Having loved Celia Ahern’s “PS I Love You” I was very intrigued to read her short stories.

These bite size stories are large enough to sink you’re teeth into and celebrate women in all their glory and faults. There is a story for everyone, that you will identify with.

Loved cringeville, everybody has a cringe moment but imagine going to a place called Cringeville. I have been there at some point and you think you won’t ever get over it and yes you will laugh about it 1 day!! It does make you feel better knowing we all go through it.

Very cleverly written in a witty and imaginative way that makes you want to read just 1 more story!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for a copy of Roar for an honest review.

This is the sort of book to dip in and out of . I found , as usual with short stories they’re a bit of a mixed bag. Not all of the stories worked for me but others I could identify with and enjoyed.
I’m sure if you are already a fan of Cecelia Ahern you will enjoy this book but I’m afraid I haven’t found all of her books to be to my taste.
An ok read but it hasn’t really changed my opinion on her style of writing.

What a collection! Thirty short stories about women, usually playing on a common metaphor or euphemism and playing it out to its fullest absurdity; being eaten by guilt, walking in someone else’s shoes, wanting the ground to open up and swallow you after doing something embarrassing.

Though I personally felt that some of the stories were stronger than others, even my least favourite was pretty damn good! I loved every story because they were about women helping other women, women being supported by the men in their lives or women taking care of business rather than a collection of stories about being powerless in the face of sexism and oppression.

These were all uplifting and hopeful stories, and in most cases very funny at the same time. I’ve already ordered a couple of copies of this book for friends so they can share it with me!

I loved this collection of short stories by Cecelia Ahern, even though I'm not a massive fan of them and I liked that I could pick the book up when I felt like it without spoiling the flow of my reading.

The stories weren't typical straightforward stories, rather they were a mix of thoughtful, modern, offbeat and poignant fables and some were a little fantastical, however, this made them all the more imaginative and frothy.

The book covered issues such as guilt, birth control, humiliation, ageing and so much more. Roar was about changing perceptions and overcoming obstacles and challenges. Witty and amusing, it delivered small bite-size pieces that I relished.

Not all of the stories will hit their mark with everybody, but a number are sure to do so. Roar is well worth a read.

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from HarperCollins via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

I Have always been a little bit of fan of Cecelia Ahern since I read The Book of tomorrow which still till this day has to be of my top 10 books I have ever read. So I was hoping I was going to enjoy this book of short stories. I found the book very relatable in many ways and found them very interesting to read. It's not the usual type of book would normally read but its a great book for when you're on the go.

I love Cecilia Ahern but I don't know why I just couldn't connect with this book. I found it a bit of a struggle to get through to be honest. It's a shame because the idea of it is actually fantastic I just felt it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

Cecelia Ahern’s shorty story collection of thirty stories for thirty women is a great idea. Sadly I felt that it fell short of the mark.

Instead of straightforward stories, each piece has a mystique that is slightly Black Mirror in its feels.

There’s a woman who disappears, one who unravels literally and.... yeah you get the idea.

It’s a short sharp blog this week because there’s not a lot else I can say.

Now I’m off to get struck down by the Gods of Chick Lit for lowly rating one of my favourite authors.

*runs for the hills*

Thank you NetGally and the publishers for a copy in exchange for an honest review

Cecelia Ahern has written 30 short stories all about women and how they perceive themselves.

Unfortunately, I was not enamoured with this book, which is really sad because I have loved all of Celia’s other novels but I didn’t really feel any overriding emotion for any of the women.

However, all of the stories are intelligently told and Celia’s insight into how women feel and think is extraordinary.

I haven’t read any of Cecelia Ahern’s books so whereas some people who had already read her other ‘full length ‘ books were unsure about this book I loved it.

It is a fabulous woman centred collection of 30 short stories covering all different topics, genres, types of woman and their situations.

Its a book you can pick up and put down, dipping in and out. It makes you think, makes you sad, makes you laugh and makes you nod your head at times.

They are stories that are easy to read. Each story is centred around a single ‘woman ‘and as so they are named ‘woman’. This is very clever as it doesn’t give you the idea or discrimination of a certain woman. It could be anyone within the story, it could be you, someone you know, someone you’ve read about. It gives you the reader the power to decide. This is a book for ANY woman to read from any background, culture and life style choice.

You won’t like all the stories….. who does but you will have your favourites. It will be a book that you may read again and again.
It reminds woman that we are powerful, resilient, sad, happy, worth so much and wonderfully different.

Read this book, you will be glad you did.

Had not realised this was a book of short stories, which are not my usual book choice. However, that said, did identify with some of the characters in the stories & found myself looking forward to each story with interest

This is a brilliant, brilliant book and I want to recommend it to everyone on planet earth.

I didn't really know what to expect going in because I've never read anything by Cecilia Ahern before, and I'm mostly an exclusively SFF reader nowadays. But eh, short stories, bestselling author, about women, so why not?

Can I just say again that it's brilliant?

Because it is. Each story is a weird, sometimes too-literal, take on a common phrase, some of them quite general in nature, but all applied to a woman's life and their perceptions of the world. Like being 'kept on the shelf' or 'eaten by guilt', 'the world is your oyster', having a 'strong suit' and being 'pigeonholed'.

It's a mix of normal life and mysticality, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much, because it is still very speculative in its own way. I mean, people don't ACTUALLY get swallowed up by the floor when they do something embarrassing, but one just opened up for 'The Woman Who Was Swallowed Up by the Floor and Who Met Lots of Other Women Down There Too', neither do they get actual literal bite marks when they're eaten by guilt in 'The Woman Who Found Bite Marks on Her Skin'.

There's something in here for almost every woman, a myriad of perspectives of what it is like to be female in this broken and confusing world.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from HarperCollins via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Roar is a collection of short stories from Cecelia Ahern, the stories are only focused around women and each tell the various stuggles that the individuals have to cope with. It’s a nice book although i do prefer full novel, having said that its handy for “quick reads” on holidays or a flight etc.,,Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Roar – A Story for Every Woman is a book filled with short stories about women in various circumstances, with a magical realism spin on each one. There are 30 stories within the pages, each titled ‘The woman who…’ and each has a similar structure: the woman encounters a situation then something happens (e.g. a transformation) that helps them overcome the situation. These situations include handling embarrassment while presenting, anxiety, feeling like you’re ‘on the shelf’, the supposed ‘ticking clock’.

Each story is about women stepping up and ‘roaring’ their value, their own empowerment. For the first few stories, this really worked. I enjoyed how the situations were told through metaphor or magical realism. For instance, in one story a woman wakes up with bite marks on her, which ends up being due to feeling guilty about things (so playing on the metaphor of the guilt eating her alive). It was interesting seeing how Ahern takes the situations and plays with them in each story, ultimately ended with the woman stronger than they were before.

After a while, however, the stories became repetitive. The structure hardly varied story to story and, for the most part, the narrator bland and difficult to relate to. None of the narrators are given a name, all are just referred to a ‘the woman’ which makes it difficult to see them as a real person. For the majority of stories, it felt like it was the same woman over and over again: a middle-class wife (to a husband) and mother of 2-4 children. It was almost as if ‘the woman’ in each story was the author herself. This made it difficult to connect to the stories.

Overall, I think this book will connect and be loved by a number of women, but it does not fulfil the promise of being a book with a story for every woman. The stories are magical to read, and the writing style isn’t pretentious, so I can see the book being a good travel book, or something for someone with little time to read. I just wish the author had considered that not every woman wants a relationship, not every woman wants children and the majority of women are not suburban mums. If the settings and women had been a lot more varied, I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more than I did.

Not usually a fan of short stories but enjoyed this one, easy to pick up and put down. All in all a good read.

Despite the strong title and rave reviews surrounding Cecelia Ahern’s feminist short story collection, Roar, I was still unsure whether or not this would be my kind of read. The title for each story begins with The Woman Who... and seemed fluffier than the sort of stories I usually enjoy. But I’d missed the point. This was exactly the message Ahern was conveying, that so often women’s stories as regarded as lighter, less important, than those told by men. Each narrative appears deceptively simple, some bordering on the fantastical, delivering a thwack of a punch at the end. Although it’s hard to single out one favourite, The Woman Who Grew Wings stayed with me for days, whilst The Woman Who Spoke Woman made me hoot with laughter. Each piece is clever and wise, simply speaking the truth. Now I want to ROAR about this collection too.

Roar is a collection of 30 short stories and is like nothing I'd ever read before. I've read several of Cecelia Ahern's books before. P.S-I Love You being one of my all time favourite books. And I don't know what I was expecting when I started reading Roar, but it's unique. The stories vary in length and there were some that really stood out to me:

The Woman Who Thought Her Mirror Was Broken

The Woman Who Ate Photographs

The Woman Who Returned and Exchanged Her Husband

The Woman Who Wore Pink

It's such an unusual book and cleverly observed. If you like your reads a bit quirky, I'd definitely suggest this.

I have never read Cecelia Ahern before. I do not like short stories! I am not a feminist! BUT I loved this book - so different from anything I normally read. These made me think of essays rather than short stories - each had a point to make whether it be humorous, educational or thought-provoking. I loved that some were definitely there to make women poke fun at themselves, some as a warning. Some definitely gave me food for thought.
The Woman who was swallowed up by the floor and who met lots of other women down there too was my absolute favourite because it made me laugh out loud and I could visualise the scenario.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Cecelia Ahern/Harper Collins UK for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this wonderful book.Roar is a collection of 30 short stories that celebrate women in all different walks of life. This isn't my favourite from Cecelia Ahern,how ever I love how these stories aren't your typical straight forward story. For example the first story it titled "the woman who slowly disappeared" this woman literally started disappearing! and there is your theme. They were thought provoking and uplifting. The only reason that I haven't given it five stars is because I'm not a huge short story fan,I like a longer story I can get my teeth into!

Interesting series of short stories about how women are perceived in the world and how good is unjust.

A series of easy to read short stories that are like reading a set of aesop fables. You are entertained, slightly challenged in your views and they get their point across without a doubt.

A very different book from the best sellers from Cecelia Ahern and by far the most compelling

So delicious I could just eat these stories up.
I plan to purchase one for every brilliant woman in my life. Each story is thoughtful and poignant. The story regarding men’s bodies was particularly on point.
A must have addition to any feminists bookshelf