I generally enjoy Irish writers because I love Irish humour and had hoped for that in this first Cecilia Ahern novel I have read. Sadly, I found this book to be quite depressing and was looking forward to getting to the end.

The premise about synesthesia is an interesting one and I have friends and students who are neuro-diverse who I might recommend the book to, however, for me, there was just a bit too much of the dark side of life and little to lift the mood. I also found the chopping about in time quite confusing and there was one section at the end (I won't spoil it) where I really couldn't work out if it was actually happening or not.

I don't like to be negative about a writer's work as there is always an audience who will thoroughly enjoy any book but this one wasn't for me.

Ever wished you could know what was going on in someone's head without having to even talk to them? Imagine if you always knew how people were feeling, and you could never turn it off. Ever.

We meet Alice Kelly at age 8, and journey through her amazing and complicated life with her, her friends and her family.

Alice is different and she knows it. Only a few people understand her, and she struggles to reach the important life moments that most of us take for granted.

There is something colourful and special about Alice, and you instantly feel like her protector, her confidant and her best friend. Her life journey is exciting, heart-breaking and heart-warming all at the same time.

Cecelia Ahern has done it again, brought characters out of a book that you think about well after the book is finished. I only put it down because it was 2am and I had to be up for work at 7!

“In A Thousand Different Ways” by Cecelia Ahern is out April 13th 2023, and is available for pre-order now.

What a beautiful book! Such an unusual storyline, and full of emotion. Couldn’t put it down. I’ve read most of Cecelia Ahern’s books, and she’s definitely got a winner with this one - her best yet.

Alice has a rare ability to other people's auras in colours. She is hyper sensitive and cannot live normal life because everyone's psychological condition makes big influence to how she feels herself.
I love Cecilia Ahern's books but I think this one isn't one of her best.

The idea of seeing colours for emotions is one which I'm aware of but was interesting to read a book with showed how debilitating it could be as it can overwhelm the person. Alice was a likeable character who had to deal with lots of issues throughout her life which were made all the more complicated that everything was just too much for her.
You wanted her to live the life she needed and find her way....

Not my usual genre but I thoroughly enjoyed it, was a well written book that kept me involved in the storyline with good characters.

Thank you to Negalley and Harper Collins for this ARC which I would recommend.

I really enjoyed this book, especially as it's actually based on fact. You really feel for Alice, and made even worse for her with her childhood, a selfish mother and brother who feed off each other and make her life unbearable. The story of how she builds her life through meeting sympathetic people who help her makes a good read. It's quite an easy read but has depth to it. I would recommend.

You never know quite what you’re going to get from Cecelia Aherne. I’ve read a number of her books and they are all so different (a thousand ways!).

I was invested in Alice from the start, when she was just eight years old, living with her mentally sick mother and her two brothers. She returns home from school one day to notice a blue mist of some kind emanating from beneath her mother’s bedroom door and her life will never be the same again.

From this point on we accompany Alice throughout her life, as she narrates her own story. I worried for her, I wanted to protect her and I rejoiced when good things came her way. It’s a fascinating story, as she learns to live with the gift/curse she received that seminal afternoon.

Alice can see other peoples' auras as colours, can sense their moods and feelings. This starts as an 8 yr old child and progresses through her life. She realises she has to get on top of it, to learn how to cope in order to lead a normal life. .Throughout the book, i was willing her to find a way, waiting to see what would happen next. Another enthralling story from Cecelia Ahern.

Thank you NetGalley, Cecelia Ahern, and HarperCollins UK for allowing me to read an advanced copy of In a Thousand Different Ways.

I started this book with the intention of reading a few pages before bed but ended up being completely enthralled in the story and almost finished it in one night.

Alice is the narrator. She can see auras in people and in nature. She first thinks of this gift as a curse but then learns how to work with her ability. The writing made me feel all of Alice's emotions throughout the book. I only wished the ending didn't come so soon. This story will stick with me. I can't wait to read it again and again.

If done correctly, In a Thousand Different Ways would make for an absolutely beautiful movie. To get to see all of the colors Alice sees throughout her life would be so magical.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I am a fan of Cecelia Ahern and this did not disappoint me. I love the idea of being able to sense the mood of people by colour. Alice is a very complex person who has had a difficult life from an early age. This is well interwoven into the story as it progress along the timeline. Her friends Gospel and Naomi are also very interesting, particularly as they enter her life and how Alice is able to interact with them.. her brother Hugh is very understanding and caring for her, whilst Ollie is hideous.
This is book to be enjoyed, but also to savor the colour senses and hiw we are all different and givr out different vibes according to our moods.

‘Everyone needs time to find their place’
For Alice, who from a young age realizes she sees peoples moods as colours which initially makes the world an overwhelming place. She learns as she gets older that she has synesthesia. This read takes you on a journey of growth and self discovery with Alice as she learns to live with herself and in the world of at times overwhelming colour.
I enjoyed this read, I did find the ARC ebook copy a little tricky to follow the timeline as no clear sections. Overall, I enjoyed Alice’s journey and would recommend it to readers of contemporary fiction that enjoy character driven stories. 3,5 stars rounded up. Many thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to review this ARC.

Alice senses others’ true personalities, moods and motivations through seeing the unique combination of colours around and within them. This means that she has the ability to detect another’s true personality, and pick up on that which really lies beneath the facade that they show others. This is problematic in that Alice is easily affected by those moods, seeing the colours actually seep towards herself, in other words she is extremely sensitive and feels vulnerable. So Alice keeps herself to herself at an extreme level, until she learns to live in the world and make relationships with other people, while keeping herself protected. It’s an intriguing premise for a story, but I felt the writing was mediocre; it was rather ‘this happened and that happened, oh and I remember way back when, and then this happened.’ There’s no magic or real intrigue, apart from when describing the colours. I liked the way Cecelia Aherne conjured the swirling and whirling, or outline of colours around others, apart descriptions of heated red crotches, there was quite a bit too much of that!
I was not really sure about continuing the book, as it started so bleakly, without offering anything in the way of positivity or magic, but was intrigued as to how Alice’s story would resolve, so carried on with it. There are a lot of characters, in some cases you start to invest in them and then you never hear from them again. I would have liked more of Naomi. I found her one of the most interesting characters.
I found the ending a little unsatisfying, all in all this was an ok read, but nothing special.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this novel.

If I read this book not knowing who the author was, I would have 100% known it was the magic of my all time fav Cecelia Ahern. I have read and loved every single book of hers and this one did not disappoint ♥️

𝓕𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝔀𝓪𝔂 𝓲𝓼 𝓷𝓮𝓿𝓮𝓻 𝓪 𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮 𝓳𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓮𝔂…

Alice sees the worst in people.

She also sees the best.
She sees a thousand different emotions and knows exactly what everyone around her is feeling.
𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚. 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆. 𝑫𝒂𝒚.
But it’s the dark thoughts.
The sadness. The rage.
These are the things she can’t get out of her head. The things that overwhelm her.

𝓦𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓳𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓷𝓮𝔂 𝓽𝓸 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼𝓮𝓵𝓯 𝓫𝓮𝓰𝓲𝓷?

This book was just gorgeous ♥️ We follow the journey of Alice from a young age, during a difficult childhood right the way through adulthood, who has the gift of seeing peoples emotions through colours that surround them.
The many different (and beautifully described) colours fizz and pop and swirl and shoot like lightening but what may seem to some as an extraordinary gift often feels like a curse to Alice, a huge burden of emotions that she needs to protect herself (and others) from.

This was @official_ceceliaahern at her magical story telling best and will stay with me a long time 💕

𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥*𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠*𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥*𝐓𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫*𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜*𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐤𝐲*𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞

Thank you to @official_ceceliaahern @harpercollinsuk @netgalley for sending this to me in exchange for an honest review 💕
Publication date: 13th April ‘23

"One by one and all at once,
I have seen and felt,
All the colours of living."

Alice has always seen colours around people and these colours influence her emotional responses to them. She sees people for who they truly are and for what they are feeling. Through Alice, Cecelia Ahern has given an in-depth insight into what it is like to have and live with synesthesia.

In a Thousand Different Ways is a fascinating and thought-provoking read. Brutally honest, dark and disturbing at times, Ahern has brought out Alice's emotions brilliantly. However, I wasn't keen on the choppy timeline. There were several time jumps and the flashbacks in the story appeared quite suddenly, making the flow of the story somewhat confusing at times.

As with Freckles, the central character is an unlikeable girl who can be pited at the effects her mother has had on her. Unusually there isn't a loving father but a stalwart brother trying to look out for her.
Synesthesia blights her life until she is older and then it seems quite a good life - just pointless.
Not one of Cecil's Ahetne's best.

This story about a young girl who can see peoples moods as colors is as moving as the words on the pages. From a young age, Alice can see peoples moods in swirls of colors around them. Her struggles eventually turn into her strengths, as she grows in age and wisdom.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I’ve completely fallen in love with her storytelling. This book has helped me to view people around me in a different way. You will laugh, you will cry, and in the end you will be in complete awe.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely beautiful prose and stunning imagery. This is Ahern at her very best.

I fell in love with the premise and the storyline was enchanting. Such vivid characters and impeccable world building.

A gorgeous tale that was as uplifting as it was poignant.

I loved this book. Touching and moving I found it distressing at the beginning but such a lovely middle and ending. Fully recommend

I’d describe this book as realistic fiction. The author has done an amazing job of creating imaginary characters and situations that depict the world and society. The characters focus on themes of growing, self-discovery and confronting personal and social problems.

The E-Book could be improved and more user-friendly, such as links to the chapters, no significant gaps between words some text written has been typed in red and a cover for the book would be better. It is very document-like instead of a book. A star has been deducted because of this.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.