I’m Feeling… Loved: A Book Review of "How to Fall in Love" by Cecelia Ahern

A few years ago, I remember having read two of Cecelia Ahern’s books – “Thanks for the Memories” (of which I ironically have no memory of how it ended), and “The Book of Tomorrow” (that left me a bit disturbed with how the story went) – both of which have left me with a wistful, albeit mostly whimsical, feeling. So you couldn’t expect me to feel any different about my 3^rd read of an Ahern book once I got started on my TBR List, but boy, how wrong I was…

A seemingly lovely cover that wasn’t just about falling in love with the concept of love

She has just two weeks. Two weeks to teach him how to fall in love – with his own life.

Adam Basil and Christine Rose are thrown together late one night, when Christine is crossing the Halfpenny Bridge in Dublin. Adam is there, poised, threatening to jump. Adam is desperate – but Christine makes a crazy deal with him. His 35th birthday is looming and she bets him she can show him that life is worth living before then.

Despite her determination, Christine knows what a dangerous promise she’s made. Against the ticking of the clock, the two of them embark on wild escapades, grand romantic gestures and some unlikely late-night outings. Slowly, Christine thinks Adam is starting to fall back in love with his life.

But has she done enough to change his mind for good? And is that all that’s starting to happen?

The synopsis seems simple enough, Christine (our heroine) manages to convince Adam (our supposed hero) to not jump from a bridge by promising to give him a reason “live” before his 35^th birthday. So here was where I thought it would start getting cheezy with the romance and stuff because I actually thought Christine would make Adam fall in love with her and everything will be all right with his world. Turns out there’s more to it than love saving the day.

In the end, I think it was a good decision that Adam decided to seek a professional since, as good as Christine was, her only form of reliance came from her self-help books. Though I also thought Christine should have had her own form of guidance by the end of the book; no matter how lovely her family was, she could still burnout, ya know?

How to Fall in Love isn’t just about the concept of romantic love, it’s about falling in love with LIFE and finding the beauty in the moments that we experience each day. It’s a book that makes you aware of a person’s mental health and the struggles he may be going through in his every day life just to wake up to see the next sunrise.

If I Knew Then What I Know Now - A Book Review: "Who's That Girl?" by Alexandra Potter

It's been a while since my last book review and it's not because of the lack of time to read ('cuz I've read quite a number of books from then and now), but more so from the lack of inspiration I got after reading a specific book.

This book however not only caught my eye because of its vibrant cover, but also because of its synopsis:

Imagine if you could meet your younger self... It'll be fun they said.. blah!

At age thirty-one, Charlotte Merryweather has spent ten years in London pursuing personal and professional perfection. Yet her present-day success- heading her own PR company, owning a gorgeous apartment, planning a future with her devoted boyfriend- only heightens the shock of a visit from the past. 

"Lottie," Charlotte's twenty-one-year-old self, drives onto the scene at the wheel of a rusty, orange Volkswagen Beetle identical to Charlotte's first UK ride. Charlotte pursues a friendship aimed to bestow upon Lottie a decade of wisdom. Yet Charlotte's prosperous polish proves a pale substitute for Lottie's innate, youthful graces- openness, passion, and kindness. Will the student become the teacher in this witty turnabout?

Honestly, I found myself mostly agreeing with Charlotte's older self all throughout the book rather than Lottie, who actually acts more like a teenager rather than a "yuppy" (a.k.a. young professional), and this is coming from a reader (me) who's just 2 years her senior.

Overall, it was a decent read (with a cute twist in the epilogue) even though the story only started picking up at least 30% of the book; I also think the romance in this was considerably better than the first book I read by Alexandra Potter (Going LaLa), which just felt like insta-lust.

On a last note, I found it funny how Charlotte kept reminding her younger self to invest in companies like Google, 'cuz if I knew then what I know now, I'd probably just given her the winning numbers to the lottery at that time.