Customer Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Lou Suffern is a typical workaholic. He ignores his wife and children. He promises them he'll be somewhere, then breaks the promise because of work. He feels that they should be grateful for the money he makes and the beautiful home they have.

One morning he stops and gives a cup of coffee to a homeless man he passes each day. He tells him, Gabe, that there is probably a job in the mail room if he wants it, and gives him some of his extra clothes, so that he'll look decent.

Gabe gets the job, and seems to have supernatural powers. He influences Lou by looking displeased when Lou puts his work first and breaks a promise to his family. He manages to get from the 14th, (really the 13th,) floor with his mail cart faster than Lou can with the elevator.

He gives Lou a pill which lets him clone himself, giving him the capability to be two places at once. Lou discovers how much his family means to him, and how precious life is.

All of Ahern's books have been different, and all very readable. I liked this book very much.

In Dublin, business mogul Lou Suffern is a 24/7 workaholic who has no time for his family, who is tired of his failure to be there for them ever. On a brisk wintry morning in front of his office, Lou buys a hot cup of coffee for a homeless person and for no known reason offers Gabe a job in the mail room. Gabe in turn tells Lou his boss is having serendipitously lunch dates with his rival.

Gabe tries to convince Lou how important family is, but the corporate officer is uninterested in his two children who are young and boring and his wife Ruth as he has a mistress. Lou realizes that Gabe can be in two places at one time and begs the man to help him do so. Gabe gives Lou a magical pill to clone himself. One Lou will close the real estate deal; the other goes home to his family as Gabe prays his "client" will learn the importance of loved ones.

This is a fascinating version of A Christmas Carol as Lou thinks he is helping Gabe with an act of kindness, but Gabe is actually trying to help Lou place his priorities in order. The underlying message of this whimsical angelic story line is too simplified as Lou learns what matters between being "Ruthless" and being with Ruth and his other family members. Fans will enjoy that Lou learns what matters in a wonderful life is it is never too late because it's a wonderful world.

Harriet Klausner

I have loved every single one of Cecelia Ahern's books, so I was really excited when I picked this book up. Unfortunately this was the first of her books that I really didn't like.

I felt like I spent most of this book trying to get into it. Usually I hate putting books down but had no problem putting this book down as I tried to get through it. I felt that the outside narration by the police officer really didn't add anything to the story and was not necessary.

Overall a disappointing story.

I didn't like this. I found the unravelling of the story annoying and the slowness of the pace grating.

I also found the way Ahern has one character tell another the meaning of the story patronising, and if that isn't bad enough, she then tells us as another character all over again what the real meaning is. If it was a ground breaking, new message maybe - just maybe - that would be OK, but the message here is not to waste time on things that don't matter and to invest your time in the people you love, with a bit of "it's never too late to change for good measure" (excuse the cliché but it goes with the book!).

That the story is farfetched, I can go with, but it is predictable too, and I can't go with that! Another annoying thing was the way the author tries to pull your heart strings; by going for an unhappy, "happy" ending; it was heavy handed and moralistic.

The final annoying thing was the way the story was found out by a character and then re-told - rubbish, absolute rubbish and really, as reader, I did not need to know whether the story was "real" or how the narrator uncovered it, and if the "whys and hows" I'm being fed are rubbish, I can especially do without it!!

Save your $ and time.

Lou Suffern loves work - so much that his family is just a nuisance, an inconvenience he has to deal with, even though he'd rather be making deals. He's constantly doing two things at once - holding a meeting and thinking about his night plans; talking to his wife and checking his blackberry, Lou's a great multi-tasker. One day, in a very rare generous moment, he gives a cup of coffee to a homeless man on the street. Gabe is extremely observant, a fast thinker, and reminds Lou a bit of himself. Due to the holiday spirit, or more so his desire to get a huge promotion, Lou gets Gabe a job at his firm and that's when things get a bit weird.

While Lou is figuratively in two places at once, Gabe really is. And while Gabe intrigues (and sometimes annoys) Lou, he also teaches Lou a few lessons he really needs to know, like how a family may be more important than money. He teaches Lou the importance of time, and how to make the most of it - and not in the way Lou has been. It's a story that shows how time, being in the moment and making the most of it, is the most precious gift of them all.

The Gift is...cute. Ahern was clearly trying to make a holiday classic with the book, emphasizing the moral of the story, but she does it in a very strange (and sometimes cheesy) way. The story itself is intriguing - gripping at times - but with no explanation. Lou is a typical character, one with no redeeming qualities until he learns "the lesson." The rest of the characters are typical as well - the forgotten wife, the competitive business partner, etc. And then there's Gabe, the homeless man who helps Lou. I wanted to like Gabe, I really did, but to me he was annoying - always hinting in weird and creepy ways, but never saying what he means. The "be in two places at once" part is important, definitely, but never explained and that bothered me. In the rest of her books, the fiction melded with the reality nicely, making the supernatural believable, however with this book there was too much real and not enough imaginary, so the unusual seemed out of place.

Like the rest of her books, it is well written, has a nicely told story, and does have a lovely moral, but I didn't feel anything, as I should have at the end. The book was overwhelmingly forgettable. I'll still read her next novel (which does look much better), but I won't get my hopes up. I really like Ahern - I just want to still love her books again.

I read this for the TuesBookTalk Read-a-Longs at Goodreads. I have been part of this group forever but this is only the second book that I have read "with" them - or as much with them as I can. This was the December book and I just finished it last night. I must say though, that this was a great book to read in December.

While it is Lou's story, it is actually being related to a young boy who has gotten in trouble and is waiting for his mom to pick him up from the police station. I would get so engrossed in the story that when they would go back to the police officer telling the story it was like - "oh yeah - I forgot about them!"

I felt a little sorry for Lou, especially in the beginning. He had such little will power in certain situations, and even though he thought he was in control, I think the situations were really controlling him. He didn't even understand his own motivations toward Gabe when he gave him the coffee and offered him the job. He quickly resented Gabe when he felt like Gabe was getting attention and praise that he deserved, but at the same time he came to feel that Gabe was one of the few people that he could trust. You see, Gabe gave him a pill that allowed him to be in two places at once - so he was able to attend two important meetings, staying out late with one of them, but also going home after the other one and tending to a sick wife and daughter. Even though he didn't understand how that was possible, he didn't question the accolades that he received on his accomplishments at the two meetings. It wasn't until later that he began to appreciate the time that he had been able to spend with his family while he was "split".

This was a really good book with a good lesson about the gift of time, and spending it with those that really matter. But first you have to decide what it is that really matters to you.

Compared to Ahern's earlier work, I found this very disappointing. I got into it quickly but found the character lacked credability. The message / moral while worthwhile was too contrived. Revert to your earlier work

One of the best things about Cecelia Ahern is that she has a great imagination, with each book she comes up with a completely new idea.

I was drawn into the gift from page one. Read this book in a few days, could not put it down.

Im really looking forward to Aherns next book : )

Having read reviews here and the book jacket this book sounded like my kind of story..some inspiration..even if not quite plausable...

as I love christmas stories and can always allow for some magic in them.yet halfway through this book I wondered where it was headed and after I finished I"m wasn't sure where it went.

The introductory chapter and final chapter involving a turkey being thrown through the window just doesn't seem connected. Perhaps it was the use of the "f" word several times that made it lose some charm..or perhaps it's because it's still not clear where Gabe came from or what the pills really were. Can't recommend this book .

A sucker for Christmas stories, I am always on the look-out for what is new each season. When I ran across this one and realized it was written by the author of "P.S. I Love You" it was something I knew I had to read.

While there is predictability here - workaholic man, ignoring wife and small children in pursuit of money and career advancement - there are twists and turns which set this novel apart from other books of this genre. Lou Suffern is the success obsessed main character who meets Gabe during the weeks leading up to Christmas. Gabe is a homeless man sitting on the streets of Dublin who inspires Lou's first act of kindness in a very long time. As Gabe keeps popping up in unexpected places and at unexpected times, Lou begins to learn some valuable life lessons. Not just lessons important around the holidays, but lessons we all should learn and remember all the time.

I couldn't bring myself to a 5-star rating on this for a couple of reasons. The first was that I almost didn't make it past page twelve due to the need for an editor in the opening pages. Within a span of five pages (pages 8 - 12), a particular, minor character's "almond-shaped" eyes were described in identical language three different times. I thought if that was a reflection of what was to come, I might want to quit before investing the time. I also thought the main story was largely excellent, but I had trouble with the set-up of how the story got told. It seemed disjointed to me and totally telecast - "here comes the set-up". It could have been more subtle rather than beating the reader over the head (turkey boy wasn't a helpful addition either).

Overall, a good story, a good holiday read.