Customer Reviews

Thanks for the Memories

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Although I personally prefer fiction set in reality, Miss Aherns captures your interest from the first page through her wit, humor, and vulnerability. The main character, Joyce, has a beautiful, loving relationship with her elderly father that will warm your heart. Her knowledge and understanding of the elderly is admirable. Her adventures are exciting and impulsive. This is a book you'll never want to finish.

I felt the book was ok. It's definitely not one that I would jump to read again any time soon. There was very little character development or really any personalities portrayed by the title characters. I found that my favorite character was Joyce's senile father, as he was the only one that was given an interesting personality. The book kind of read as a short story that just happened to be of novel length, if that makes any sense.

That being said, the book was still a page turner and as far as chic-lit goes it does go with the happy ending. I still kind of liked it, just didn't LOVE it.

I have loved all of Cecelia Ahern's books. For some reason, this one was just too unrealistic for me. It is about a woman who gets into a horrible accident and, as the result of a blood transfusion, suddenly has memories she doesn't recognize, which turn out to be from the blood donor. The two feel an unexplained connection to one another as a result. I love a touch of magic but I just couldn't really buy the basic plot premise of this book.

I like Cecelia Ahern's style of writing, her fanciful humor, wonderful characters and have read all of her books. I liked "Thanks For The Memories" and the whole concept behind it. What if you got a blood transfusion (or an organ transplant for that matter) and all of a sudden gained the memories of the donor? In this case, it worked out fine for Joyce Conway, although a bit disconcerting. (I can imagine gaining some people's memories I would NOT want to have, though. Another book there...)

I especially liked Joyce's Dad - quite a character. Their trip to London reminded me of my mother's first air flight. I liked the Viking Splash excursion, the Antiques Roadshow visit, and all the quirky characters.

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book in the beginning, but after the first couple chapters I was hooked! Ahern has a great sense of humor and I was laughing throughout this book, eager to see what came next in Joyce's journey to find love. Judge for yourself and not by what you've read here, I honestly feel each person will find their own part of this book they truly enjoy!

This book blends elements of a suspense novel with romance, adventure and friendship, but it also touches a deeper plane submerging in topics such as grief, loss, and mental confusion, bringing two strangers together after an accident.
Joyce Conway's marriage is already in shambles and she nearly lost everything else but she survived a horrible accident that left her hospitalized and after the life saving blood transfusion she received, she now can inexplicably remember faces she's never seen, parisian streets she's never visited and overwhelming amounts of information on art, architecture, languages, paintings, etc. Her favorite foods suddenly change and she orders stuff she'd never ever ordered before in her life. She is haunted by a sense of Deja Vu that makes her feel as if her life is not her own.
Her blood doner, Justin Hitchcock, is a lonely man who hasn't done anything straight from his heart in a very long time. His wife and daughter are gone and he is left feeling empty and lecturing bored college students in Dublin, but everything is about to change with the arrival of a basket of muffins with a Thank You note enclosed - the first in a series of anonymous presents that will push him into the heart of a mystery that will forever alter both Julian's and Jooyce's lives.
This book makes you think of stories of people who have received an organ or blood and with them a magical piece of the doner's life memories, feelings and fears.
Interesting, unusual and hopeful.

This book taps into our curiousity - what really happens when a blood transfusion, organ transplant, etc. takes place? Can the recipient take on characteristics of the donor? As others have written, the plot is somewhat predictable - it is not a question of whether Joyce and Justin will meet, but rather when?

Joyce's method of coping with a tragedy make her very vulnerable and human, so the reader can empathize easily. Justin's character is rather flawed and he too, in spite of his errors, is one we might want to get to know, given the chance. The supporting characters, which include Joyce's father and two best friends, as well as Justin's brother, sister-in-law, and daughter, lend credibility to their individual circumstances. My favorite character has to be Henry, Joyce's father. Ahern did a tremendous job capturing the man as he slowly ages and has to accept his frailties.

I gave the book a three but would have liked to give it a 3.5. The plot goes in directions that the reader can easily anticipate. I also question if Joyce and Justin are 'meant for each other' or are put into that situation given that he donated blood and she received it. Unless Joyce suddenly stops remembering Justin's memories or returns to her food preferences v. his, their relationship is one of uncertainty.

Oh Cecelia Ahern, we meet again. The Irish writer has made quite a name for herself and I'm always excited to read her next novel. I thoroughly adored her first three books and although the fourth wasn't as memorable, I was still excited about this one. I suppose that's why I was slightly disappointed with this book.

Ahern is known for starting her books in the middle of a tragedy and this book is no different. It opens with the heroine, Joyce, laying at the bottom of a staircase after a terrible fall, one where she miscarries her baby. Elsewhere, Justin, after suffering from a painful divorce, meets an attractive woman who somehow manages to convince him to donate blood. From there, the story weaves these two characters together through chance meetings and magical realizations. Ahern is known for giving her stories a fairy tale sort of feel and this one is no different.

My problem with this book was that it was incredibly predictable, right down to the ending. The characters were illustrated well enough, you liked them and understood their actions, however that was it. I wish, rather than concentrating on the romance aspect as much, Ahern would have dug deeper into the father/daughter relationship. It was a beautiful plot started, yet never fully drawn out. My greatest compliment for this book is that it's well written in typical Ahern style. It is grabbing, definitely, but it left me feeling nothing, regardless of the happy ending.

If you're looking for something that's a quick read (despite its 400 pages) with surefire happiness, then this is the book for you. If you're looking for something a bit deeper, a bit more like her last few novels, than wait for her next book The Gift which seems to be getting better reviews. Despite my lack of love for this book, I'll definitely still check it out. I like her writing too much to give up.

Joyce Conway lies at the bottom of the stairs after falling. When she next awakens she is at a hospital, having miscarried. Her father is there, but her husband Conor remains away on business. She lost so much blood, she received a blood transfusion. After her release from the hospital, she goes to live with her dad as she and Conor are divorcing. Joyce begins having odd visions, speaks Latin, and knows trivia tidbits re European architectural design and Irish history. None of these oddities were known before her tragic accident.

American Justin Hitchcock is a visiting professor at Dublin's Trinity College, where he lectures on European art and architecture. He gave a pint of blood at a nearby hospital and mused afterward that some anonymous person owes him. He is mystified by his constant running into a female he never met and his attraction to this stranger, who muses over how she keeps meeting a male stranger she finds so appealing.

This whimsical contemporary romance is a fun tale, but ironically the prime relationships are not between the lead couple; instead the top guns are Joyce with her father and Conor with his family. The cast is strong with the secondary players providing insight into what motivates the lead couple; Joyce feels the pain of her miscarriage and not much re her divorce while Conor seeks to do something meaningful. The blood destiny never comes off the ground as much as the other interactions, yet fans will relish this engaging tale of fate mindful of Cusak-Beckinsale in Serendipity.

Harriet Klausner

Every book Cecelia Ahern has written and that I've read (the latest 3 releases) have all been heart warming, unique, funny, and romantic stories. Thanks for the Memories met my expectatations and didnt disappoint me. It kept up with her tradition of her previously written books and I cant wait to see what her next book will be like!