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    The Time of My Life: A Novel
    The Time of My Life: A Novel
    The Time of My Life: A Novel
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Time of My Life: A Novel

    Written by Cecelia Ahern

    Narrated by Amy Creighton

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Lucy Silchester keeps receiving this strange appointment card and sweeping its gold embossed envelope under the rug. Literally. She busies herself with a job she doesn't like, helping out friends, fixing her car, feeding her cat, and devoting her time to her family’s dramas. But Lucy is about to find out that this is one appointment she can’t miss, when Life shows up at her door, in the form of a sloppy but determined man.

    Life follows her everywhere – from the office, to the bar, and to her bedroom – and Lucy learns that some of the choices she has made and the stories she has told aren’t what they seem. Now her half-truths are about to be revealed, unless Lucy tells the truth about what really matters to her.

    The Time of My Life is another warm, thought-provoking novel from Cecelia Ahern, internationally bestselling author of P.S. I Love You.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateApr 23, 2013
    ISBN9780062275479
    The Time of My Life: A Novel
    Author

    Cecelia Ahern

    Cecelia Ahern was born and grew up in Dublin. Her novels have been translated into thirty-five languages and have sold more than twenty-five million copies in over fifty countries. Two of her books have been adapted as films and she has created several TV series. She and her books have won numerous awards, including the Irish Book Award for Popular Fiction for The Year I Met You. She lives in Dublin with her family.

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    Reviews for The Time of My Life

    3.5/5

    159 ratings25 reviews

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    • 1/5
      I am very disappointed in this book. I had such a hard time reading it. It was the same thing repeated again, through out the book just said differently. I found myself skimming it because the story held no real interest. I don't know if I will try again, but I am finding that her books have steadily gone down hill since her first novel P.S. I love you.
    • 4/5
      This book was not on my wishlist but I borrowed it from the library as one of a selection to offer my book group. Another book was chosen but as I had begun the vetting process I ploughed on with it. I have read two of Cecelia Ahern's earlier books - PS I Love You - which I enjoyed and The Gift which I found rather strange. However, I really enjoyed this book, chick lit at its best. Funny, witty and a new take on a storyline which flowed beautifully and was a joy to read. The storyline about life was quite interesting as it does provide some food for thought. Reminding the reader that a lie, however small can escalate out of control. I liked the interaction between the characters, families, the all too familiar tiptoeing around each other so as not to hurt anyone's feelings but with that build up of familial resentment. The over bearing parent for whom the child is never good enough. The friends who take sides but again you cannot be totally honest with for fear of breaking the friendship. It is all there in this book.
    • 5/5
      Oh my Gosh! This book was amazing. It was so well written and the subject of it was so good. I mean anybody could read this book. No matter the gender or age. (Well, adults, not kids) Also this book was funny and I read it in three days I think. I haven't read anything this good in a long time.

      In this book there was a clever way of talking about life. We never think of it like that and I can totally see myself in this book. Not as one of the characters but just generally.

      Of course I liked the characters too. Especially Don and Lucy. And Life too. This book was just so hilarious but still it talked about a very serious thing. I really liked it a lot.
      And of course one the best of Cecelia Ahern's books I've read so far.

      Everybody should read it.
    • 2/5
      This book was okay. There were times I didn't want to read it anymore because the main character was just driving me nuts. I loved everything about Life. Life made this book worth reading. I may read this one again just to give it another shot.
    • 4/5
      I was a bit skeptical picking this one. Cecelia Ahern's following books have never been as good as P.S. I Love You. This was one of the better ones. No where near five stars and four were also hard to come by as the story really never goes anywhere special. Ahern is good at finding interesting story angles, but struggles to utilise their full potential.
    • 5/5
      Can I just start out this review by saying that more books need to do what Ahern’s books do? She is so good at inserting some sort of magical element into everyday life and let’s be honest everyday life needs more magic. The Time of My Life is no exception. I went into this read knowing not a whole lot about what I would find inside. All I knew was that Ahern wrote it and, for the most part, I have had pretty good success with her novels. I also knew that it had a fairly cute, albeit misleading to me, cover. I’m probably alone here but based on the cover alone I thought for sure that this was a fictional tale that would remind me of Eat, Pray, Love. Maybe it was the bracelets?

      Anyway, The Time of My Life is a tale about pathological liar, Lucy Silchester. Once upon a time Lucy’s life seemed to be on the right track, she had a fantastic apartment with the love of her life, a great job and her father’s approval. Then her boyfriend up and leaves her and she loses everything. Instead of just dealing she lies about everything. Her friends think that she left the boyfriend and just wanted to downsize. Her family, for the most part, think that she just wanted a new career challenge. Basically her life is a mess. Girlfriend is in major denial though. Lucky for Lucy everyone has someone who is the yin to their yang, who monitors their life and steps in if need be. The man who is Lucy’s life is in bad shape when we meet him, because her life is in such disarray. Together they work to make her life a life worth living.

      First off, I love this idea of someone being your life. I love that this person’s appearance and well-being is directly influenced by your decisions. It’s just such a cute idea and the story was such a fun tale with some really great lines. Seriously, this novel had some freaking fantastic lines, references and nicknames. One of my favorite bits is the following:

      ". . . there was a smile on his face as bright as my new bathroom lightbulb which, given, on first read is a lame and unromantic simile, but when plunged in darkness for a year while on the toilet, a new lightbulb is a very welcoming and enlightening thing to have, not to mention useful."


      Bottom Line

      Basically, if you are looking for a fun, lighthearted read that actually makes you pause for moment and consider your own choices in life then The Time of My Life is a book that you will really enjoy. I liked this book so much that I’m actually thinking I need a physical copy to grace my bookshelf. That’s some coveted space my friends.
    • 4/5
      This book left me feeling like I had a great conversation and a hug from a good friend. Lucy Silchester has made a mess of her life. One small lie has snowballed into a huge mess that she needs help cleaning up. In steps her life to help her out. At first Lucy can't stand the man from the Life Agency who knows all her secrets and seems intent on calling her out at the most inopportune times and attempts to avoid him. Bowing to his refusal to be ignored, Lucy sorts through the mountain of lies she's hiding under and miraculously, her life and her life, a man she names Cosmo Brown, morph into much more pleasing aspects of their former selves.
    • 5/5
      Uber amazing. Hilarious. Be ready to tear up as well. Very original.
    • 1/5
      I did not finish the book. Unfortunately I found it very boring. My rule is if after 50 pages I don't like it I give up.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book ! It has a fun whimsical premise . The main character is kind of hard to like , but by the end she wins you over . Glad to have read another good novel from Ahern !
    • 2/5
      The cover of this book was gorgeous but the book was just mediocre. This was my first book by Cecelia Ahern and I was not very impressed. If I was on a vacation and wanted a very light read, this would be a good choice.This was a pretty hefty read at almost 500 pages and most of it was the rambles of a character named Lucy, who in my opinion was not very likable. Lots of selfish behavior, lies and laziness. She is receives an invitation from her Life for an appointment. What follows is Lucy realizing that she has made a general mess of her life by the lies she has told to her family and friends, but most importantly, to herself. It also seemed odd to me that in this book, meeting with your Life (in this case, a man named Cosmo Brown) is not unusual.I finished the book, but was not very impressed or into it.
    • 2/5
      I have always loved Cecilia Ahern! The Time of My Life wasn't my favorite book of hers; I was actually quite disappointed. Lucy seemed a bit of a silly, unrealistic character, and she had no real connections to anyone. She lied to everyone she knew about everything! I found her difficult to like and relate to. I thought it was a very creative and unique idea. And I did like Wrong-Number Don!
    • 3/5
      When "Life" shows up at Lucy's door, its not a figment of her imagination or a nervous breakdown as many would think, but an actual character in the form of her own life choices, decisions and how she treats others. Lucy's life is a homeless, battered looking man who wants a new suit and wants Lucy to make a few changes in her everyday dealings and relationships. But Lucy has been depressed since her breakup with a boyfriend and is stuck in a dead-end job that she hates. Its not her fault she has to make up lies and half truths to make herself feel better, or to make others believe shes living a glamorous life.At first Lucy ignores old suit guy but he wont leave her alone. Everywhere Lucy go's, suit go's with her. To work, to the bar, to her friends, on dates...everywhere. But Life aka...Cosmo, isn't out to hurt Lucy, he wants her to be accountable to her lies, change her outlook on life and be happy. When Lucy finally agrees to let him help her, a few tears, shouts and laughter become a journey to self discovery and a chance at new romance that even takes the reader on a little chance of their own.Ahern's writing is unique to say the least. Her writing borders on this whimsical everyday feel, to a jumbled imperfect mash up of run-on sentences, jilted transitions, and highly flawed characters. For the most part I found The Time of My Life enjoyable, from the out of the box plot, to the irksome characters not a moment I spent reading this was wasted.A few scenes in Lucy's journey made her lovable and highly relatable, yet at the same time there were moments that the British humor went over my head and Ahern's writing distracted me from the story, I spent more time figuring out her style then really investing into the characters emotions, so it left me with an overall ok read, but not one that would make a lasting impression.
    • 3/5
      The premise of this novel is interesting but I found myself disliking the protagonist for a good portion of it and I also felt that the end was a little hurried. I loved the idea of a person's life being a separate, living entity but would have liked to have read more about how it all actually worked. All in all, it was a reasonably fun and fast read but definitely not Ahern's best.
    • 4/5
      What to do when your life comes calling? Lucy Silchester is about to find out. Life leaves her many invitations to meet and she takes up the offer. Lucy has built her life on one lie after another. One small lie impacts her life. Her life follows her around and eventually gets her to see things differently. A pleasant read.
    • 4/5
      I'm not much of a general fiction reader, yet for some writers I make exceptions. Sometimes I'm disappointed, but so far never with Ahern.With no disrespect to the author, they have not been a challenge to read - which is a good thing. Too many times I pick up a Pulitzer or Booker winner and wonder what in the hell am I missing?In her stories P.S., I Love You and now The Time of My Life, Ahern gives us a quirky story that is a pleasure to read and easy to recommend to others. If I were still working at the bookstore, this is definitely one I'd put out on the end cap. (Anyone who works retail can tell you that's pretty high praise)The premise seems almost too much. Lucy hasn't been treating herself, and therefore her Life, all that well. So when it literally comes calling to hold her to account for her actions, what entails teaches us all a thing or two about honesty and respect, especially when it comes to our Selves. (And yes, that is meant to be two words)Lucy has a lot to learn and by the end of the book, the reader will be wondering what they may need to do to make their Life better and happier. Not that there are any great revelations or deep soul searching within the story that hasn't been seen in books before, but what interested me and kept me reading was Lucy herself.She's flawed and faces some real tough issues, as we all have and do, but I liked her sense of humor and the fact she wasn't so over the top miserable or whiny kept me connected. I've seen worse pity parties in literature - hers wasn't hard to deal with, because really, it wasn't that bad and definitely fixable.The greatest lesson from reading this, is that it's all fixable, you just have to accept the fact that your Life is a living and breathing entity, and if you ignore it, it won't go away. It may just show up and want attention when you least expect it or want it.Lucy finally faced hers and this book is worth the read to find out how.
    • 3/5
      I'm SO sad right now! I LOVED P.S. I Love You so when I received this book, I thought I was in for a real treat but it did not live up to my expectations. I felt that the main protagonist, Lucy, was quite annoying. Lying, complaining, whining...it was very difficult to get through the first half of the book because of it. I did LIKE the premise that Lucy has to meet life face-to-face. It was a unique twist for a novel. I just felt it could have been executed a little better. I also LOVE the cover of this novel, but I'm really disappointed that the insides didn't match the cover. I wish Lucy would have been a more likable protagonist.
    • 4/5
      I liked this book. When reading Cecilia Ahern's books - I feel like I have to be in just the right mood. This one was the right book at the right time for me. I was ready to suspend my disbelief and not think too much about detail or feasibility of the book's central conceit. Lucy, the novel's central character, meets her "life" in person. Her life comes to help her get more on track to a happier and more fulfilling life. I liked Lucy. I thought she had enough flaws without being super whiny or dislikable. I did find myself pulling for her. I thought the story was good and moved along. It wasn't a pageturner though and I took my time going through it.I do wish that there was more Ireland in Ahern's books. I always read her novels because I love books set in Ireland - I feel like although technically set in Ireland - it could have taken place almost anywhere.Good book for the right mood - would be a good choice for a beach holiday.
    • 5/5
      When Lucy receives the following letter “Dear Lucy Silchester, You have an appointment for Monday 27th July 2011. Yours sincerely Life.” it is neither a metaphor nor a joke. In this wonderful alternate reality, every person has another person who is their life. Their life reflects how things are going for their paired person in their health, appearance, and happiness levels. Needless to say, Lucy’s life is not happy. Having let her relationships and herself go while focusing on a dead-end job she doesn’t like, it’s time for Lucy to make time for her life.

      First of all, the premise of this book is one of the best I’ve ever read. It was fun and interesting to learn how things work in this world when you meet your life. My favorite thing about it was the way the author used the idea to describe a young woman experiencing the same difficulties real young women experience – and then overcoming them. Although I didn’t always agree with Lucy’s decisions, I could always empathize with the emotions leading up to them. At the beginning I don’t know that I’d have wanted to be friends with her, but she was relatable through out and watching her grow was inspiring.

      The author’s writing was as spectacular as the plot. I recognized a lot of the things I liked from The Book of Tomorrow including the author’s ability to write real (ie flawed but likable) protagonists and to convey human emotion through moving or hilarious metaphors. I also appreciated the differences between the books. Some authors write different stories and the main characters, although different, all sound the same. Ahern doesn’t have that problem. Lucy is just as real as Tamara, but the tone of voice in which she tells her story is unique. I don’t feel this review adequately describes how much I loved this book, so let me close by saying that it’s put Ahern on my must-read list and I’m highly recommending that this book go on yours.

      This review first published on Doing Dewey.
    • 3/5
      I've quite enjoyed previous books of Cecilia Ahern. I picked up her latest North American release The Time of My Life without even a glance at what it was about. "Dear Lucy Silchester, You have an appointment for Monday, May 30, 2011. Yours sincerely, Life.”Lucy's life has been in shambles since she split from the absolutely perfect Blake. She's living in a tatty bedsit, has a ho-hum job and her relationship with her family is somewhat rocky. She's aware of it... "My life needed me. It was going through a tough time and I hadn't been paying enough attention to it. I'd completely and utterly ignored my life. And now it had written to me, summoned me, and there was only one thing for it. I had to go and meet with it face-to-face." And here's where I had a (more than a) little trouble getting into the book. Ahern has literally personified Life. Lucy's life appears as an actual person - his sole 'job' is Lucy's life. Lucy's family has signed off on this intervention. This is never really explained, but written as though we already know about such a thing. I found the first 75-100 pages of The Time of My Life a bit of a slog. Lucy lies. So much of her inner dialogue is presented and then capped off with 'I lied'. So, I thought I had started to put together a picture of this character in my mind just to have it snatched back - more than once. The first part of the book also suffers horribly from lengthly descriptions and run on sentences. "So in the initial stages I carried that hurt and anger and pity around with me and, due to circumstances I may reveal at a later date, got fired from my respectable job that paid well, but to be able to tell people why I got fired I'd have to tell them why I got fired and I couldn't do that because after so much time it would just frankly be weird to admit a lie of that magnitude, so I told everyone I quit and then the rest of my life fell into its own new place following a bunch of big fat lies." Big breath. I am glad I persevered as the chick lit elements I was looking for, and expected, did appear and I started to enjoy the book. Ahern cleverly uses a wrong number to great effect. I ended up liking Life as a character. Wrong number Don also grabbed me. Sadly, I never felt the same attachment to Lucy. Love lost, love found, misunderstandings, missed cues, redemption and reclaiming one's life all play a part in The Time of My Life.I'm still an Ahern fan, but have enjoyed some of her other titles more.
    • 3/5
      I really wanted to like this book. I've enjoyed a number of Cecelia Ahern's other books, but something about this one just didn't work. It is a fantastic concept -- meeting your life and facing up to it. But for some reason I couldn't quite suspend my disbelief. Perhaps there wasn't enough detail about how it worked and therefore not thought through quite enough. I'm not sure. I give this one a near miss. Wouldn't be terrible if you were sitting on a beach or stuck on a plane, but only if the person who was there before had left it.
    • 3/5
      Its not her best work, but the concept of a life audit, and the person's life being an actual person that you have to deal with is an interesting one. The characters and their personalities weren't very original, and it has a very chick-lit ending which was OK, but nothing stellar. The protagonist is really annoying for the majority of the book. I would have liked to learn more about her family though. There were a few plot twists, but some of the twists felt forced rather than naturally occurring.
    • 1/5
      I have read a number of other books by this author, and enjoyed them. With this one, however, I could not even get through more than fifty or so pages. I had three main objections from the start. One is the protagonist. Not only is she vapid, but she keeps providing long narratives about her background and then saying, “Okay I lied.” I found that not only annoying, but unfair to the reader. Second, the concerns of the protagonist were a bit too inconsequential to me, in the worse “chick-lit” sort of manner. And last but most importantly, the central premise struck me as totally ridiculous. Ahern has used magical realism before, but this time she goes way beyond the limits for which I could suspend belief.
    • 5/5
      This is a book about Lucy and her life.....literally. Lucy told a lie several years ago which webbed into more lies, and now she is stuck in a job she hates, all alone and scared to try to develop any deep attachments to anyone again, and unable to move forward. So she gets a letter telling her she has an appointment with Life. She tries valiantly to ignore the letter and more keep arriving until she can no longer ignore her Life. She meets with him and he is determined to help her "turn her life around". Not only will you laugh and cry with Lucy, but you will start to feel the need to take stock in your own life and may even realize you have been putting your life on the back-burner as Lucy was.
    • 5/5
      I'm biased. I love Miss Ahern's writing and this novel is no different. It's a unique take on reflecting life's twists and turns and the decisions that we all make - for better or for worse. The story takes you on a journey of Lucy Silchester's life; well the life that she has been living for the last 2years where she is convinced that she's happy and what she has is fine. She told a lie that was easy and then another and before she knew it she was living her whole life as a lie...until she meets her life face on who drags her to confront and amend the life made by the lies. It's really refreshing, funny and heart warming and sad in places too - I didn't want it to end. Perfect for fans of Marion Keyes ... just with a little more magic. : )