The Year I Met You by Cecelia Ahern

Ahern is well known for writing novels that are a bit different and what I love about this one is that the principal story is a friendship. Yes there are romance plots going on too, but the friendship between the main characters is what makes this story. The relationship between Jasmine and Matt starts of rocky but has a very teasing element from early on and although there are disputes, I enjoyed their banter. I really like books where the characters go on a journey, and I do not mean literally, I mean metaphorically, within themselves. I like how characters learn and change from their experiences and the people they meet and Jasmine and Matt certainly do that and influence each other along the way.

The time of my life by Cecelia Ahern

When I began this book I was slightly confused and a bit dubious of the idea, but as the plot progressed I loved the whole thing. The idea is that your life is another person and what you do affects them, so if you are not living your life or you have messed up, your life (the person) ends up in an awful state. Lucy is contacted by her life to meet with him (yes, her life is a male) because she needs help and by helping her, her life (the person) will also improve. This is another story by Ahern that focuses on a friendship, between Lucy and her life, and I loved their relationship and how it progressed. The idea is just so clever because if what we chose to do in life actually had a direct impact on one person, would we do it? The character of Lucy’s life was brilliant, although he starts off as a mess, and Lucy herself was relatable and although she did not always do the right thing, she was clearly a good person who was trying to do her best in the situations she found herself in. By the end I was left feeling so positive that I could have happily read the book again.