A great book
Another brilliant book to listen to
A book full of different emotions
The narrator was great
Thanks NetGalley

I enjoyed listening to Freckles. Ahern is one of my 'must-read' authors, and so I just had to grab a copy of Ahern's latest when I saw it on NetGalley.

Freckles had an interesting, charming character driven storyline where most characters all developed and interwove nicely. However, it did leave me with a few unanswered questions! I flew through this story in a couple of days and definitely may have also had a wee cry at the end. It's not perfect, but it is a super easy read for when you need a break from intense novels or real life.

The narrator was fab, I really love listening to Irish narrators and this definitely made Freckles even more enjoyable.

3.5 stars, rounding down on this occasion.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins and Cecelia Ahern for an eAlc copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This audiobook was a delight to listen to. A wonderful narrator who truly convinced me, and a story that just gripped me and I listened to it non-stop over the course of a day!

It’s uplifting, refreshing and just lovely. A must read!

The narrator in this is brilliant, very engaging and fully captures the tone of the novel. A slow start, but one that really starts to pick up the pace as you become more invested in the central character.

While this was a little far fetched at times it really was enjoyable. The characters were well thought out a d the narration was excellent. I really loved the relationship between Freckles and pops. I loved her friends in Malahide and I though the ending was really lovely. It’s by far my favourite of Cecelia Ahern’s books.

My first Celia Ahern in a long time and I loved Freckles!

A really light, and easy listen. The narration was excellent and kept me hooked throughout.

I connected with the characters and found it emotional, quite funny and heartwarming!

An emotional, warm and familiar story of everyday lives intertwined, and the people that make us who we are.

Allegra Bird, aka “Freckles” on account of the sun kissed skin inherited from her father, “Pops”, is a 24 year old looking for her place in the world. She’s always slightly on the outside looking in, and to a point she likes it that way. But something is missing. Her mother, who she’s never known.

Proud to be an excellent parking warden, Allegra comes across strange to many other people. But what’s normal anyway?

We follow Allegra through her everyday life and interactions in Dublin, freckled with flashbacks to her boarding school childhood and memories of growing up on Valentia Island in County Kerry.

When a disgruntled victim of her parking tickets tells her “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”, meaning it as an insult, Allegra finds herself reevaluating her five people and ultimately herself.

I really enjoyed this story which as an audiobook feels like a good old chat with your friend over cups of tea in the living room, thanks to the expressive narration by Amy McAllister. It pads through everyday life, routine, and this could have made it almost mundane but I found it satisfyingly comforting, as it paints a lovely picture of modern Irish life. It springs to life through the richness of the many characters, Allegra’s five people and the others we meet throughout the story.

I've always had an odd relationship with Cecilia Ahern - I never quite love her books, but I always find them such gripping, quick and engaging reads. This was the case with Freckles as well. I don't think this will have left a lasting impression, but it was an absolutely delightful story while reading.

*I completely fell in love with this book & Freckles!*

Oh how adorable is freckles!

The poor love has had a tough life growing up!

Freckles, Allegra Bird, loves stars and the can name all the constellations.

Freckles grew up with just her father in a little village in Ireland and she is in pursuit on a personal journey on a search for her mum.

We are introduced to Allegra Bird aka freckles quite unexpectedly as we are thrown into a somber story of freckles explaining her name sake and at 13yrs old whilst lonely at boarding school. we hear how she connected her freckles with a pen to mirror her love of constellations. She loves the stars to the point the blue pen stayed and leaving her with the scars emotionally and physically.

The tales of her boarding school days were lonely but also cleverley made a little light hearted. I loved the reference to 'Sister Lettuce'😂

Leaving her home and her pops in a small town in Ireland she sets out on a secret mission to Dublin to track down her real mother.

A wannabe failed garda (police officer) she becomes a dedicated parking officer (traffic warden) on the streets of Dublin and we watch her becoming obsessed with 'yellow Ferrari man' who constantly refuses to buy a parking ticket and she issues several fines until yellow Ferrari man aka Tristan rages at her one day and screams at her 'you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with'.

As a freckles has very few friends or influences in her life this resonates with her and causes her troubles.

We journey through freckles days with her strict routines and thoughts and meeting some wonderful characters from Spanner at the bakery to her co worker traffic officer.

With Freckles attempts to help Tristan with a business permit to avoid more tickets the apologies come from Tristan and they strike up an unexpected friendship as she questions him on the deeper meaning of his outburst. We watch as they both learn values from each other.

Then whilst visiting home to her Pops she is hit with more worries of ex boyfriend and best school friend finding love following her departure and her pops' peodo accusations unfold with rats in piano & mice in the car!

Very thought provoking subjects are dealt with here and we really do fall in love with freckles even more as she struggles and desperately looks for her five people and wanting her mum to know and like her.

Poor freckles finds herself trying all sorts to impress her. (sadly backfiring!)

This is a sad story  in parts and very unexpected. Dont get me wrong it is lovely and has some laugh out loud moments!

I have even been left with questioning who my five are! Very clever! I would love freckles to be one for sure.

I requested this book expecting a romcom chick flick. the cover looks fun and inviting. I was most surprised at the depth and reality that unravelled.

I recommend this book very much but do not expect that light hearted rom com read.

I'm an avid a fan of Celia Ahern and she  has written this beautifully as always!
The narration by Amy McAllister is superb and every character is portrayed so believable. Being visually impaired I love reading and audiobooks are so important to me and when one comes along like this with such wonderful narration, it is a gem!

Apologies for my delay in reviewing this wonderful book. However, I sadly just lost my most important one of my five, my mum.

Thank you to Netgalley & Harper Collins Publishing & to Cecilia for allowing me this advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

My review is also shared on my Goodreads account.

*Link to follow when I can work it out!

Having read this and then being approved for the audiobook, it is marvellous to hear another voice permeate through my earphones while I write my next anthology of poetry. A wonder. I love this writer.

I adored this book.

I warmed to Allegra very much, she was complicated, moody and didn't understand why she was like that. She believes she's missed out on a lot in her life, but at the beginning of the book we can already see she has some of what she needs.

I loved the way that after Thristian dropped the Five People bomb with her, she looked at a blank wall, but we could see as readers that there were people in her life that slotted in.
I adored Pa and his dialogue with Allegra, as it was an audio version of the book, the reader provided great variations of accents and voice tones to bring the dialogue alive.

As Allegra became obsessed with her mother, I was right with her, rooting for her to be honest with her and get it over with, but she carried on and we cringed with her.

Overall, this was a fabulous book, the premise unique, the humour and tenderness right there. This is is the first book I've read by this author and I would read more.

This is a light read that will appeal to some people. I did not enjoy it as I did not like how the women were portrayed in this book. Otherwise, it was well written.

#Freckles by #ceciliaahern was a slow burn….. it’s all about the last third of this story. Allegra comes into her own. This story does leave you questioning the five people in your inner circle. Many thanks to #netgalley for gifting me this #arc in exchange for an honest review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️ #harpercollinsukaudio #generalfiction #netgalleyuk #readersofinstagram #bookstagramuk #riereads #goodreadschallenge #oneadventureafteranother

I loved this audiobook. The relationships that were built throughout the story were wonderful and ‘Freckle’s’ dad seems like an adorable chap. Lovely story throughout.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with”

This is the first book I have read by Cecilia Ahern and I have to say I really enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley Uk for the audiobook.

I found the character Allegra really likeable and wanted her to be happy, especially as she wanted to get to know her Mum who had left her as a baby.

Overall, an enjoyable and interesting read.

This is such a lovely story of introspection and interaction, acceptance and kindness, forgiveness and growth. Ahern writes beautifully (but we know this already,) and her characterisation is brilliant, warm and witty. If you enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy this. The main character, Allegra Bird is softer than Eleanor, less spikey, way more insightful yet still as complex.
Amy McAllister’s narration is simply excellent, giving us a wide, believable range of voices. As a collaboration, Freckles is a fantastic audio book.

I did enjoy this audio books of Freckles, just maybe not quite so much as Ahern’s other books that I have read and loved.
I thought the narrator was brilliant, really fitting to the character and setting.
I found the start of the story a bit slow going, however the character description really allowed us to get to know Allegra.
A strong 3 stars, thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

I really enjoy Cecelia's books, and this one was another great read. I did find it a little slow at the beginning but after Allegra heard the sentence about being the average of the five people with whom you most spend time it really picked up,

The narrator narrated the book beautifully, and I loved the depictions of the different characters.

One slight issue I had with this book was how much Allegra reminded me of Eleanor Oliphant, but otherwise it was a fantastic read.

Cecelia Ahern is one of my favourite authors of all time so it was only natural that I had pre-ordered this book months in advance. I was also lucky enough to receive an audio version through Harper Collin Uk Audio and NetGalley.
I loved everything about this story. The writing, the one saying/phase that the whole book is based on. And no matter where you go in Ireland, there is always someone just like Alergra Bird (freckles). The story is so believable and you could imagine being in the book which helps me get lost in the story. I would highly recommend as it also gives food for thought about the company you keep yourself.

Freckles By: Cecelia Ahern and narrated by: Amy McAllister.

The whole Length: of this audio book is 10 hrs and 2 mins.

Freckles an audio book and I did not want to end, I was hooked from the start, till the end. It had me laughing out loud and smiling at many parts whilst listening to it and it also made me cry, hence why this was a Superb audiobook and the narrator was excellent. I found it had everything you want for a good story!

Big Thank you, HarperCollins UK Audio and NetGalley, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.