If You Could See Me Now

Cecelia Ahern's novels are some of my absolute favorites to read. They are always a light read, which makes it easy and quick, but they always manage to have an emotional punch. This novel was no exception to the rule. I loved everything about it. It dealt with a woman trying to cope with her family, her own life, her need for control in her world because of the turmoil that lives within her. And it also uses just a touch of the magic, the impossible, in order to truly explain the beauty and flaws of human nature. Sometimes in the process of hiding and protecting ourselves, we do lose the ability to hope. It just ends with a beautiful message.

Light and rather fey story of a dysfunctional Irish family narrated by the imaginary friend. Ivan, the imaginary friend, first appears to help six-year-old Luke but is soon drawn to his aunt and guardian Elizabeth Egan. The story has a childlike, unformed and fairy tale feeling, and resolutions are much to easy. But entertaining.

It seems like I have read a lot of books about imaginary friends lately. This one has a twist, where the imaginary friend is there for the child as well as for his aunt whom he lives with. I love the playfulness which Ahern gives to Ivan and all the other imaginary friends. I am still saying things like “____ is my new favorite thing.”. There was several parts I found myself reading out loud to my husband (a sure sign of a funny book in our home). It made me miss Ireland, and want to go back and explore again someday. The book was very descriptive and visual in parts of it’s writing. It made me wish in part to have an imaginary friend as an adult, and just as glad that I don’t need one. It was quite different from what I show more expected after reading PSILY, but charming in it’s own right. I can’t wait to see what my next Ahern read brings. =D show less

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I liked the idea of the book and the characters a lot. But I found very confusing (and a bit troubling to be honest) Elizabeth's realisation about her parents. Did it really make a difference if her mother was an alcoholic or not? The fact was that she abandoned her kids. And her father is described very cold towards Elizabeth because she reminds him of her mother through the entire book. Does the fact that the mother was an alcoholic and she didn't leave to chase some adventure somehow changes the father's behaviour?? I don't see how. The fact that Elizabeth remembered the scene at the pub with her mother is supposed to be this crucial moment in Elizabeth's development but it didn't feel so important to me. I get why she show more was supressing the memory but not why it had such an impact with her father's relationship. show less

Thirty-four year-old Elizabeth does not have it easy. Her younger sister is a reckless, alcoholic who is constantly losing jobs, disappearing, and leaving Elizabeth to do all the clean-up work. Part of this includes raising Saoirse’s 6-year-old son, Luke. Add to the mix a reclusive and distant father, and a mother who abandoned the family when Elizabeth was thirteen, and it's no wonder Elizabeth is constantly hiding away from people. One day, Ivan, an invisible friend from the land of Ekam Eveileb enters Luke’s life. Was he really sent to to help Elizabeth?

How does a grown woman accept the notion of having her very own invisible friend? Like all fairy tales, this one involves quite a lot of suspending belief, but it’s generally show more well put together and the characters are full enough that we care how things turn out.

Even though the story is both uplifting and entertaining, isn’t a perfect book. It drags on too long, the premise gets a little old and Elizabeth can be more than a little dense. For the most part it’s a quick, light, feel-good read perfect for day when you're looking to escape some of the craziness in your life. show less

All of Cecelia Ahern's stories seem like fairytales but this one particularly so.

I really liked this and read it in one sitting. I wasn't that fond of Elizabeth for most of the book, it's true, she's just too rigid and clinical. But by the end I was shedding tears for her and loving the tale. I wish I had an imaginary friend just like Ivan too.

I was a bit unsure of Ivan initially because there's something a bit squirly about a 6ft man playing and acting like a little boy but I soon got over that and he grew on me. I actually felt really sorry for him at the end too. It must be a good book if I'm feeling sorry for a figment of a book character's imagination......

All in all a really good book and I would recommend it for anyone that likes show more a weepy but feel-good book. And it's just perfect for a beach or garden read. show less

It's Magically Delicious!: Elizabeth Egan never got the chance to be a child. Abandoned by her gypsy alcoholic mother as a young girl, she was forced to raise her younger sister and cater to her bitter, resentful father. At the age of 35, not much has changed, except that now she has adopted her sister's son, Luke, and she is all business as an interior decorator. She has no time to laugh or take the lesser problems of life with a grain of salt. That is, she doesn't until Ivan comes into her life.

Ivan is a "best friend" who usually helps young children in trouble and, at first, only Luke can see him. Then it's Elizabeth who sees him. That's when things get complicated, because, amid all the life-changing fun of discovering the show more childhood she didn't get to have with Ivan and Luke, Elizabeth and Ivan begin to fall in love. There are just a few problems, though: Nobody else can see Ivan, although he is truly there, and he can never grow old like a mortal being.

So what is to become of them? Well, get If You Could See Me Now and find out for yourself. I laughed a lot, cried a few times, and was totally enchanted by the childlike magic aimed at all ages in Ahern's sweet story. Here is a charming book that deserves to be made into a blockbuster family movie. It might even make you believe there's something more than air to your childrens' imaginary playmates. show less