The Time of My Life Book Review

The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern

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Blurb:

Lucy Silchester keeps receiving this strange appointment card and sweeping its gold embossed envelope under the rug. Literally. She busies herself with a job she doesn't like, helping out friends, fixing her car, feeding her cat, and devoting her time to her family's dramas. But Lucy is about to find out that this is one appointment she can't miss, when Life shows up at her door, in the form of a sloppy but determined man.

Life follows her everywhere - from the office, to the bar, and to her bedroom - and Lucy learns that some of the choices she has made and the stories she has told aren't what they seem. Now her half-truths are about to be revealed, unless Lucy tells the truth about what really matters to her.

Review by Brittany:

This author is one who always writes stories that have a little element of magic to them. This book has Life, a person who solely exists to document your life and can help you out if you let your life get out of control. I love the idea of this person who you can talk things through with to help you figure yourself out.

My favorite thing about this book is the characterization. Lucy, the main character, feels like a person. She tells white lies that lead her to tell more white lies, until no one knows how she is really feeling or what is really going on in her life. She got her job under slightly false pretenses, and her whole life is a bit of a sham. But she also banters with a new friend, develops a relationship with Life, and forms a rocky sort of relationship with her neighbor. She is very much like a real person, and I love that.

Life was an interesting character because he is a person, but his whole life revolves around Lucy's life. It's a strange concept. His appearance at the beginning of the book is a bit bedraggled, as is Lucy's life, but as the story progresses and Lucy's life improves, so does the appearance of Life. This is a neat little detail that adds some characterization to Life.

I thought this book was definitely worth reading. The slightly magical elements to it add something fresh, but the basis of the story is about changing your life for the better, something I think we can all relate to. Ahern makes her characters believable and relatable, while also telling a good story. Even if you don't pick up this book, she's an author worth reading.

Notable quotes:

You never forget about things you've done that you know you shouldn't have done.

I wanted to just stop for a while. I wanted to stop doing things and stop moving. I just wanted to be on my own.

And older people are like babies; something about their demeanor makes you love them despite their ignorant selfish personalities.

I knew something monumental was happening. I was doing something that needed to be done and I felt the burden of it every step of the way.

Our lives all crash and collide and you think there's no reason or rhyme to it?

There is an outcome, repercussions and occurrences to everybody you meet and everything you say.

...that's what people do, they're mostly polite, even when they're feeling rude inside.

...life has a way of getting what it wants when it really knows what it wants.

I thought about it some more, thought about my dreams, my wishes, my ambitions, where I wanted to be that would make me feel better than being here. I couldn't come up with anything.

But then I'd changed and the things he'd loved about me were gone and then so was his love.