Where Rainbows End

paved the way for normal people

I've loved this book so much. Every bit of it. Let's see how's the movie! Update: the movie disappointed me a bit, not because of the acting (that was brilliant, I love Lily and Sam) but just because it's so different from the book so I was frustrated. Movie was still good but I had this bittersweet feeling.

my god this made me cry 😭 i didn’t know it took them almost 50 years to be with each other 😭😭

when i read this back then, i was so surprised with the narrative style. i think the mail format was really creative. i had never seen one before. but i don't like the complexity of their love relationship. it stressed me out lol. thank god it was a happy ending.

I love how this book was written and this proves that anything can happen in life.

The middle third was pretty slow, but the beginning and end were really cute

incredibly slow paced, which is fine at first but by the middle half i got into a slump. it spans from age 5 to 50, which is just a reason why the movie is superior - couldn’t picture anyone else as rosie & alex. appreciate all the other changes they made as well. towards the end i was just so frustrated at how daft & stupid rosie could be… WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE WITH A CONFESSION?! and why aren’t you leaving that damn job? urgh.

Actual rating: 3,5. Before I start this review, I have a confession to make. I only wanted to pick up this book because - in the movie - the role of Alex was played by Sam Claflin (our beloved Finnick Odair in the Hunger Games). I really wanted to see that movie, because I just think Sam is gorgeous and u g h. But, I also kind of wanted to read the book first, to get to know the story a bit better. So when I saw it for only 7,95 at my local bookstore, I decided to buy it. Where Rainbows End tells the story of Rosie Dunne, and Alex Stewart. They have been best friends since they were five, and they are inseparable. But then, Alex's parents move to Boston and - naturally - they take him with them. He finished high school there and goes onto Harvard to become a heart surgeon. Rosie promises to come there to study Hotel Management as soon as she's graduated. That is until she gets pregnant. I was a bit confused at the size of this book, because I honestly thought the story happened over a period of a couple of years or so, maybe from their teens until their late twenties. But before picking up the book, I read a review on Goodreads that told me this book started at around Rosie's seventh birthday and ended around their fifties or something. A much longer period than I had expected, but still, I was interested in the story. It mainly consists of letters, emails, chat sessions, text messages and post cards send between not only Rosie and Alex, but their families and eventually their children as well. I personally really liked the idea of this book, the different types of exchanges between Alex and Rosie. And later on their families, Rosie and Ruby, Katie (Rosie's daughter) and her best friend Toby and so on. It reminded me a bit of - I am going to say it - Illuminae, except without all the action/suspence and the spacey-wacey stuff of course. The way the book was composed made it so much easier to read in my opinion, and I really finished the 500+ page book within three days. There was one thing I didn't really like, and that was how - at age forty/fifty - Rosie still sounded a bit like a teenager to me. I don't know, maybe she did really change her writingstyle over the years, or maybe people just don't do that at all, but I felt like I was still reading about nineteen year old Rosie. Because I don't have that experience yet, I don't know if people really change their way of writing as they get older, but I do know that I write differently than I used to write when I was sixteen, so yeah. In the end, I really liked Where Rainbows End but I have to admit I didn't love it. My main problem was that it was too long. Had it been told over a shorter period of time, I may have enjoyed it much much more! If you're a lover or stories like Just One Day, Anna and the French Kiss, and Lobsters, but you want a more grown-up book, you should definitely check out this book! My opinion on this book in one gif:

3.5/5 LOVE, ROSIE made me feel nostalgic about the future. i generally don't read books that follow the characters into their adult life, but this novel really changed my perspective on that. for the majority of the book, rosie is in her twenties and thirties and raising a child. because the pacing is fast, it made me realize how time moves so quickly. before you know it, years have gone by and everything has changed, but at the same time, nothing's changed. i dunno, it made me feel thoughtful about life. it also made me realize how important it is to keep your relationships in life, even though the small things like writing a postcard or sending a small gift. life is short and people grow apart very easily. even though the entire book is told solely through IMs, emails, and letters, i could truly see rosie grow and change as a character. i know a lot of people found her annoying, but i think she's a very human character, which is to say there's nothing particularly extraordinary about her and that simple fact made me like her even more. everything about this novel is very mundane and regular, but i was still invested in all the relationships and characters. towards the end, i wasn't even all the invested into the relationship of the novel, but more on rosie's character and life. as i mentioned before, the entire book is told through letters. it's interesting and different, and in some ways made me like the book more, but in others, it made me feel like it was holding back. i cared for the characters but didn't FEEEEEEL them; i was frustrated at the situation, but it wasn't as ALL CAPS UGH UGH UGH as i'd thought it would be. also because it's written in this way, there were some parts that felt a bit unnecessary and dragged (just a little bit). aaaaaand the pacing was a bit strange, albeit reasonable. we'd jump from two years of radio silence to fifty pages of non-stop IMs and letters for a year. it was realistic in that sense, but also unnerving. (side note: it also made me want to start writing letters.) overall, i truly enjoyed this novel! i'm surprised at how invested i was into the story – finishing it in three days even though i was quite busy in my ~real~ life. i do think it could've been a bit MORE at some parts, but i still find it enjoyable and nice. i'm glad it put my mind into perspective of things, and now i'm off to watch the movie and perhaps write some letters. love, xan

esta hermoso el libro es muy original y es sorprendente ver como crecen ambos y toman rumbos muy distintos el final esta hermoso pero me desespere en las ultimas 25

More of an 3.5 star rating.

3.5 stars At first this book made me so angry I can't tell. But then, there were funny parts as well. But then, it made me angry again, and again, and I don't understand, how could anyone make up a story like this? This is not a usual love story. In fact, it was a big drame on a lot of pages fullfilled with letters, emails and texts and it was quite boring. The best part was the epilogue (not because what happened, but because it was written normally.) Don't hate me, I enjoyed reading it..okay, not always, but sometimes. I am thinking of what would happened, if Alex's dad didn't get a job in Boston. (Probably this book would be shorter.) So that's why I give this book 3.5 stars.

warning: there's a little bit of swearing in there, and if that bothers you stop here, because I did not like this book at all. I'M DONE. FINALLY. *Deep breaths* I have this rule about books that become movies: read first, watch later. No matter when that happens. As for this one, I haven't done the latter yet, but I am sure, as in, mathematically sure, that I am gonna enjoy the film so much more than I did with the book. I skimmed through this, I'll admit. The messages had me feeling as though I had been thrown into the story at the most random time ever and thus couldn't connect to a soul in there. Honestly, Rosie unnerved the hell out of me. This is great Rom Com material, but, as far as Romance goes, it's dry and frustration inducing. Ps: Note to Self: avoid Ahern's books like the fucking black plague as hard as you can. They are the furthest thing from your cup of tea. Pps: why in the hell can't chick lit books contain not fifties related swearing? Just curious.

The movie was better?

Where do I begin with this book? Its so weird to me to start a book and hate it as much as I did to end it and rate it 4 stars. My biggest problem was that I saw the movie first. I loved it! So to hear it was a book I pulled up my amazon account and ordered it right away. At first it wasn't so bad a typical movie to book adaption then the huge differences came out. It made it hard for me to want to finish as stupid as that is. I forced myself to keep reading. It's not like it was a terrible read it just wasn't what I wanted it to be. As soon as I got myself passed the point of comparing the two and making them in my mind two completely different stories with similar characters I couldn't put it down. I loved it! It seems to be a very common situation of others who saw the movie before reading the book.

Probably the cutest book I've ever read! Got me hooked from the very first page, and I have to admit, the first couple of chapters made me laugh A LOT! I enjoyed it from start to finish. I kind of got frustrated in the middle because nothing turned out the way I would've liked it to, but then again, that's how life works most of the time. And I plan on reading it again.

28 January 20 (1st read) wayy too long 9 December 21 (re-read) still way too long.

Childhood sweethearts in love from day one and events cause them to drift apart and away from each other untill they finslly realise

Such a beautiful love story written in notes over the time of fifty years. Two best friends and their crazy relationships.

This novel was entertaining but I think it took way too long to present the inevitable result.

Perhaps a 2.5 stars. The entire time I was reading this story, I kept on wishing it would end for multiple of reasons. One was because I knew the main characters would finally get together at the end, and I hate waiting for characters to just be together, and another reason was because I hated reading a story told entirely with emails and letters and instant messaging.

** spoiler alert ** I would've loved this book so much more if it didn't drag on for so long. There was no need for it to take until they were 50 YEARS OLD to get together! They literally had feelings for each other since they were 16. The book should've been 200-300 pages max, and it should've ended by the time they were 30. By the end of the book, Alex was basically a stranger to the reader. We knew absolutely nothing about him. I only really read this book since I wanted to watch the movie, and I try to always read the book(s) before the screen adaptation, but I'm gonna have to say this is a case of the movie being much better than the book. Don't waste your time. Just watch the movie.

"Life is funny, isn't it? Just when you think you've got it all figured out, just when you finally begin to plan something, get excited about it and feel like you know what direction you're heading in, the paths change, the signs change, the wind blows the other way, north is suddenly south, and east is west and you're lost. It is so easy to lose your way, to lose direction. There aren't many sure things in life, but one thing I do know is that you have to deal with the consequences of your actions. You have to follow through on some things." I didn't expect much from this book because I read this book to watch the movie adaptation in the first place; and my Mom already read the translated version of the book—and let's just say she's not entirely impressed by the story. However, my friend who'd also read this book told me otherwise. Even though some things might be irritating, but she really liked how the story was written. So I trusted her recommendation and went with reading it. I've only read one book by Cecelia Ahern before this one, which was P.S. I Love You, and to be honest it was nothing like the movie (in a much better way). So that's why I insisted I need to read the book first before I go and watch Love, Rosie movie adaptation. That was quite a long introduction; but in short, I really enjoyed the way Cecelia Ahern told the story. I love how the whole book consists of letters and e-mail correspondence between Rosie and Alex and their friends and families. It kind of feels like I'm stalking on someone's mailbox/inbox. In this book, we followed Rosie's life from when she's a little kid until she's at the age of fifty. That's a really long time. And throughout the story, I felt like Rosie has become my friend who tells me all that has happened in her life: all the struggles, how she slowly grows up as an adult, how she deals with life, her worries, etc. Thus everything felt so realistic and I really really like that about this book. Even though the book centered around the aggravating romance between the two main characters, I feel like the stories surrounding it are also very entertaining. Various emotions are involved while I was reading this book; and even though I was quite irritated at times (mostly because of bad timings or plain bad luck), I have to admit this book has successfully entertained me. A lot of things that happened in Rosie's life managed to make me laugh. I don't want to get into much detail about the plot because I'm afraid I'll spoil everything. So I'll just say that I love the story from beginning to end, and the ending is done extremely well. Although it took very long to reach that certain point, it was indeed satisfying and made me feel relieved when I closed the book. "Life is hard—so what? It's hard for everyone, isn't it? Anyone who says it's easy is a liar.""Our life is made up of time. Our days are measured in hours, our pay measured by those hours, our knowledge is measured by years. We rush back to our desks, we watch the clock, we live by appointments. And yet time eventually runs out and you wonder in your heart of hearts if those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years and decades were being spent the best way they possibly could." I find myself learning a lot about life from Rosie; and although she's not my favorite character from the book, I actually liked her personality. Above are some quotes that I really liked from the book, which I find very interesting to think about. As for Alex, I'm not impressed by him and his decision; but I have to admit he's been a good friend to Rosie. And the way he writes 'know' as 'no' every single time is the only thing about him that left an impression on me. My favorite characters in this book is actually Ruby—Rosie's best friend, and Phil—Alex's brother. These two are the people who kept pushing Rosie and Alex to admit their feelings for each other. Phil doesn't show up much in the story because Alex only messaged him occasionally (especially when he's in distress about Rosie). But Ruby is quite a major character in this book and I love how sassy she is! I always love her sarcastic remarks and even though she can sound harsh at times, deep down she really cares about Rosie. She's absolutely the best. Another character that's quite important will have to be Katie—Rosie's daughter, and her best friend, Toby. I find it really fascinating how the friendship between these two reflects Rosie and Alex's friendship when they were younger. Thankfully they didn't go down the same aggravating path as Rosie and Alex.... Read the full review here: http://www.thebookielooker.com/2015/0...

Cute story, although I did get a little bored towards the middle. Better for younger readers, I think.