Book Review -- The Gift

Title: The Gift

Author: Cecelia Ahern

Genre: Fiction

Rating: 2.5/5

Cecelia Ahern has developed a style of her own, of weaving a bit of magic into reality in her stories. However, it could go wrong sometimes, it could go overboard sometimes.

In her book "The Gift", it most certainly does not go overboard. But it does go wrong.

The Plot kicks off on a cold Christmas morning, when a teenager is caught smashing a window with a frozen turkey. Since he is a juvenile, charges are not pressed against him and till the time his mother arrives to pick him up from the police station, the cop, Rafe, decides to tell the boy a story.

The story is about Lou, a young and successful professional, who is a hardcore workaholic who has no time for his family. One day out of the blue, Lou decides to offer a job to Gabriel a.k.a Gabe, a homeless fellow who lives on the pavement outside his office.

As soon as Gabe joins Lou's office, Lou's life takes a turn and he slowly begins to learn the importance of giving time to his family, choosing his wife over his secretary and how to balance his work and his personal life.

The concept is good, however the implementation isn't.

Despite the really shaky first couple of chapters, the story does pick up a bit, only to falter again!! The narration tends to get preachy at times, giving you the feeling that you are reading a self help book. Also at time you find it difficult to get a grip on who is actually the narrator: The Cop Rafe or the author herself?

And the lecture on time management in the last chapter is lengthy, deliberate and at the end only puts off the reader.

Last words: Read this only if you have nothing else to read.