The Book of Tomorrow

Hmm… so I finished reading “The Book of Tomorrow” (by Cecelia Ahern), and I feel obliged to write a “review” post, as I’ve been doing for every book I’ve read for the last … however long I’ve been doing this… but I’m just not sure what to write.

I borrowed this book from a friend (it’s a bit of a double-edged sword having friends know that you love reading – they’re always happy to recommend and lend books to you, adding to the never-ending pile of books to read), and it’s probably not the sort of book that I’d normally pick up and read, which, ironically, was one of the things that attracted me to it.

Ok, for one, the edition I read has a bright purple cover. Nothing against the colour purple, but it kind of made the book seem like something a teenage girl would read (there is an awful lot of swearing in it though, so I’m not sure if Ahern was really going for the younger readers on this one). Also, I knew the author’s name sounded familiar, but a little note at the bottom of the front cover helpfully advised me that Cecelia Ahern was also the author of “PS, I Love You”. Again, nothing against that book/movie (I’ve only seen the movie, but not sure if I watched the whole thing…) but, from what I remember of it, it is a romance and, at the risk of sounding a bit jaded, romance stories kind of make me roll my eyes a bit.

But, despite all that, the blurb sounded kind of interesting, and it was a novel that my friend liked. And I was kind of interested in reading something by Cecelia Ahern, so… I read it. Besides, I guess it didn’t seem too romance-y, and I quickly established that this certainly was not a children’s book. An added bonus was that the actual print is reasonably large compared to what I’ve been reading lately, so it was a welcome relief for my eyes. (I am dreading the day that I need glasses.)

TBOT is basically about a spoilt teenager, Tamara, and how her dad suddenly commits suicide, and she and her mother are forced to live with her aunt in the middle of nowhere. Tamara eventually finds this old diary of sorts, which magically shows her the entry that she writes the next day, before any of it has even happened. As such, she is able to see into the future, and alter the course of certain events. This is particularly helpful for her because she suspects that her aunt, Rosaleen, is up to something.

One question i asked myself after finishing TBOT was whether the story could have worked without the diary, and I think the answer is yes; it just would have taken her a whole lot longer to figure out what was going on. I do like the concept, although if such a thing existed, it would likely get horribly abused…

Something strange that I’ve realised is that I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likeable – well, maybe except for Sister Ignatius. I didn’t really sympathise that much with Tamara, her mum was a bit “meh”, Rosaleen wasn’t even remotely likeable, and even Marcus didn’t turn out to be that great. Weseley seemed alright for the most part, but I kept reading his name like “Weasley”, and I’m not sure that’s the right way to say it. Maybe it’s meant to be more like “Wesley”. Whatever.

Yeah, ok, maybe Tamara becoming less bratty as the story progressed kind of made her more likeable.

But it was a good book. I did enjoy reading it. It was actually very easy to read (despite the grammatical errors – mostly missing commas). I finished it within a week, amongst work and blog-reading and whatever else I do with my time. I even got a bunch of CPD done, and I still finished it in a week. Maybe the large font really did help.

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