This was a charming novel. From the age of eight, Alice possesses the unique ability to "see" the colors of people's emotions. While this gift offers profound insights, it can also be overwhelming, exposing her to a constant barrage of often unpleasant feelings. This leads to a lifelong struggle with isolation, as her family and even she herself sometimes struggle to understand her experiences.

The novel beautifully chronicles Alice's journey, exploring her complex relationship with her mother and younger brother, while highlighting the unwavering support of her older sibling. While the pacing occasionally faltered in the middle, the novel ultimately offers an enchanting and thought-provoking exploration of empathy, connection, and the complexities of human emotion. Highly recommend.

This was not at all what I expected, but it’s a special read.
The main character can see the colours and aura of people around her, just imagine what that would be like.
No spoilers, but you should read this book.

A compelling read but I must admit I struggled to finish this. I found it hard to connect and there felt like a lot of jumping around which often left me confused. I wanted to like this so much more as I've always enjoyed Aherns books, most go to ps I love you but read The Gift that's excellent! This one sadly wasn't for me but I'm grateful for the advanced read 😊

The concept of synesthesia is really interesting, so reading a book where it was really brought to the fore was so interesting. I thought the way it was portrayed so was fresh and unique.

The book started to lose its pacing around 25% through, but it did pick back up thankfully. Overall, I found it to be well-paced, especially when it takes us the whole way through Alice's life from when she's 8 years old to her deathbed.

There were a lot of complex and unlikeable characters in this book, Ollie as an example of the unlikeable and Lily one of the complex ones. I really loved the relationship between Alice and Hugo.

One complaint I did have was that the leaps in time are not always well presented. Quite often they are just inserted into the narrative with no indications, so the reader is just expected to KNOW we're in a different timeline.

Overall this was a great book.

I've adored Cecelia Ahern since I first ever started reading. This book was beautifully written and a refreshing format to read. I loved the use of colours and descriptions. A wonderful read.

I’ve been reading Cecelia Ahern books since PS I Love You came out, I adored this and Where Rainbows End and having been hoping for another to fall in love with and sadly In a Thousand Different Ways wasn’t that book.

It’s a clever concept, main character Alice, see’s people’s emotions in coloured auras, it gave me The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender vibes but I think I struggle with the sprinkling of magic Ahern is famous for.

I found Alice’s family life most interesting, we meet her aged 8 when she discovers she has the condition and follow her grow up navigating both the condition and family challenges as she becomes a caregiver for her alcoholic, bi-polar mother and difficult relationships with her brothers.

The book is well written and the character develop well throughout, it’s enjoyable and thought provoking. I rated it 4 stars on good reads at the time but it hasn’t stayed with me in the way some books do.

"She knows your secrets. Now discover hers…
You’ve never met anyone like Alice. She sees the best in people. And the worst. She always seems to know exactly what everyone around her is feeling: a thousand different emotions. Every. Single. Day.
In amongst all that noise, she’s lost herself."

I usually love Cecelia Ahern books, but this story was something completely different and I struggled with it from the beginning right through to the abrupt ending. I thought the writing was good and the concept of someone seeing someone's aura and being able to read them a fascinating idea. However, I am not sure it translated very well onto the page, but despite that I liked Alice and Andy.

This was a phenomenal book. So unusual and so well told. I could feel Alice’s anxiety and fear. I absolutely soaked up the story, finishing in a day because I couldn’t put it down. My only slight criticism is that the latter part of the book felt quite rushed after a steady build up.

Late reviewing this book but I enjoyed it. With good writing and characters, plus a good storyline, it’s a nice read.

I couldn't read this as an ebook for some reason so will get it when it comes out! Sorry! (Leaving a 4 star review to be fair.)

Another absolutely superb emotional rollercoaster from Ahern. Brilliant writing and intelligent characters that are hugely relatable and beautifully observed. I couldn’t put this down.

Unusual book. I could not really get into it but it was sensitively written. It moved a bit slower in bits. It wasn't my kind of book unfortunately..

Thanks Netgalley.

Eight-year-old, Alice Kelly struggles to have a normal life. Her father has left the family, and her mother Lilly sleeps a lot. Leaving Alice to look after her younger brother. Her older brother helps when he can. Alice has a difficult relationship with her mother.

Alice’s life falls apart when she starts seeing the moods and feelings of people expressed in colours, Alice is exhausted by all the different colours she sees around people.

Fast paced with lots of twists and turns. This was about mental illness, families and friendships.

I loved the descriptions of colours that Alice sees floating around people.

A beautiful, colorful story with characters you fall in love with. Ahern always manages to sprinkle some magic over the plot, in the best possible way.

Thought provoking story which I enjoyed and was caught up in to read over a few days - quite quick for me these days! The story spans the life of the main character Alice who sees auras, and about how she lives with this. The story jumps between the pertinent points in her life, sometimes back and forwards, with only a few actual chapters so written in unusual format. However the ending came quite abruptly and succinctly. It was almost as if the author had a deadline to finish it off and couldn’t add more to it, so I do feel a bit disappointed by the speedy finish.
Overall a nice, engaging book.

I enjoyed Ahern's writing style and the concept of seeing colours representing emotions. Initially I was veering towards 3 stars - but I realised this was a little unfair. I was going for that because the protagonist's childhood story made me sad - not really a good reason to underscore an innovative, well written story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing house for an ARC in exchange for an honest and impartial review.

In A Thousand Different Ways by Cecelia Ahern, a NetGalley review. Alice is like nobody you’ve ever met, she can see all your secrets, she can see the good, the bad and the ugly in people but because of that she loses herself, until she meets someone she cannot read. I will be honest I didn’t enjoy this book, it was readable but not enjoyable. While reading it felt like I wasn’t connecting with the story or the character getting a feel for it, somehow reading in the edge of the story, if that makes sense. With this author I think I always put to much anticipation into it being the authors next great book because for me P.S I Love You was by far her best book. I think the author is a good writer but since her first book has just missed the mark. Personally I felt that it started right in the middle of this strong story line of Alice the main character being able to see peoples auras in colours l, so as the reader it felt hard to understand what this was and this put me off a little. I couldn’t even remember the main characters name until half way through the book because again there was no connection. The other thing that annoyed me was that the story kept flipping back and forth between years and did so without warning or dates or years for perspective; so I would feel like I might me just finding my feet with this story and then in the next sentence/paragraph it would flip back to when Alice was a child. Sadly in parts I found it boring and incredibly hard to continue reading, I was hopefully that as I read in it would improve, but it didn’t and in parts it felt rushed. The one thing I will say is that the concept and the idea of being able to see people’s auras in colour is interesting, in the fact that would it be a good or a bad thing if you had this talent; however in theory a great idea but written down on paper the author somehow failed to grab my attention. This book has great reviews on Amazon some saying it’s her best so far but it just wasn’t for me. At the moment it’s 99p so if you are intrigued or a fan not a bad price, if you go on not to enjoy it. I wan be recommending this going forward so it’s a ⭐️ from me.

What an incredible book! This got me right in the feels. Heartwarming and emotional. Cecelia Ahern has done it again.

Cecelia Ahern's "In a Thousand Different Ways" is a masterful collection of stories that weave together the threads of human emotion and connection. Each tale in this anthology explores the depths of love, loss, and the transformative power of relationships with Ahern's trademark blend of warmth and insight.

Ahern's storytelling prowess shines through in this collection, offering poignant narratives that resonate long after the final page. Her characters are vivid and relatable, each grappling with universal themes in uniquely personal ways. From unexpected encounters to heartrending farewells, "In a Thousand Different Ways" captures the myriad ways in which love manifests and shapes our lives.

This anthology is a testament to Ahern's ability to capture the essence of human experience with empathy and grace. Whether you're a longtime fan of her work or new to her storytelling, "In a Thousand Different Ways" is a compelling read that reminds us of the beauty and complexity found in our shared connections.

I loved this book. Cecelia Ahern has written a really clever unusual book unlike anything I’ve read. Alice is a young child when she develops synthanesisa - the ability to see other people’s moods in colour and this changes her life significantly as well as having a huge effect on her immediate family. A difficult read at times but one full of all the emotions as Alice sees and feels them. A fantastic book