The Gift by Cecelia Ahern
From Goodreads-
New York Times bestselling author Cecelia Ahern spins a witty, warm, and wise modern-day fable of love, regret, hope, and second chances.
extremely successful executive, Lou Suffern is always overstretched, immune to the holiday spirit that delights everyone around him. The classic workaholic who never has a moment to spare, he is always multitasking while shortchanging his devoted wife and their adorable children. And ever since he started competing for a big promotion, he has barely seen his family at all.
One frigid morning in an uncharacteristic burst of generosity, he buys a cup of coffee for Gabe, a homeless man huddled outside his office building. Inspired by his own unexpected act of kindness, Lou decides to prolong his charitable streak and contrives to get Gabe a job in his company's mailroom. But when Gabe begins to meddle in Lou's life, the helping hand appears to be a serious mistake. Gabe seems to know more about Lou than Lou does about himself, and, perhaps more disturbingly, Gabe always seems to be in two places at once.
With Lou's personal and professional fates at important crossroads and Christmas looming, Gabe resorts to some unorthodox methods to show his stubborn patron what truly matters and how precious the gift of time is. But can he help him fix what's broken before it's too late?
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The Gift is a well-crafted sentimental tale of a man who puts work before family. It's a morally induced book with the old "time is precious" motto, but i loved it cheesy or not.
Lou is not a character you like, but I didn't not care for him either. I was surprised that instead of anger towards his character, I was actually rooting for him to change his ways. I wanted so much for him to really get it. Lou has the demanding job, and the go-go-go attitude, but his family is shunned to the back. He has no time for them, nor does he feel bad about it...in the beginning. The character of Gabe was a guardian angel type, and a little creepy. I really don't feel who he was was really explained, but I assumed he was something like Lawrence from It's a Wonderful Life only everyone could see him.
The writing was very good. There definitely a improvement in Cecelia Ahern's writing, especially with the prose. I love P.S I Love You, and it's still my favorite of Ms. Ahern's books but her writing has matured from that book.
I've heard people say that The Gift is too preachy, but I didn't feel that while reading it. I thought the whole time and family is precious storyline actually swayed away from being overly preachy. The ending wasn't what I would have liked but then again maybe the impact of what she was trying to get would have been less.
The Gift, though sad was a wonderful Christmas book. I enjoyed reading it, and look forward to more of Cecelia Ahern's book.
Rating: 4/5
extremely successful executive, Lou Suffern is always overstretched, immune to the holiday spirit that delights everyone around him. The classic workaholic who never has a moment to spare, he is always multitasking while shortchanging his devoted wife and their adorable children. And ever since he started competing for a big promotion, he has barely seen his family at all.
One frigid morning in an uncharacteristic burst of generosity, he buys a cup of coffee for Gabe, a homeless man huddled outside his office building. Inspired by his own unexpected act of kindness, Lou decides to prolong his charitable streak and contrives to get Gabe a job in his company's mailroom. But when Gabe begins to meddle in Lou's life, the helping hand appears to be a serious mistake. Gabe seems to know more about Lou than Lou does about himself, and, perhaps more disturbingly, Gabe always seems to be in two places at once.
With Lou's personal and professional fates at important crossroads and Christmas looming, Gabe resorts to some unorthodox methods to show his stubborn patron what truly matters and how precious the gift of time is. But can he help him fix what's broken before it's too late?
---
The Gift is a well-crafted sentimental tale of a man who puts work before family. It's a morally induced book with the old "time is precious" motto, but i loved it cheesy or not.
Lou is not a character you like, but I didn't not care for him either. I was surprised that instead of anger towards his character, I was actually rooting for him to change his ways. I wanted so much for him to really get it. Lou has the demanding job, and the go-go-go attitude, but his family is shunned to the back. He has no time for them, nor does he feel bad about it...in the beginning. The character of Gabe was a guardian angel type, and a little creepy. I really don't feel who he was was really explained, but I assumed he was something like Lawrence from It's a Wonderful Life only everyone could see him.
The writing was very good. There definitely a improvement in Cecelia Ahern's writing, especially with the prose. I love P.S I Love You, and it's still my favorite of Ms. Ahern's books but her writing has matured from that book.
I've heard people say that The Gift is too preachy, but I didn't feel that while reading it. I thought the whole time and family is precious storyline actually swayed away from being overly preachy. The ending wasn't what I would have liked but then again maybe the impact of what she was trying to get would have been less.
The Gift, though sad was a wonderful Christmas book. I enjoyed reading it, and look forward to more of Cecelia Ahern's book.
Rating: 4/5
I really wanted to read this one this year, but alas...I'm still working on my FIRST book! Great job on completing another one for my challenge!
ReplyDeleteI still have one book left for the challenge...The Christmas List. I haven't even started yet.
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa,
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great Christmas book. I just finished one you might like. A Season of Gifts - Richard Peck. Great Christmas book. Have a great day!
Sherrie
A View of My Life