A horrendously long 6 hour trip to London last weekend combined with too much coffee meant that I read the entirety of the one book I had bought with me in the first half of my journey. It was ok, something about women who go to weight watchers and love affairs, and if I ever remember the title I'll no doubt do a review of it sometime soon. The best thing about the library is that you don't feel cheated out of £8+ for an ok book.
So on my return journey I found myself in WH Smith Victoria with only five minutes to chose a book. If I'd been more organised I would've gone through my amazon wishlist the night beforehand but I was far too busy having fun with my bestest. In my haste, I chose another by Cecilia Ahern; 'Where Rainbows End'. It was going to be between that and PS I Love You but I didn't want the film tainting my imagination of the book.
'Where Rainbows End' is a tale of two childhood friends whom 'fate and destiny can't help toying with...Rose and Alex have stuck by each other through thick and thin. But just as they're discovering the joys of teenage nights on the town, they're seperated. Alex's family move from Dublin to America - and Alex goes with them. Rosie's lost without her best friend. But on the eve of her deperture to follow Alex to Boston, she receives news that will change her life - forever.'
I suppose I picked the book because I was so pleasantly suprised with 'A Place Called Here' and assumed it would have the same touch of magic and warmth as both 'A Place Called Here' and the story of PS I Love you. How wrong I could be! And also what a coincidence that 'Where Rainbows End' was the follow up to PS I Love You. I found the storyline arduous, the characters irritating and the writing style; a collection of letters, text messages and emails from all the characters, decidedly cringeworthy. The text messages and emails especially so; reminiscent of the time my Pops sent me an email with 'ROFL' on the end; cringefest. Once the story finally suckered me in about 3/4 way through (given that I was sat on a smelly bus, next to a guy with the most annoying elbows and knees, for 7 hours; I didn't really have much of a choice but to force myself to enjoy it) the ending was so disappointingly abrupt I felt like shredding the thing. After you've read through fifty years of two people very nearly getting it on every five years or so, you want a little bit of poignant writing when they finally realise that they do actually love it each other. Instead, Ahern toys with you and leaves with a "and guess who was at my front door..." type of ending. I suppose in the world of Chick Lit she is to be commended for being a little different, but it was just plain irritating.
I think the characters felt annoying because it just seemed like there wasn't as much care and though put into them as the aforementioned novels. Which is why I comment that it is hardly coincidental that 'Where Rainbows End' was the follow up to 'PS I Love You'; one gets the feeling that Ahern was pushed by the publishers to churn out another best-seller before the wave of PS I Love You died down.
Amazon customer reviews astonishingly give this 4 1/2 stars, and I'd suggest those readers go and read Bridget Jones or suchlike. It gets half a star at best for me; it might've made one if I had borrowed it from the library instead of sending £8 of my hard earned dollar on it.
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