This book was a story of finding yourself. I enjoyed Alice’s story I was really invested in her strength.

I would suggest reading the trigger warnings before starting this book as there was some domestic abuse throughout.

Overall, I couldn’t put this book down because I needed to know what would happen next. It was an easy quick read with a happy ending 💕

A truly fascinating and riveting novel, exploring the concept of synesthesia. Alice is marked out from a young age as "different" She struggles to cope with ordinary life and relationships because her world is overwhelmed by the colours which other people project. Alice sees peoples' emotions as colours, and she is terrified of being overwhelmed by them. Add to this a complex family life, and you have a recipe for struggle and trauma.
The novel tracks Alice from child to adult, and documents her journey in understanding herself. Whilst the descriptions and exploration of the synesthesia is interesting in itself, the author also has a keen understanding of the complexities of relationships, particularly family relationships.
I was hooked from early in the novel. I thoroughly recommend it.

A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS

Thank you #Netgalley and #HarperCollinsUk for my E-arc copy of #AThousandDifferentWays in exchange for my honest review.

An interesting and completely original plot, resulting in an interesting read.

Imagine you can associate all human emotions with a colour: synesthesia, well that’s exactly what eight year old Alice could do.

This book really gets the reader involved, by making you question so much.

Are these colours synesthesia, or just sensory overload ? A rainbow of emotions ?
Encouraging the reader to continue.

However I found that the Non linear structure of this novel really didn’t help with the flow of the story as it became confusing and repetitive.

I was sent a copy of In a Thousand Different Ways by Cecelia Ahern to read and review by NetGalley. This for me is the author’s best novel yet – out of the ones I have read at least! It tackles the unusual phenomenon of synaesthesia and does it in such a way that you almost experience it yourself along with Alice the protagonist. We are taken on a life’s journey from when Alice first comes to experience ‘the colours’ and the adjustments she makes within her life to accommodate being able to read and feel people’s emotions so clearly. There was only one downside for me, that being that the last chapters of the novel had everything in Alice’s later life condensed, and the ending just waxed a little too lyrical for my liking. This didn’t make me want to mark the entire book down from the maximum 5 stars though, as I thought the majority of the book was more than worthy.

This is my first time reading Ahern, and I am happy to say that it didn't disappoint. I don't know what I was expecting, perhaps a romance (which did feature but is not the main focus) but certainly not what I got.

The story is told from the perspective of Alice, starting from when she is young right up into her adulthood. We meet her just as she starts to see people's emotional auras/colours and starts to learn how peoples emotions interact with each other, from her mother's anger engulfing her younger brother, compared to how it washes off her older one.

The story telling is deeply complex, capturing well what it is like to grow up in a toxic environment, particularly well emphasized by Alice's talent. Ahern captures well the skills that trauma survivors develop and how they use them in their lives. She manages to make something very nuanced (such as the ability to read a room almost all the time) and make it very understandable.

The storyline itself is insightful, following Alice all the way from childhood into adulthood, where she finally meets someone who she can't "read". Something which proves to be a learning curve for her in and of itself. The cast of characters are very believable, particularly her family. From the older brother who cares but is intent on his own freedom, to the younger brother who is ruled by the anger he inherited from his mother. Her mother and father are both also very well developed, the father is an absent father who is only touched off briefly in the book but that makes it all the more salient, as it reflects the nature of their relationship all along.

I thoroughly recommend the book for those who are fans of Ahern and for those who are into fiction with a hint of a twist. The story is very well done and once I started I found that I couldn't put it down.

Once you get your head around the fact that some people see the world differently - and in this book it’s about seeing people in colours - then this book will uplift you whilst frustrate you and sometimes make you emotional. Very well researched and a big shift from Celelia Aherne’s usual themes. Well written with great characterisation.

Oh my heart! I adored this book ♥️

Alice’s mother is bipolar and the family home is a difficult place for Alice and her brothers; “She has moments of kindness, but she is not kind. She has moments where she cares, but she is not caring.”

Eight year old Alice discovers she sees people’s auras - their colours, which reflect their personality, emotions and desires.
She watches in fear and confusion as her younger brother, Ollie, is enrobed in her mother’s anger, wrapping it around himself like a blanket, absorbing it into his body, so that it causes him to fly into a rage himself, while the red mist simply bounces off her older brother, Hugh.

The story follows Alice throughout her whole life, from the special behavioural school she is sent to, her family, friendships, relationships, motherhood and to her final moments.

It is beautifully written and stirs up so many emotions.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

It’s a long time since I read anything by Cecelia Ahern but I didn’t expect this.
In a Thousand different Ways made me think about how people live with unusual conditions and how they’re seen.
Beautifully written a story of one woman’s struggle against family and friends and finally finding love and accepting her condition.
Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this lovely book

Good, but I think the ending was rushed, and very last bit was a bit of a let down for me. Loved the premise, but I did not like the regular jumping between past and present. It seemed abrupt, possibly because of the way the ARC was presented. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cecelia Ahern is a well known storyteller, this beautiful heartwarming story captures the reader from page one
Alice sees people’s colours, can feel their aura, she wears sunglasses from an early age to prevent her from seeing so much, she has a troubled time at school, is sent to a boarding school, she has few friends.
When her mother takes ill Alice steps up to being her full time carer, this is a thankless task some days but Alice takes her mother out in a wheelchair, the walk all the parks and being close to nature every day Alice realises she can also see the plants, she knows what ails them and they flourish under her care.
Unexpectedly Alice encounters a man on the tube who has no colours, she is intrigued, she spends weeks trying to find him again. They do eventually find each other and their story although not all plan sailing, is magical. Alice had always thought of her gift as a curse had never envisioned herself being married and having a family,
This is a beautiful intriguing story of a girl who is different, she battles with herself, she learns to allow herself to be herself. The story made me laugh, made me feel sad but is such a good read, it’s very atmospheric, I could almost see the colours myself.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Harper Collins UK for an ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

This book is the life of Alice Kelly who has the rare condition of Synesthesia (dubbed Aura Migraine) whereby she can see the colour of people's aura and lives in a dysfunctional family. It is not clear if she was born with it or developed it later, but she is suffering alimentation and feels cursed. Ollie her younger brother soaks in his mother's blue and red (Depression and Anger) while Hugh her older brother with his Pink (Love) manages to be the beacon of sanity for Alice.

When she goes off to school for difficult children (with anger issues and lack of concentration) due to her mother and later come back home as a carer for her now invalid mother - the events are more fill in the blanks. I was waiting for critical events to happen - but they never did except for when Ollie gets released from Prison and she is forced to go out.

I know the adage it is not the destination but the journey that matters, but Alice's journey is more of the same. It felt a bit like a mega serial (soap opera) with an extraordinary person since the mini-events happened to be nothing life changing or from a novel form story line altering. I did admire the author's conviction to see the world in it's colors and some of it's passages around light and prism to demonstrate maturity. Some parts like wearing a shield or her sales roles through aura mirroring seemed a bit stretched. The last part of her family was in super fast forward mode like done around the publishing deadline.

The book is a laudable effort and appeals to you if you are patient and want to understand a unique life.

ARC: I would like to thank HarperCollins and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

Another great Cecilia Ahern. I couldn’t help but love the main character in this book. I felt her pain along with her and really wanted things to improve for her.

Cecilia knows how to give enough attention to detail to make you feel everything the characters are feeling. The way she describes the colours that surround different people throughout this story is so clear, it felt like I could see them too

Highly recommend

I received a free digital download of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book. Amazing concept. Beautifully described what life would be like if you could know people's emotions reflected in colours, their intentions and feelings. Sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse. With realistic characters throughout. A great book to escape and melt into.

Cecelia Ahern is a most talented and beautiful writer. I don’t think I’ve ever read one of her books and not had a little cry and this book is no exception.

When a young girl suddenly realises she can “see” her mum’s mood by the colours she is giving off, which soon develops to seeing everyone around her, her life changes. She is different and life can be very difficult for anyone who is different.

A fantastic book that you just won’t want to put down.

Another unique and magical read from this amazing author, how does she manage it. Took a little while for me to get into the story but then I was hooked, a complete page turner, thankyou

The story is based on an interesting premise that Alice sees the emotional auras that people emit. She doesn’t understand her gift when she is young and is seen as a difficult child with behavioural difficulties. As she ages this gift has many effects on her life.
Making allowances for the way this book jumps about all over the place it is an unusual, interesting read. However the final chapters are a gallop thru births, and deaths in quite unseemly haste and spoil the overall effect of the novel.

I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I have read lots of Cecelia Ahern's book but this one I just couldn't get into, just too much jumping around to know what is going on and too much talking about aura's that it bored me.
Sorry not for me.
Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC

This novel’s main character, Alice, comes from a dysfunctional family. Her single mother, Lily, is a troubled soul who’s overwhelmed by her circumstances, has unpredictable behaviour, and a tendency to neglect to care for her three wary children.

As a young girl, Alice senses a blue cloud in the house that leads her to her mother’s bedroom. It gradually dawns on her that she is sensing people’s moods, motives and emotions in varying colours that indicate what is happening inside them.

The synesthesia helps Alice discern how others are feeling because of the colours/auras they unknowingly project. The downside of this is the way their negative emotions in particular can pervade and overwhelm her.

Alice tries to protect herself by wearing sunglasses and maintaining a physical barrier between herself and others. Later on, a Reiki instructor friend in London shows her how to safeguard herself by means of an aural shield. This works brilliantly yet considerably drains her energy.

Although her younger brother, Ollie, goes off the rails and spends time in jail, her elder brother, Hugo, and his wife, are a supportive, stable presence in her life. When Alice encounters Andy, she’s puzzled and inexorably drawn to him because she cannot detect any colours surrounding him.

Lily eventually becomes sick with cancer. With Ollie in prison and Hugh in Dohar, Alice is forced to return to Dublin to be her mother’s carer, a role she resents until nurturing plants becomes her saving grace and future career.

This is a well written book with an intriguing premise, sympathetically drawn characters, an empathetic approach to the subject of synesthesia, and a compelling protagonist whose challenges tug at the heartstrings.

It is let down a little by being written predominantly in the present tense which can be quite irksome, a slow-burn storyline, no clear demarcation between past or present storylines, and an ending which felt unsatisfactorily rushed. Grateful thanks to Harper Collins UK, Harper Fiction and NetGalley for the ARC.

As always Cecelia Ahern never fails to captivate the reader with a unique story - Alice has a gift - she can read people by their colours - the auras they give off this in turn is both a blessing and a curse . Detailing a difficult childhood with a mother who doesn’t care and siblings Hugh and Ollie this book offered the reader a heartfelt story of love and loss in a special and unique way

A truly magical and thought-provoking read! Luckily its school holidays so I could indulge in a whole day of reading . It made me wonder how we’d all look if we had colours representing our thoughts and feelings visible for the world to see. I loved Alice’s relationship with her older brother, her plants and the people in her life who loved her for who she was.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this heartwarming read ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📚