of the other characters fare any better - they are all sketches and stock characters, one-dimensional cliches. Keeping in mind that the plot isn't particularly original (except, perhaps, for the ending), and the whole thing leaves an aftertaste like rice rice cakes - bland Styrofoam.

To top it all off, the author/narrator is incredibly patronising. Just in case we didn't get the point, she spends the last ten pages ramming it home over and over. Colour me unimpressed.

Bechdel: I *think* there's a scene where Lou's wife tells their five-year-old daughter, who's busy puking her guts out, that everything's okay - but I'm not even sure if it's written as dialogue or, yet again, exposition. I'm going to be a little stricter with Bechdel this year though - I don't think this counts. Fail. ( )

This was my first Cecilia Ahern, would you believe, and I wasn't sure what to expect. A light chick lit read, a happy ending, a little romance, a Christmas moral? Well, that last part was there for the taking, but I couldn't have been more wrong about the rest! Instead, what Ahern offers is a thoughtful portrayal of a family in meltdown, with a twist of magic that somehow never overwhelms the message of the story.

Lou Suffern is a workaholic. All day, every day, he slogs at his office, skipping from one meeting to another, from one task to the next, skilfully juggling everything and everyone in a feverish attempt to win the position - and the office - left vacant when his colleague had a breakdown. At night, he takes to the bars and restaurants of Dublin, cavorting with clients and flirting with women. The only thing he can't bring himself to do, it seems, is to go home and spend quality time with his wife and children.

Everything changes the day he meets Gabriel, a homeless man living outside his office building, and to his own great surprise, gives him not only his coffee but also a job in the busy mail room. But who is Gabe? He looks a little like Lou. He seems to know things about him and his life that no stranger could know, and he has the uncanny knack of popping up everywhere. Almost like he can be in two places at once - a talent Lou would love to possess...

This was definitely a more accomplished and better-written novel than I was, rather cynically, expecting. Lou is one of those characters we root for even though we hope we'll never be like him. Throughout the book I wanted to grab hold of him and shake him as he made his bad decisions and pushed his family further and further away through his own selfishness and ambition, and I was longing for him to turn things around before it was too late. I like the fact that we are left to draw our own conclusions about Gabe as well - is he some kind of magical figure of conscience? An angel, as his name suggests? In true magical realism style, we are simply left to wonder over the cryptic clues.

The only thing I really didn't like was Ahern's over-zealous use of imagery. Oh, how I hated it. She mixes her metaphors and scrambles her similes and seems to feel the need to describe EVERYTHING in reference to something else. This veers from laughably ridiculous to vaguely irritating to hideously jarring and back again, and lost the book a star for me. On the flip side, the characters and relationships are beautifully drawn, and the family and company circles through which Lou moves are pitch-perfect. It made me think, it made me cry, and the moral of the story is ever-relevant in today's fast-paced, consumer-driven society. Definitely a good novel for the run-up to Christmas! ( )

Lou Suffern’s story is told as a story within a story. The narrator is Ralph, a policeman, who tells Lou’s story to a young boy who has been arrested for throwing a turkey through a window on Christmas day.

Lou is such a workaholic he is constantly in a mental fog as he plans and schemes on getting further ahead at his company. He is so busy concentrating on the wheeling and dealing that he ignores his wife, children and family. In fact he is not even aware that he is ignoring them as he is so busy planning his moves. While he is plotting and planning Lou is never aware of his surroundings; so the fact that one morning before Christmas he notices that there is a homeless man outside his office block, and then hands him a cup of coffee, is completely out of character. Then the fact that he follows follow this up by offering Gabe a job is unprecedented.

There is something strange about Gabe, he seems to know his way around the building as if he has always been there and almost seems to have the ability to be in two places at once. In fact Lou never knows when Gabe is going to pop up next. Slowly Lou is nudged out of his mental fog and forced to face the reality of what his life has become and how he is alienating those close to him. But has this awareness arrived too late?

I had problems getting into the story at first, after the wonderful opening sentence, I lost the way for a while and started to reluctantly turn the pages as I had no enthusiasm about what I was reading. Then, before my page 50 deadline, I was hooked and couldn’t put the book down until the end. And what an ending – took me by surprise – and I am not sure I even liked it – but it seemed to fit the whole mystical feel of the novel.

I guess, for me the only negative was the policeman narrator, is hard to explain why without giving away major spoilers, but because of the ending being the way it was I cannot understand how he knew enough about the story to reliably narrate it. In my humble opinion, I think the book may have stood extremely well by itself, and Ralph and Turkey boy were not included. ( )