The Book Of Tomorrow

N.B.  This review is based on an uncorrected proof of the title, so some of the quotations and information might be different from those of the final print.

Ireland’s former prime minister’s daughter Cecelia Ahern proved herself to me that she’s a brilliant story teller with her   novel The Book Of Tomorrow ,  the first ever book of hers that I’ve read.  It was so gripping with a good plot that holds a mystery that reveals itself only near the end, really likable language style, and some philosophical views of life and love.

The story is presented is of being told by Tamara Goodwin, a spoiled teenage girl who’s father is a very rich developer.   She is a very self centered girl, having being brought up without a care in the world. But her world is shattered in to pieces when her father, after getting deep in to debt, takes his own life.  Stripped off from their fancy home and all the riches, Tamara and her mother are forced to live with Tamara’s uncle and aunt in remote and isolated place.  As they get on with this new life Tamara is very concerned about her mother continuing to appear so dazed and indifferent, and her aunt refusing to show her to a doctor, and even more weirdly, trying to hide something.   Things develop in to a whole new level when Tamara comes across a diary that automatically shows entries for tomorrow when she look s in it to it, in her own hand writing! With the help of the diary Tamara tries to predict and manipulate her tomorrows to help her mother out of her daze and find out the secret her aunt is holding.

I’ll quote the very first two and part of three paragraphs of the book so that you can get a feel of how beautifully Cecelia has woven this story.

“….. They say a story loses something with each telling. If that is the case, this story has lost nothing, for it’s the first time it’s being told.  

This story is one for which some people will have to suspend their disbelief.  And, if it didn’t happen to me, I would be one of those people.

Many won’t struggle to believe it though, for their minds have been opened; unlocked by whatever kind of key causes people to believe.   They’re either born that way or, as babies, their little bud like minds are nurtured until their petals slowly open and prepare for the very nature of life to feed them……”

See the symbols she uses to get her point across?

The plot is so gripping in the sense it slowly, very slowly, builds up tension, untwisting a tiny bit at a time yet presenting another twist, creating such intense anticipation of something sinister to happen, a quality I saw in the movie Coraline too. [I didn’t get to read the book.]  It was a little too rushed near the end though, and when the big secret is finally revealed, it is rather unconvincing. Had the secret being a plausible one in a real life situation, this book would have been even better. What I like most about The Book Of Tomorrow is that it makes the reader think about life, love, caring while being one of the best suspense, thriller, fantasy novels ever.   I can’t wait to get my hands on Cecelia Ahern’s other books!