Freckles. The cover and the blurb enticed me to read.
A woman, who is floundering in life uses a phrase uttered to her in a moment of annoyance, to shape the rest of her life.
You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
Who are those five people, and how have they shaped her?
Are they the same five people throughout her life, or do they change?
Allegra Bird is a complex character. She shows shades of autism throughout the book.
I have to admit that, initially, I found it quite hard to get into, as there were no speech marks throughout the book, and sometimes I was mixing speech for thought, etc, but it added to the confusion in the mind of our main character.
But, once I was in, I was IN, if you know what I mean.
I was making my own list of five for Allegra, throughout the book, and am so glad I got it right, in the end!
There were hints of a possible romance, but the essence of the story wasn't muddied by that. Instead, we were given a hopeful ending.
I felt for the young girl, discarded by her mother, who wanted to know more. A woman who wanted to help others, but didn't often get it quite right. Someone who was frequently misunderstood.
As I mentioned before, it took a little while to get into, but I did enjoy the journey through Allegra's quest to pinpoint her five.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Allegra is not a straight forward character. she likes order but the thoughts in her own head are anything but orderly so she is struggling with her mental health. in her work as a traffic warden who goes by the rules she meets a young man , Tristan, who makes a throwaway remark in anger that sets Allegra on a course to find 5 people who have an influence on her life. this leads to self realisation.
An interesting angle on a young person trying to come to terms with the world and their place in it. Elegant prose

I really enjoyed this story, told in the voice of the main character, it did take me a bit of time to warm to Allegra. Eventually I realised that Cecelia Ahern was portraying a special character, someone who has buckets of empathy, is super sensitive but lacks the ability to make meaningful emotional connections with the people originally around her. Maybe trying to portray her as someone on the Aspergers syndrome spectrum.

I've read the reviews that others have written and yes Allegra seems odd and not that likable to begin with, she's very focused on her day her routine and also the task for which she is now living in Dublin. And this is how children and adults on this spectrum navigate their way thru life. I think Cecelia Ahern did an excellent job of portraying a different type of character.

Allegra gets herself caught up in a muddle plenty of times, she's misunderstood and doesn't understand why some people don't like her or warm to her. I found parallels to characters like Eleanor oliphant and Christopher from the curious incident. There's a lovely story running through this book, it's quite tragic but Allegra aka Freckles is such a lovely character you find yourself rooting for her and hoping things turn out well. I would like to rate this book as 4.5 stars.

I usually emotionally connect well with the characters in Ahern’s books but sadly although I enjoyed Freckles I wasn’t as drawn to main protagonist Allegra. I definitely struggled with having no speech marks and I felt that Allegra comparing her life at one point to the refugee who was found washed up on the beach was in poor taste. Interesting concept, about the five people we most often interact with having such a large impact on one but not one of my favourite stories by this author.

I am a huge fan of Cecilia Ahern and was so pleased to be allowed to read this book. As usual she is the master of story telling and you get to know the characters very well. I did find this dragged slightly and all seemed to happen towards the end of the book, but nevertheless it was a lovely read as I knew it would be. #Freckles#NetGalley

Looking forward to reading this when it's published however the lack of punctuation on the advanced digital copy was not good and caused a lot of confusion as the line breaks were all over the place.

An enjoyable read in which you feel for the main character Allegra. She comes across some horrible people, but succeeds in appreciating those that are valuable in her life. A happy ending is always lovely.

Cecelia Ahern's new books are always on my to-read list. You are guaranteed a few days of total absorption in the new novel. Freckles is no different it is a lovely book exploring the parent-child relationship within modern families. It explores the transition between living at home and moving on. It is a beautifully written tale of a young woman who decides that the time is now to move on and find her place in the world. I can highly recommend this book, I couldn't put it down.

5stars!

An absolute 5 star delight of a book! This is such a heartfelt, uplifting story from Ahern, and I finished it with a smile on my face. Allegra, our main character, is definitely one who grows on you as the story unfolds. She is a parking warden on an emotional journey who is trying to learn who she really is and where her place in the world is. I loved her dedication to the job, and had quite a few laugh out loud moments as she defended the streets of Malahide against parking infractions. I also loved watching her emotional connections with others and herself growing as she considers who her ‘5 people’ are. The ending was wonderful too. I really recommend this book! Thanks so much to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing me with this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Freckles tells the story of Allegra who takes a journey of self discovery after being told by a stranger that you are the sun of the five people you spend most time with. As she feels like a bit of an outsider, she isn’t quite sure who those people are. She was raised by her dad and spent a lot of her childhood at boarding school, but has now moved to Dublin to work as a traffic warden after her dream of joining the police force fell though.
This is essentially a story of connections and relationships, but I struggled to find any real connection to Freckles, despite having a lot of them myself. I’m sure fans of Cecelia Ahern will enjoy this uplifting book.

"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with."
When a stranger utters these words to Allegra Bird, aka Freckles, it turns her whole world topsy-turvy. Freckles doesn't quite fit todays world. She needs order, rules and routine. As usual Cecelia Ahern has written a great book. She gives us an uplifting and often very moving story as we accompany Allegra on her quest to find her 5. A great read and one I thoroughly recommend.
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is a very uplifting but also emotional book that I really enjoyed reading. The story was told incredibly well and Ahern's writing made me want to visit Ireland so bad, it's described so beautifully.
Allegra is an interesting character who does frustrate me at times by the difference in her thoughts and actions but she does change towards the end of the book becoming way more likable. She is satisfied living her routine-filled life in the city until someone says "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with" which makes her question her whole life. The story covers her journey of trying to find her 5 people who are all incredibly different but all great and realistic characters. I don't cry very often at books but the ending of Freckles did make me Ahern's storytelling is that good.

One of my favourite authors, Cecelia Ahern doesn't disappoint with Freckles.

The story of Allegra Bird, nicknamed Freckles, growing up on a remote island off the coast of Ireland and her quest to find herself. She's an awkward character who doesn't quite fit in but things change after a chance encounter with a ferrari owning games designer called Rooster.

A recommended read.

If I’m in need of an uplifting read, Irish writer Cecelia Ahern can always be counted on. And her latest is lovely and leaves the reader with plenty to think about.
Allegra Bird, nicknamed Freckles, is a strict rule-following parking warden who has moved from Valentia Island to Dublin. She loves her job and her life, but finds people confusing and never quite fits in. When an angry stranger (who has just received a ticket) yells at her about how we are all “the average of the five people we spend the most time with”, Allegra realises how alone she is and goes on a quest to find the five people who influence her life.
Number one would be her eccentric father who raised her on his own but she’s no longer close to her best friend and ex-boyfriend at home so she needs new people.
It’s a lovely read and impossible to not start thinking about who your five people are. But some of the characters are not well explored as to why they could count among her special people.
The book is also without speech marks, which makes it sometimes confusing to work out who is speaking. This could be to mimic Allegra’s out-of-sync-with-the-world feeling but it was a distraction for me.

What a great story, full of emotion, and pulled me in from the first page. If you have read and enjoyed this author's previous books, this one won't disappoint.

An emotional story set in Ireland, as we follow Freckles as she searches for answers to help her navigate her life.

Allegra (aka Freckles) is living in Dublin as a traffic warden as she seeks answers to her past. There she meets Tristan (aka Rooster), a Ferrari driving YouTuber, who is non too happy at the regular parking tickets he receives from her. Tristan tells her that she is the average of the five people she spends time with and Freckles must work out who those people are in order to make sense of her world.

Beautifully written, but at times I did not feel a lot of empathy for the central character, I don’t know why that it is. It’s a good read though and I would recommend. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed Freckles and it had a real feel of the classic Cecelia Ahern style of writing.

Parking warden, Allegra Bird (aka Freckles), leads a very predictable and routine life. Never really venturing out of her comfort zone, despite a move from the country to city life in Dublin, she finds that change really does not suit her well. Her world is turned on its axis when she has an angry encounter with the owner of an illegally parked car who tells her that 'you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with'. Suddenly Allegra realises just how lonely her life is and that finding those 5 people is a challenge in itself. As Allegra delves onto a path of self discovery we start to learn about Allegra's life and the real reasons why she moved to Malahide as well as seeing her deal with her father's ill mental health.

At times this story was completely heartbreaking. The loneliness that Allegra felt was really evident and spoke to me. It was also very clear that Allegra had some deeper issues herself that really need addressed.

I feel that this is one of the best Cecelia Ahern books in a while. I would 100% recommend and cannot wait to buy a physical copy to add to my collection.

This was my first book by Cecelia Ahern, but based on this book it will definitely be the first of many. I thoroughly enjoyed the storytelling in this book, which was very well structured with some great characters and great scenes.

Allegra Bird lives in Dublin, having moved there to try to find, and get to know, her mother who abandoned her as a baby. She is a traffic warden and in an argument when giving Tristan a ticket was told you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

This sets Allegra off on a journey to find out who those five people are and to shape her list to help improve herself. She is a great character and you enjoy spending time with her as she goes on this journey, which involves laughter, embarrassment, tears and a discovery about who she is and what she wants out of life. There was a great ending to this excellent book, which I thoroughly recommend.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publishers for providing a copy of this book for me, for an an open and honest

Oh my, I loved this book! It was moving, thought-provoking, and well-written.

I loved following Allegra's journey, it really touched me and I needed lots of tissues for the final few chapters!

Thank you so much for the ARC. I really enjoyed this book! Cecilia Ahern is a wonderful writer and I also loved the cover.