If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern
Waterstone’s Synopsis:
From the internationally bestselling author of PS, I Love You and Where Rainbows End comes an enchanting novel — with more than a little magic! What if love was right there in front of you — you just couldn’t see it? Elizabeth Egan is too busy for friends. As a reluctant mother to her sister Saoirse’s young son Luke and with her own business to run, every precious moment is made to count. But with Saoirse crashing in and out of their lives, leaving both her sister and her son reeling, Luke and Elizabeth are desperately in need of some magic. Enter Ivan. Wild, spontaneous and always looking for adventure, in no time at all Ivan has changed Elizabeth in ways she could never have imagined. But is Ivan too good to be true? Has Elizabeth opened her heart only to risk it being broken again? As for Ivan, he thought he was there to help Luke not Elizabeth — or himself!
I found Ahern an intriguing author. Some of her books, such as PS I Love You and Where Rainbows End I really enjoyed, others, such as A Place Called Here I didn’t get on with at all. This one, If You Could See Me Now, I found interesting but not realistic. This book features stressed women, cute boys and imaginary friends.
Ivan, a mysterious character has just turned up and started hanging out with Luke. But it seems that Elizabeth is in tune with him too… I found this highly unbelievably. She did not realise that Ivan was the same imaginary Ivan that Luke was playing with and did not pick up on the fact others could not see him. She is a smart woman and was just making a fool of herself and that annoyed me.
However, this is a light read and when I ignored the spectacle Elizabeth was making I did enjoy reading about how Ivan was changing her life. There were some beautiful moments in the book that will stay with me, such as dancing in the dandelion field at dawn.
I liked Elizabeth at the beginning. Although she was moody and cold she seemed realistic and I could empathise with her and her situation. As the story unfolded my attitude changed as she changed. There were moments I really felt for her, and others when she really bugged me. Ivan didn’t make much of an impression on me. I found myself wanting him to come clean and explain who he was.
This is an easy read, and for the most part enjoyable. It is unrealistic chick-lit and not Ahern’s best novel but it was OK.
3/5
An enjoyable read If You Could See Me Now by Cecilia Ahern. loved the way you wrote it. I find your review very genuine and original, this book is going in by “to read” list.