Love, Rosie (Previously Published as Where Rainbows End)

Read on May 4th, 2015

Author: Cecelia Ahern

5 Stars

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A story about love.
And how life gets in the way.

Best friends since forever, Rosie and Alex have shared their hopes, dreams, awkward moments – and firsts. But their bond is threatened when Alex’s family move to America. They stay in touch, but misunderstandings, circumstances and sheer bad luck seem to be conspiring to keep them apart. Can they gamble everything – even their friendship – on true love?

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I am a mess.

I honestly believe that I have never cried in a book more than I have today with Love, Rosie. My eyes are actually hurting now… Make no mistake about it, Love, Rosie is way more emotionally taxing than any Nicholas Sparks book.

For those of you who are unaware, this story is written entirely through correspondence – be it emails, instant messages, letters, cards, texts, you name it. At first I was slightly wary of this fact, but it had absolutely no impact of the quality or fluidity of the novel. In fact, because of its unique format, I believe that it may be easier for someone who doesn’t read that often to pick up and immerse themselves in the story.

Filled with angst and touching on issues such as teenage pregnancy, growing up, friendship, adulthood, love, marriage, relationships, parenthood, childhood, divorce, dreams and simply life in general, Love, Rosie is so real and touching and unique. Spanning over approximately 50 years, we are able to really get to know and connect with a large cast of characters from what is essentially three different generations. Patterns become evident and I really enjoyed the somewhat cyclical nature of this novel. I loved being a part of the characters’ lives, and I became quite attached to them all (aside from the notable morons who deserve a hi five… in the face… with a brick).

The silence. I just – that was certainly the best part for me.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to seeing how well Love, Rosie has been translated into film (I refused to allow myself to watch it while it was in cinemas as I had not yet read the book). However, I do warn you that while it does come highly recommended, you should prepare yourself for  frustration and tears – while it does have its high points I, at least, found this story to be quite emotionally taxing.