The Book of Tomorrow

After Tamara Goodwin's father finds himself unable to pay off all his debts and commits suicide, she and her mother are exiled to the countryside, to Tamara's aunt and uncle.

Gone is the pool and bath with a built in television. Gone are the posh Dublin friends and fancy foods; the shopping trips to London and weekends in Paris. Now Tamara finds herself living in a tiny village, in the gatehouse to an ancient castle, with her crazy aunt and her uncle who hardly ever speaks a word. And her mother who's still 'grieving'--but in a way that means that she never comes out of her room or speaks to anyone.

Tamara's going stir crazy when, one day not long after her arrival, Marcus, a local boy, shows up driving the traveling library. Tamara show more finds one book in the library that she decides and after finally prying open the lock on it, she finds diary entries. Entries written in her own handwriting. Dated the next day.

Tamara's at first skeptical, but with her life seemingly flying out of control--just what is going on with her mother, and why won't her aunt have her seen by a doctor?--and the journal turning out right that first day, Tamara decides to give listening a shot.

Maybe the book will give her some answers.


I've only read two of Cecelia Ahern's other books, PS I Love You and Rosie Dunne/Love, Rosie, and while I really liked those books, this one was loads better. The Book of Tomorrow had a lot more depth than Cecelia Ahern's other books that I've read. It was suspenseful and emotional--but without being Lifetime moviesque--and the characters, their relationships and the different dynamics were really well done and, quite frankly, rather unexpected, too.

This is all on top of a character that would not have been at all out of place in a Hitchcock or Stephen King tale. She was creepy, I'm telling you. As I've said I haven't read all of Ahern's writing so I don't know if any of them are in the same vein as Book of Tomorrow but I certainly hope that some of her future work is because, if so, readers are certainly in for a treat.

While Cecelia Ahern can do romance and sweet and cute, she can really do mystery with a hint of creepy & magic.


The main character in The Book of Tomorrow is a teenager, but Tomorrow is really an ageless book (if that's even a thing--if not, I am now making it one!). Readers of any age--those of Tamara's age up to those of Rosealeen's age and beyond--will easily enjoy this tale. There is mention (and I believe just mention/recollection more so than action) of teens doing things that good teens maybe wouldn't do, so some might not like it for younger teens there. But because nothing's explicit and everything really does have consequences, I really wouldn't even stop them from reading this.


10/10

(won a galley from the publisher) show less

Tamara Goodwin has it all…or rather had before her life took an unexpected detour to “I-wish-I-wasn’t-here”-ville. Living the life with family and friends, her days were spent in school, but her nights and weekends were for partying, jet setting, and living it up on the town until one day all the glitz and the glamour fell away to reveal a frightening truth that would shake her world to its core. It seems that while everything on the surface looked ordinary, trouble was brewing dark and deep, in this case…money trouble. Her father did his best to take care of it all but when things finally got the best of him; he sought the only exit he could see before it all came tumbling down around them.

His rash actions did not leave show more behind the intended results as his widow and child were now forced from their (non) humble abode and into the waiting arms of Arthur and Rosaleen Byrne…her mother’s brother and his wife. But things are not always what they seem, my dear friends as Tamara is soon to discover. Though the grounds are majestic, the house quaint, and the hospitality welcoming, she can sense an undercurrent of secrets and lies….just what or whom they are about though is anyone’s guess or at least it was until a certain book came into her life. This wasn’t just any book though; this was a journal and it held a special magic all its own. The question is will Tamara discover the secrets it truly holds before it’s too late?

What to say about this one without giving away the story! To put it simply...it was AWESOME. When I saw this title being promoted, I was immediately taken aback by the cover art. It’s not that there is something dramatic going on or a dizzying amount of patterns to contend with; it’s the simple beauty that speaks to the ever curious soul. Toted as Fiction but would be just as at home on the Young Adult shelf (and with readers of the genre) seeing as how our lead character is a young lady of sixteen years.

Aside from the beautiful descriptions of time and place that draw forth images AND emotion in one sweep of the eyes, the characters are completely tangible. Tamara was the snarky little sixteen year old feeling like a duck out of water due to her family’s quick move and change in lifestyle…not to mention the death of her father...always looking for something more. Her mother, though seemingly lost in her own mind, has her moments of lucidity but instead of them being reassuring, they just add to the already heightened sense you have that something is not quite right. Arthur and Rosaleen mean well though their stability is questionable and both of our young male love interests are written as half delinquent, half prince (Marcus and Weseley). Together they make an unusual family portrait to be certain but a family of sorts nonetheless based on their connections to each other through blood and acquaintance.

For as much beauty as there is though, there’s also plenty of mystery, secrets dark and buried deep, and...humor. No really...in the strangest of places you’ll happen upon a passage that you just can’t help but smile, laugh, or downright guffaw at. I could literally quote at least one passage from each chapter and it would never get old…though I won’t to save you the trouble of reading it here and then once again in the actual book.

In the end, I believe it’s clear...I LOVED this book. It was surprising and beautiful in all the right ways and I can’t recommend it enough. There is one warning that I will pass on to you readers, the last chapters are a DOOZY. There is so much to absorb you may find yourself rereading a section or two, but don’t worry...it ties everything together quite nicely. Trust me. Happy reading! show less

Tamara Goodwin has it all…or rather had before her life took an unexpected detour to “I-wish-I-wasn’t-here”-ville. Living the life with family and friends, her days were spent in school, but her nights and weekends were for partying, jet setting, and living it up on the town until one day all the glitz and the glamour fell away to reveal a frightening truth that would shake her world to its core. It seems that while everything on the surface looked ordinary, trouble was brewing dark and deep, in this case…money trouble. Her father did his best to take care of it all but when things finally got the best of him; he sought the only exit he could see before it all came tumbling down around them.

His rash actions did not leave show more behind the intended results as his widow and child were now forced from their (non) humble abode and into the waiting arms of Arthur and Rosaleen Byrne…her mother’s brother and his wife. But things are not always what they seem, my dear friends as Tamara is soon to discover. Though the grounds are majestic, the house quaint, and the hospitality welcoming, she can sense an undercurrent of secrets and lies….just what or whom they are about though is anyone’s guess or at least it was until a certain book came into her life. This wasn’t just any book though; this was a journal and it held a special magic all its own. The question is will Tamara discover the secrets it truly holds before it’s too late?

What to say about this one without giving away the story! To put it simply...it was AWESOME. When I saw this title being promoted, I was immediately taken aback by the cover art. It’s not that there is something dramatic going on or a dizzying amount of patterns to contend with; it’s the simple beauty that speaks to the ever curious soul. Toted as Fiction but would be just as at home on the Young Adult shelf (and with readers of the genre) seeing as how our lead character is a young lady of sixteen years.

Aside from the beautiful descriptions of time and place that draw forth images AND emotion in one sweep of the eyes, the characters are completely tangible. Tamara was the snarky little sixteen year old feeling like a duck out of water due to her family’s quick move and change in lifestyle…not to mention the death of her father...always looking for something more. Her mother, though seemingly lost in her own mind, has her moments of lucidity but instead of them being reassuring, they just add to the already heightened sense you have that something is not quite right. Arthur and Rosaleen mean well though their stability is questionable and both of our young male love interests are written as half delinquent, half prince (Marcus and Weseley). Together they make an unusual family portrait to be certain but a family of sorts nonetheless based on their connections to each other through blood and acquaintance.

For as much beauty as there is though, there’s also plenty of mystery, secrets dark and buried deep, and...humor. No really...in the strangest of places you’ll happen upon a passage that you just can’t help but smile, laugh, or downright guffaw at. I could literally quote at least one passage from each chapter and it would never get old…though I won’t to save you the trouble of reading it here and then once again in the actual book.

In the end, I believe it’s clear...I LOVED this book. It was surprising and beautiful in all the right ways and I can’t recommend it enough. There is one warning that I will pass on to you readers, the last chapters are a DOOZY. There is so much to absorb you may find yourself rereading a section or two, but don’t worry...it ties everything together quite nicely. Trust me. Happy reading! show less

2023 Advent, Day 11: I would say this book had a very interesting premise with moments of absolutely astonishing insight and explorations that I thought were very good; however, I found the protagonist just so incredibly dislikable that I couldn't give this book more than three stars. Yes, they did show a lot of personal growth and became more bearable later in the narrative, but something about this book just didn't quite hit the mark for me. Maybe next time.
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Blargh! I’ve wanted to read this since it first came out! Drat the fact that I have to work and so can’t spend every single second of my waking hours reading all the new books that come out as soon as they come out! It was such an adorable and wonderful book that I’m a little ashamed that I had put off discovering it until now.

I don’t think it’s a secret at all that I’m a sucker for character growth. I’d much rather read a book where we see the character learn from the people surrounding him/her and watch as he/she transforms into someone deeper, than to read something where the character goes on all kinds of adventures but doesn’t change one iota throughout the whole book. And I couldn’t have asked for more character show more growth than what I got in The Book of Tomorrow. The main character, Tamara, starts as a spoiled rich girl whose only concern is herself after her life gets turned upside down… and with the help of a magical book and the interesting characters she meets, ends up being the kind of person who would rush headlong into a life-threatening situation to save someone else’s life. You really cannot get any better than that.

And oh, the people that she meets throughout the book are all so different and wonderful that I couldn’t help but wanting to know more and more about them. The secretive Rosaleen, the handsome Wesley, the wonderful and caring Sister Ignatius… I love that even though Ahern only showed us small parts of a lot of these people, they all came across as so real and so three-dimensional. I don’t believe there was a flat person in the whole book, which is highly unusual when you take into all the secondary and tertiary characters that are typically included in a story.

I was highly impressed by Ahern’s writing – the narration style sucked me in, and the pacing kept me from wanting to put the book down. (Lost a couple nights of sleep because of that.) Everything in the book was written in such a lovely fashion that it was hard not to get lost just in the words alone. Take my favourite quote from the book, for example:

I think that most people go into bookshops and have no idea what they want to buy. Somehow, the books sit there, almost magically willing people to pick them up. The right person for the right book. It’s as though they already know whose life they need to be a part of, how they can make a difference, how they can teach a lesson, put a smile on a face at just the right time. I think about books a lot differently now.

Absolutely lovely!

I have to hand it to Ahern, she surprised me. More often than not, I am able to guess where a story is going, and what the mystery that will be revealed to us is… not so in this case. Oh, I had my theories… and none of them were right. It’s so refreshing to find a book that keeps you on your toes, keeps you guessing until the last couple of chapters, and then still manages to surprise you at the climax. So wonderful.

I don’t think I can say enough how lovely and wonderful this book was.

The Bottom Line
It was my first introduction to Ahern, and I don’t think it’ll be the last book I read by her. I would highly recommend this to fans of the YA genre who like a little bit of mystery and magic, along with a healthy dose of gothic atmosphere. show less

Tamara Goodwin is a spoiled rotten, selfish, boy and clothing obsessed brat of a teenager. She's also just had her world rocked off its axis. Her father committed suicide and left a mountain of debts that mean she and her mother have to go live in the back of beyond with her Uncle Arthur and Aunt Rosaleen, whom Tamara has dubbed the Deliverance Duo. Cut off from her friends, shopping, her enormous house, and elaborate expectations, Tamara is determined not to make the best of things. Even worse, her mother is retreating into grief and sleep, leaving Tamara at the overbearing and obsessive mercy of Aunt Rosaleen.

In an effort to escape the claustrophobic feel of the house and her ever-watchful aunt, Tamara starts to explore the local show more castle's ruins (of much more recent vintage than she thinks), befriends a nun who lives nearby, meets some local teenagers, and flirts with the mobile library driver, on whose bus she discovers a blank book that starts to reveal to her, in her own handwriting no less, her own near future. The book is a diary and each entry is dated the day she is reading it but it is written as if it has already happened. What she does with this knowledge and the ways in which she is able (or not) to change the outcome drives the plot for the most part.

I found it incredibly hard to care about Tamara. She was such a snotty, whiny, mopey character and was fairly stagnant throughout the book, only gaining a little clarity about others at the extreme end of the book. Unfortunately, for me, that was too little too late. My good opinion once lost... The rising tension and slight gothic air made the book more interesting but many of the secrets Tamara discovered were so heavily foreshadowed (sign-posted?) that they were not a surprise when they were revealed taking away the impact they should have had. The actual book of tomorrow as a plot device sort of petered out only to reappear later and that felt more sloppy than intentional. Ultimately I was disappointed in the book, having expected something much different from the jacket copy but I suspect that Ahern's many fans will overlook the weaknesses here and thoroughly enjoy this slightly fantastical bit of chick lit. show less

Here’s the plot as I knew it going into the story: Tamara’s dad dies, her mother withdraws deeply into her grief, and the previously wealthy mother and daughter most go live with poor relations to get by. While struggling to fit into her new life, Tamara finds a book, which every night reveals the events which will happen the next day.

Based on the description, I was nervous that this book would be very emotional, bordering on too angsty or too sad for me to enjoy. I’m not sure what drew me to read it any way, perhaps the intriguing premise and cover picture, but whatever it was, my instincts were good. Although there were certainly emotional and thought-provoking elements to the story, the story felt most like a really good show more mystery to me.

This wasn’t the Agatha-Christie-style mystery I usually go for, with a clear crime, defined suspect list, and deductions based on human nature. Instead it was something fresh and new and wonderful. At the beginning, Tamara simply has a suspicion that something is not right. Perhaps her aunt isn’t doing as much as she should to help her mother. Perhaps her aunt’s and uncle’s eccentricities hide something more sinister. But the may also just be a quiet, slightly odd couple doing what they think is best for Tamara and her mom. Initially, it’s hard to say and events move slowly.

After Tamara finds the book, the pace picks up a lot and the story comes into it’s own. I particularly liked the unique way in which parts of the mystery were revealed. Sometimes answers were spelled out in the book Tamara found. Other times, she has to do her best to improve on the day she read about. The back and forth between the book and the real events could have become confusing. Fortunately, the author helpfully references the appropriate book entry as a day goes by which clearly made the distinction between the book and what really happened.

Finally, I liked that the initially spoiled Tamara grows as a person through her experiences. Having the book forces her to realize that her actions have an impact on the future, causing her to approach her life more deliberately. This was a very well-written, creative approach to telling a story and I would highly recommend it. Now I just need to catch up to the rest of the world and read Cecelia Ahern’s PS I Love You .

This review first published onDoing Dewey. show less