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Where Rainbows End |
Average User Rating: 90% (170 Reviews) | |
| 5 / 5 | Couldn't put it down - brilliant
"sc4ever2" - 8 November 2004 I started to read this book last night and finished it this morning. It is one of those books, which you just have to find out what happens at end, i don't want to spoil the book for people who are going to read it, but it is written in a very unique and clever way. have you ever read a book and thought - i wish i had thought of that idea?! thats what i thought when i read it. i couldn't wait to find out what happened between the two main characters Rosie and Alex. You follow them both through every encounter in their lives, along with a few other characters, it is funny and also sad. i really don't want to say to much about what it is about as i'll probably ruin it, but it is definatly a good read. I read it in less than 24hrs so it must be good. When i finshed it though it really made me think, it makes you want to seize the day and makes you think about every missed oppourtunity you have encountered in your life. It made me think that if you want something or someone then you have to go for it, even if its hard and even if you don't get it, it is worth trying, otherwise you'll regret it and never know. Sorry, i have side tracked a bit here, but having just finshed it this has how it has made me feel. i would definatly recommend this book, but i am gutted i read it so quick because i got really into it and really enjoyed it. i can't wait for cecila's next one ( i hope there will be a next one!) Well worth the read x ... Read Full Review » |
| 4 / 5 | For anyone who's ever wondered what if..
- 14 December 2004 If you're looking for a PS I Love You part two, then you will be sadly disappointed. Instead you step in to the world of Rosie Dunne and her best friend Alex Stewart. Rosie is an ordinary woman trying to get on with her day to day life who quite simply misses her best friend. What starts out as an innocent childhood friendship turns to love, yet neither of them realise it. This is a beautifully written tale of two people who share a deep rooted friendship who are seperated at a young age. It is a cleverly written story told in the form of emails, instant messages, letters and text messages which span 45 years. It contains a variety of emotions, one minute you are laughing and the next you are wiping away the tears, but throughout the book you carry the hope that this time they really will get it together. Quite simply, you'd be really stupid to pass up the chance to read this novel.... Read Full Review » |
| 3 / 5 | "Great story, lose the format."
any "danger" (Northern Ireland) - 12 August 2006 I read Cecilia Ahern's first novel PS I Love You quite some time ago. I loved the story and zapped through it really quickly not able to put it down as *month* after *month* passed. I think by August I was crying so much I could hardly read further. I was convinced that Ahern was going on to prove to be a great author so was happy to have a go with her second novel Where Rainbows End. This is another book I borrowed. Once again I can't remember who I borrowed it from - if you lend me books, you really ought to stick your name inside the cover if you want them back! It is basically a story of two children from the age of five, best friends forever, growing up, going to school, then having to part in their late teens as he goes off to America and she stays behind. The story continues as she (Rosie Dunne) becomes pregnant by Brian the Whine and ditches her plans to work in a hotel as he (Alex) forges ahead to become first a doctor and then a heart surgeon. As you do. The format is rather strange. The first few pages seem to set the story for you, the children are at school and passing notes back and forth, meaning the teacher has to send letters home to their parents calling them in to talk about the wayward children. I thought this was a clever way to set the scene and settled back for the real novel to begin. Nuh uh. THAT was the format for the whole book. Letters and notes and Instant Messages and Emails and Texts. It took quite some time to get into the way of it. Funnily enough, this is a format *I* have thought about for writing stories. Not that I have ever written one - but you know how you have in your head, little ideas that bounce around and some have more substance than others. . . I have thought about writing something that has only text messages in it and trying to stick to 160 characters for every message. . . Well, this was a little like that idea. Only problem is, if you are at all geeky you start to notice the little things. One of the main points that I just couldn't shake out of my head was that the instant messages that went on between Rosie and her best friend Ruby were pages long - not just quick sentences. Every time I saw this I was shouting "Cecilia - if I did this to my friends they would have logged off hours ago thinking there was something wrong with me. " I kept waiting for the other person to stick in "brb - loo" and why did her system never go down and make her spend 15 minutes trying to get it up again? I get the impression the author knows a little about this computer malarky but is hoping that her readers either don't know it as well as her - or that they wont notice things like that. Well, I did. And it annoyed the hell out of me. There is a distinct lack of dates given and at every stage you are led to believe it is *present day*. You only notice that the last one wasn't present day when suddenly it is two years later and *that* must be present day. Finally it is 45 years later and you know that is present day but - umm - by my rough calculations that means that they have been emailing for the past 35 years. Umm. Perhaps I am being a tad hard on her here - but that is the sort of thing that was running through my head. We were also often expected to jump several years at a time as there was no contact between the main characters. This left it all a little disjointed for me and I became frustrated by the format then and for it not being a normal, good old fashioned novel. At one point a seven year old writes and posts a letter all by herself to America. That just didn't feel right to me - surely her mother would have known about that. There was also a five year old boy typing emails (not out of the bounds of possibility) but with a distinctly mature grasp on words and although some words were thrown in with incorrect spelling I was always aware that this was an author writing a book - I never truly got lost in it. Why is it that Alex has to work with who seems to be the only heart surgeon in the world? Alex went out with the man's daughter in Dublin and then suddenly is going out with her in America - are there no other heart surgeons in the world? At the end, the story is supposed to be pieced together by Rosie by her collating all the notes, letters, instant messages and emails from all the main characters - like she would have access to her daughter's emails! I finished this book the day after being at the cinema to see Superman which I thought was a disappointing film. I felt the book was equally disappointing. It left me in a bad mood at the way it ended. It went on too long, taking the characters to their 50s before the situation between them being resolved. Should you? : Look - if you must read every single book in the world then so be it. If you are at all geeky then these things will annoy you as much as they annoyed me. If you aren't, then I suppose you could join the hoards of other people who think this is every bit as good as PS I Love You. If you only have time to read one of her books I would recommend her first one over this one. Did I? : Despite my moaning, I enjoyed the story line. It was just the format that distracted me. If I had read this one first I may not ever have gotten round to reading PS I Love You though. If I were Cecilia's editor I would tell her "Great story, lose the format."... Read Full Review » |
| 5 / 5 | Read this and you too will experience a Cascade of emotions
"mrbillryan" - 24 November 2004 Rosie and Alex and two beautiful people facing a less than beautiful life but with a Rainbow between the showers. If you liked PS I love you, you'll love this second book. I was only into the first 20 pages when I experienced a cascade of emotions: laughter, tears, empathy, sadness but with an undercurrent of hope - hope that the rainbow will, as always, follow the rain shower. I was laughing out loud one minute: in floods of tears the next. I'd say it's even better than the first (PS - I'm loving it) and puts this young writer up there with Binchy, Flanagan, Feeney, Etc. Well worth the read but don't forget to keep the tissues close to hand - ten out of ten!... Read Full Review » |
| 1 / 5 | Contrived
- 13 February 2005 I tried this author because of the good reviews on Amazon. I've just made myself finish this book because I kept hoping it would get better so that I'd understand what everyone was raving about. I found this book boring, irritating, predictable and contrived. For example, I don't know of any young children who keep in touch with their parent's friends that they've only met a few times. I just didn't find it believable and I didn't get involved in the story or characters at all. Like other reviewers, I found the letter format annoying too. I know this review is very negative but I do a lot of my buying based on the reviews and for me to be compelled to write this review (at 1am having just finished it) is indicative of how much I disliked this book. Oh by the way, there are no tigers in South Africa! ... Read Full Review » |
Publisher
Harper
Publication Date
5 November 2007
Format
Paperback (592 pages)
ISBN
9780007260829
Price Range
£4.89 - £4.89
List Price
£6.99
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