I’m a massive fan of Cecelia Ahern and always jump on to read her new release as soon as possible. Her writing style has certainly changed over the years but has always been a good enjoyable read. This book took some patience and at one point I was ready to think that this book wasn’t for me as it just wasn’t holding my attention nor interest. It took a while to get into the story and for me the story didn’t pick up about 30% through.

Given that, I found I was enjoying the story of Enya who is a troubled GP who carries the ghost of her mother’s death with her, especially as Enya is almost at the age of when her mum passed away. Enya took a little while to warm towards. The story follows Enya in her dysfunctional family and the repercussions of a hit and run accident, where Enya helps the young victim, who reminds her of her own son.

This book isn’t a light read, it does take patience and goes quite deep into emotions experienced with a fractured family, friendships and death. I’m glad I stuck with it and continued to read, as it’s thought provoking, reflecting love and friendship, making amends and finding peace with oneself.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Collins UK, HarperFiction for the ARC, in return of an honest, unbiased review.

The author involves you in the life of Enya a troubled GP whose life has been blighted by the loss of her mother to drowning due to a heart attack when Enya was twelve and her mother forty seven. She is unhappy in her marriage with her fellow GP who is alienating her from her beloved son Finn. Everything comes to a head when she is involved in saving the life of a teenage boy struck by a car during a storm. An engrossing read with a surprising twist before the end.

An excellent read thanks netgalley for the review copy. Enya the main character dealing with part and present trauma. The twists along the way were brilliant. Definitely recommend.

Didn’t finish this book. Got half way through but it wasn’t really for me. I’ve read many of Cecelia Ahern books in the past but this one just didn’t keep my attention. Not really sure why. The writing as always was fantastic but it felt a bit samey to other books I’ve read.

This book resonated with me, as I felt exactly the same as Enya leading up to being the same age my mum was when she died (49) the strangest feeling!

Haven’t read books by this author for many years but sure this book was chosen with me in mind! I really enjoyed the different aspects of the storyline! Enya. Finn, Margaret, Xander, Oliver, all very interesting characters with their own back history!

A well written book that I would recommend

A bit different from what I'm used to from Cecelia Ahern - this was more of a mystery than I expected.

A solid story but I struggled somewhat as I really didn't like Anya the main character and didn't particularly empathise making it hard to invest, but I can see the appeal to others.

One night close to Christmas, Dr Enya Pickering is driving home and comes across the scene of a hit and run. She administers emergency first aid and saves the life of the boy in question. What follows is a chain of events that cause her life to spiral out of control!
I am a massive fan of Cecelia Ahern and this book was really deep. Mixing folklore with tales of dysfunctional families. Enya is struggling with the loss of her mum from many years before, and becoming the age her mum was when she died.
It wasn’t what I expected, but it is a story about choices, recovery, families, making amends and friendships. Very sad and reflective.

I found this book ok to read but to be honest it wasn't one of my favourites. At some points I found it hard to stay reading because I didn't feel invested enough in the main character, Enya, and felt I could just as easily have left it unfinished. This isn't to say it's a bad book, but maybe the character just didn't really chime with me. Others have described it as 'gripping' but for me, it definitely wasn't.

The story begins with Enya chatting to her sister while driving, and they are discussing a family get together. Enya possibly hits something or possibly sees someone else in the road and gets out. As a GP, she helps a boy in the road who has been hit by a car. The boy reminds her of her teenage son. This then starts to unravel something in her and we discover that she's been feeling unsettled prior to this evening.

Enya is approaching a her 47th birthday, and her mother died at the age of 47. It's playing on her mind and she can't envisage reaching an age beyond the age her mother did. This ties in with a sense that she's unhappy in her marriage and dissatisfied with life in general.

Following the accident, Enya leaves her husband to live in a cottage in a small village, becoming its new GP. She struggles with keeping up contact with her son Finn and also struggles settling into a new place. She is somewhat stalked by the man she met on the road who is insistent on convincing her that he didn't hit him.

One thing I enjoyed about the book is the sense of a woman trying to find some freedom and break free of society's expectations of how she should behave. I also enjoyed the characterisation of her husband, who is pretty horrendous - quite shallow and focused on the appearance of things rather than their real nature. It's hard to understand why she's with him.

However, I have to go back to where I started and say that I didn't really enjoy this very much. I didn't find Enya engaging enough as a character, and possibly found the writing of it and the plot a little bit stilted.

It's rather disconcerting when you are driving home and the rain is of biblical proportions when you see a man standing in the middle of the road near something. Enya, A GP, gets out and discovers a boy lying on the road and the other man Oscar saying he didn't hit him, he found him like it and has called the emergency services. Enya has her own issues. Since moving into her now deceased mother-in-law's home. Enya’s marriage hasn't been great. Her son has become very detached and when he’s home from school he escapes to his room without interaction. When she leaves and takes up a new rural practice things aren’t as straightforward as she first thought. There is a tree with rags on, blocking the light and when Enya tries to have it taken down things turn for the worse. Enya has her own secrets as does Margaret who is looking after the property Enya is in and they become friends. What really happened on the night of the accident and will the truth keep everyone safe?

This is an intriguing tale, as if there is a tension bubbling under the surface. It begins with the accident and then follows through to the village when Enya is now the sole GP. It's brilliantly written, as with all Cecelia's books, and quickly grabs the reader's attention, not letting go., making me want to read more. It’s clever and well sculpted, written mostly from Enya’s point of view. An enticing, captivating read I thoroughly enjoyed.

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I am not sure what I thought of this book- I didn't like Enya or her husband at all and felt they deserved each other. Was Enya having a midlife crisis, or was she just feeling guilty? The ending was a little bit of a surprise. You'll have to read it yourself and make up your own mind.

I usually love and devour Cecelia's books. This one I did read it but it didn't hit the mark for me. Every time I put it down, I struggled to pick it back.

The writing style was different from what I am used to from her, at some point I felt I was reading a mystery book! The concept is very interesting and started strong, but I felt bored most of the time.

The main character, Enya, wasn't likeable at all for me and it was frustrating to see a GP like herself not being capable of diagnosing herself. The character of Margaret, though, was a great addition.

Hugely immersive and emotional. Such a well constructed, thought provoking read. Wonderfully written. Loved it.

Dr Enya Pickering, a GP, is driving home late one Winter's evening having left a dinner party to make a house call to a young baby. A violent storm rages, with rain lashing down making visibility horrendous. She is flagged down by an agitated taxi driver who says he has come across a teenager in the road, apparently the victim of a hit and run. Enya dashes to the boy, initially panicking as the victim appears to be her 15 year old son Finn. Relieved this isn't the case, she provides CPR whilst waiting for the emergency services and saves the boy"s life. Noticeably shaken, Enya returns home. She is already struggling with her mental health; unhappy in her marriage, a son who barely acknowledges her and the death of her mother when she was a young girl. The events of that evening are the final straw. Consumed by desolate thoughts she accepts a new job as a rural GP, leaving her son and husband behind. The past has a habit of catching up with us and, with her husband obstructing any communication with her son, Enya becomes increasingly tormented.

I didn't particularly warm to Enya as a character. However the description of her declining mental health in respect of her mother's death was well written and very believable. Grief can consume, the narrative around this was sympathetic and thoughtful. For me, the hero of the book is Margaret. Battling her own demons, her wryly amusing dialogue provided some lighter moments. The detailed snippets of Irish mythology and pagan beliefs were fascinating, particularly around the changing seasons.

A good read, but definitely not my favourite Cecilia Ahern novel.

With thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for allowing me to read this advanced reader copy in return for my honest and unbiased review.

An absolutely brilliant book again from Cecelia! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely as always be recommending this book to everyone!

Wow what a rollercoaster! Enya is having a crisis, and it seems her whole world is imploding! Caught up with the realisation that she’s going to surpass her mums age, the death of her mother hits her hard. An accident on a dark night, tips her balance and her life unravels, there are some pretty scary characters, who only seem to make Enya spiral further. Cecelia Ahern’s writing is so descriptive, I had so much empathy for all the families involved.

I just kept imagining the main character to be Reese Witherspoon!
I really enjoyed it, it was quick to read and the underlying centre around the tree made it a bit more creative.

I absolutely love Cecelia Aherns novels. Always have. She’s one of those authors that I will recommend to everyone, without hesitation. A must buy, without even reading the synopsis. So it’s fair to say I had high expectations with this one.
This one when I picked it up, immediately felt familiar but subtly different. Like that feeling when you walk into your bedroom, everything around you looks exactly the same, but you just “feel” something has changed. That is this book from start to finish.
This is a darker plot line to the authors usual narrative, It has more of a melancholic, eerie atmosphere to it. The characters aren’t all likeable, there are a couple of good strong female leads (The author always manages to create powerful leading women).
The story was a definitely more of a slow paced/ slow burn, than what we’ve come to expect from Cecilia Ahern. This didn’t bother me personally as I felt it fitted with the eerie atmosphere that had already been created. However I can also understand where others are coming from when they say it felt like it dragged in the middle.
Although this one probably isn’t up in my top 3 by this author, I still thoroughly enjoyed it,
I will absolutely, be recommending this to everyone. I will also continue to pick up this authors books and read them without knowing anything about the books beforehand, I am that confident in my love and trust of Cecelia Aherm as an author.
Thank you to the author, publisher and netgalley for my ARC.

A emotional mystery that will grip you so tight that you can't breathe. She is a GP and she fights to keep a young boy alive in the pouring rain. I love how intense the plot is and becomes as the characters developed. It's a emotional ride with twists that tear at you.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.
I usually devour Cecilia Ahern’s books as they enthral me and some of which I’ve rated highly in the past, unfortunately this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me.
While the concept was interesting I found I got a tad bored around the middle of the book as it felt slow and overly draw out.
There were some strong female characters such as Margaret and Flora but it didn’t quite hit the mark this time.
Overall I don’t think this is one of Ahern’s strongest novels, I’d say read it if you’re a fan as it’s mostly enjoyable.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book!
As a lover of Cecilia Ahern’s books, some of which I’ve rated very highly in the past, I was very excited to receive a copy of this book. Unfortunately however, this one didn’t quite hit the mark for me.
While the concept was interesting and something which I hadn’t read before in terms of being seeped in Irish mythology, I found the middle of the book to be very slow moving and I must admit that at times I struggled to pick this book up and continue reading.
There were some strong female characters in the form of Margaret and Flora who I enjoyed and Ahern painted an excellent picture of multiple male figures who were very unlikable, which added to the storyline.

Overall I don’t think this is one of Ahern’s strongest novels, but at times it was an enjoyable read. The last 30% of the book in particular made for very fast and easy reading.