This was a cute story and nice to read just before Christmas, it has a time travel element to it that enabled Ben to review his key moments with fresh eyes and to see what he missed first time round. Makes you think about really appreciating those key people around you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I had heard a lot about this book so was desperate to read it, thanks to netgalley and the author for the advance copy. It certainly didn’t disappoint! I read this in 2 evenings! A modern take on A Christmas Carol, this is a book that includes every single emotion! I’d definitely recommend it

I’d heard so much about this book I was desperate to see for myself what all the fuss was about. All I can say is that it is a brilliantly written book, amazing characterisation and a lovely story. If you loved One day in December by Josie Silver you are guaranteed to adore this.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

All About Us is a modern love story, with a twist. Think 'One Day meets A Christmas Carol'.

Ben is married to Daphne, but his marriage isn't going so well and in the depths of his doubts, Ben wonders if his life would be any different if he'd gotten together with Alice, his uni girlfriend. After an argument with his wife one Christmas Eve, Ben heads to the pub and is given a broken watch by a weird guy wearing a reindeer tie and suddenly Ben finds himself being thrown back to Christmases past, where he can spend one day, before he is thrown into another time period to learn about where it all went wrong.

In the past, Ben learns many lessons, but not as many as he learns from Christmas present and Christmas future.

He soon realises what he must do and more importantly, who he is truly meant to be with if he is to be in any way shape or form, happy at all, but can he make the changes and persuade the woman of his dreams, that it's all about them?

I really enjoyed this story. There are some heartbreaking truths that Ben must face, but there were also laugh out loud comedy moments, that really made me smile. The author creates the different time zones Ben visits with perfection and it's weird being reminded of stuff that used to be so familiar, but no longer is. The author is very adept at describing Ben's thoughts and emotions and he really comes alive on the page, which is great because we stay in his POV all the way through. The secondary characters are well drawn and perfectly compliment Ben as he stumbles his way through his life, meeting people he's long forgotten about, as well as more important ones such as his dead mum (which really makes your heart ache for him!)

I highly recommend this story for all lovers of contemporary romance. And if you like a bit of time travel too? All the better!

All the feels!

I've just finished reading this and honestly I want to re-read it all again.

I'd describe it as the modern day Christmas Carol with a wonderful touch of romance.

If you're in a relationship then I guarantee this is a story that will have you thinking about your own actions, perhaps things aren't all as they first seem. Because every action causes a reaction that might not always lead you down the path you think you want to walk on.

All About Us is a beautifully written tale.

Almost poetic.

And most definitely all about love.

Not necessarily a book that will have you reaching for the tissues but an emotional telling none the less.

If it isn't already then this should be on your TBR list for 2020

A modern take on A Christmas Carol. Certainly gives you food for thought on what you would do in certain situations. I enjoyed it.

An enchanting magical love story about the decisions we make that shape our lives and if it was possible to go back in time, would we change the choices we originally made, if we did would we continually make the same mistakes or learn from them.

It’s Christmas Eve 2020 and Ben is out drinking with his best friend, he is stuck in a rut with his wife Daphne. He fears that they have fallen out of love and wonders what life would have been like if he had chosen old flame Alice, when they were at University.

Ben is approached by a man selling watches, he gives him a watch that is stuck at one minute to midnight. The man had overheard Ben try and tell his friend how he feels. He tells him ,

“ You start to wonder about the bad decisions you’ve made in life, don’t you? Or the wrong turnings you might have taken and whether you could go back and change things - Would you?”

Ben gets a chance with the help of the watch to see Christmas past, present and future. Will he change anything?

I absolutely fell in love with this beautifully written book. I felt quite emotional reading this, especially about Ben and his mother. The Christmas present shows be careful what you wish for as you might just get it. I cried, I laughed and felt every emotion possible!!

It really made me think about what I would change if I went back in time and had the chance to see my lost love ones!!

Thank you for my copy in exchange for a review.

All About Us is such a delightful book, it is a perfect and uplifting romantic story for the Christmas season.

It ended up being slightly different than I was expecting from the description, in a really great way, so I don't want to give anything away. Well-written and truly delightful to read, it did follow a somewhat formulaic structure, and then ending was happy and a bit predictable. Despite that, I could not put this book down and ended up reading the whole thing in one day. All About Us at its core is about Ben's journey of self-discovery, and it's an amazing one, full of all the feelings - love, joy, delight, sadness, regret, grief, happiness. Over the course of this book Ben learns so much about himself and the people he loves, and it leads to so much growth.

I laughed and cried, and was happy and sad.

This is a great read for people who love romantic comedy type stories like Yesterday and Love Actually, and uplifting books like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and The Flatshare.

Ben is unsatisfied with his life. He had expected to be a writer, as his estranged father is a well known playwright but things haven’t worked out like he expected them to. He is married to Daphne who has a successful career, but they are going through a rough patch. Back into his life comes Alice, an old girlfriend from Uni; he begins to wonder what life would have been like if he’d got together with Alice rather than Daphne. On Christmas Eve, while drowning his sorrows in a pub, an elderly gent sells him a watch he doesn’t want and that’s stopped at one minute to midnight. Then begin a series of jumps in time starting back in 2003 when he first kissed Daphne.

This reminds me of a cross between A Christmas Carol and Mitch Albom books but with an up to date setting.. I really enjoyed the premise, of being able to go back to significant days in your life, and to be able to do things differently. Of all the characters I couldn’t like Ben until the future ‘time jump’ and then I was with him all the way. A really nice read, not just for Christmas but any time.

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for letting me read an ARC in return for an honest review.

This book was adorable. I really enjoyed it. I loved the Christmas Carol take on it. Poor Ben had no idea what was going on! He wasn't particularly likable at the start but you can't help rooting for him. Lovely festive read.

I managed to get an ARC of this book, which is due for release in October 2020. Despite the fact that it didn’t seem like the usual sort of book I’d read - I tend to stick to urban fantasy or crime and this is a strange twist on A Christmas Carol, Sliding Doors and Groundhog Day - I really enjoyed it.

This is a book that is about those moments in life which actually turn out to be more important than you ever imagined. About decisions we make and how we see the world and why. Would we make the same choices again? What if there was something that we missed at a certain point which may have made us view something differently? How does our view of ourselves match up with reality and do we like either?

Ben is wallowing in his mistakes - teetering on the precipice of an even larger one - in what he thinks are missed chances and opportunities. What would have happened if he’d made a different choice on the night he met his wife Daphne? Should he have he acted on the frisson he felt for his old university friend Alice? Which woman was right for him? Are his marital issues with Daphne because they were never right for each other all along, and would his life have been better with Alice?

He meets an old man selling knock off Rolexes in the pub on Christmas Eve 2020, after yet another tense discussion with Daphne. He’s supposed to be decorating the Christmas tree and wrapping the presents while Daphne attends her works do alone, because he doesn’t want to make the effort with her workmates, but has decided to get drunk with his best mate Harv instead, as self pitying man babies like to do. While he is toying with the idea of telling Harv all about his emotional issues and marital woes, the old man offers to sell him a watch. He refuses, but the old man insists and ends up gifting him a - broken as it turns out - watch. After doing some wallowing and not talking about his feelings, he goes home and decides to crack open the expensive bottle of red wine that Daphne has bought for Christmas Day with her family rather than fulfil his promise to get the house ready. He eventually decides to take himself off to the attic for the decorations and stumbles, quite literally, upon a box of Daphne’s possessions from the play they were doing when they met at uni. Inexplicably angered by this proof that his wife loves him, he ends up passing out in the attic.

When he awakes he finds himself back in his dorm room from his first term at uni, on the day of the play, which is the night he meets, and kisses, Daphne for the first time. He stumbles through the evening, somewhat in shock, as you would be had you travelled back in time 15 years and were a gangly 20 year old again. He experiences his first encounter with Daphne again, and relives the excitement and joy he felt back then. He remembers how the night didn’t go exactly as he’d always pictured it. He’d believed that his kiss with Daphne had been fate, that he could easily have ended up kissing Alice that night, but he realises that he actually knowingly made a choice which would lead him to kiss Daphne. Afterwards, rather than awkwardly leave, as most 20 year olds would, he manages to prolong the evening until they innocently fall asleep in each other’s arms in his dorm room.

When he awakes he’s in his childhood bedroom, on Christmas Eve the next year, the day that Daphne and his mum meet. In the present Ben has lost his mum, and is guilt stricken at the circumstances and how he’d treated her beforehand, so he’s ecstatic and emotional to see her again. The pain and joy is palpable, as he sees this memory through more mature eyes, as he starts to recognise his failings and how they have contributed to the problems he has faced over the years. When he’s sent on an errand by his mum he stumbles across the ‘watch seller’, who urges him to return home. As he returns earlier than he had in reality, he overhears an anecdote from his mother which starts to offer an alternate perspective to his past. He takes the opportunity to really talk to his mum, ask her questions about her life, her ambitions, and he begins to see her as a human being with her own hopes and aspirations, along with her own disappointments. He had lived most of his life without his father, who had cheated on his mother and left them, and he feared that he was predestined to make the same mistakes, due to some hinted indiscretion with Alice, and the plan to meet up for further mistakes. He failed to ever really consider his mum’s feelings about her marriage, and her feelings as she watched her son desperately struggle for a relationship with an absent and uncaring father, one who just happened to be a successful playwright to whom Ben desperately wishes to live up. He spends the evening truly learning about things he’d never even considered, and dreads 11.59pm arriving as he knows that’s when he will jump to the next point in his history.

Ben jumps to other moments from his life, where he either sees things more clearly, or from a new perspective, and he begins to see that the issues he feels have plagued him are entirely of his own making. His selfishness and self pity, his fear of turning into his father, yet his desperate need to live up to the man who had never really shown him anything to live up to, leading him to dwell in his own misery and ignore other people’s pain and triumphs. He realises that he didn’t even know some of Daphne’s successes as she was too busy helping him through his perceived tragedies, and that he never even considered her pain at losing his mum despite knowing how much she loved her. He starts to realise how he has pushed her away, how he has withdrawn into himself and wallowed in his self pity and it is actually that which has caused him the most problems.

He also relives the night that he slept with Alice while he and Daphne were spending time apart, due to his reluctance to get married after nine years due to his fear of turning into his father. He finally realises the excuses he made for his choices, and how his fears became a self fulfilling prophecy. He thought he would become like his father, so he did - despite not really knowing the man in any meaningful way. He finally realises that Daphne is the one for him, that she always has been and always will be. That she was there for him whenever he needed her, but he was never there for her.

When he wakes up on Christmas Day 2020 he thinks he has another chance to make things right with Daphne, but he’s still in the middle of his lesson. Despite finally starting to make an effort, it’s all thwarted when Daphne finds his phone, and sees the chain of messages between him and Alice, she is heartbroken at his betrayal and asks him to leave.

In his next jump he gets to see the future he seemed to want. He’s engaged to Alice, with a successful career at her dad’s firm, and living in a swanky flat. By this point though he has already realised what he truly wants, and it’s not this sterile, bitter and loveless existence. He wants Daphne. Unfortunately she is now with somebody else, and it seems that his fate is sealed.

Luckily for Ben (debatable about it being lucky for Daphne) he wakes up back in the attic in 2020, with Daphne asking him why he’s sleeping in the attic - perfectly valid question. He takes the opportunity to tell her everything that has held him back for years, his feelings about his mum and the awful things he said to her before she died, how he felt about his dad and his failed career, and about Alice. Predictably Daphne does not take this news well and the couple spend time apart while she decides what she wants - which for once Ben actually cares about more than his own desires.

I won’t tell you how it ends, suffice to say it’s a very satisfactory conclusion, if a little predictable, but this book was never meant to break new ground. It’s a great modern spin on an age old tale and idea, of getting the chance to see your life and your choices, good or bad, mistakes and triumphs, through new eyes. What would you do if you could change things? Are you as happy as you ever could be or is there more that you missed along the way? I have to say as someone who was cheated on I wasn’t expecting to like Ben at all, and at times I found his self pity to be irritating beyond belief, but I like the fact that he started to own his mistakes and his feelings, and stops putting his own needs first and, well, only. Daphne isn’t especially prominent despite her large role in the story, but I actually like that tactic, because at the root of it this is about Ben finally standing on his own two feet and living his life without relying on everyone else to carry him through. Daphne is important, as are the other characters, and we see enough of her to know she deserves much better than she’s endured with Ben for 15 years, but the focus is very much not on her actions but his. We see a similar amount of Alice, just enough to contrast her with Daphne to see Ben’s choices, but again, this story isn’t about Alice and her good points and bad points. It doesn’t really matter because Ben is the person who really needs to figure things out for himself. The fact that he starts to see both women more clearly, and doesn’t romanticise a possible flame anymore, is exactly what’s needed to help him move on from his long lists of ‘what ifs?’ to realise that the problem has lain with him all along. He would never have been happy with Alice for the same reasons his relationship with Daphne was failing, his own issues and unwillingness to open up to the people he loves.

This is a book which manages to juggle light hearted pop culture references with some quite heavy themes, all sprinkled with the light and hope of Christmas, the backdrop to so many successful stories. It’s really a perfect setting for a stories about hope and despair, about finding the right path and the light at the end of the tunnel, and yes, the pain that we feel missing loved ones at this time for family and love. Christmas can be a lonely time, but it can also be a time of hope and this book really encapsulates that.

This doesn’t feel too heavy, it’s a nice read and provokes some questions without being preachy or making excuses for its protagonist. I’d highly recommend giving it a read and letting yourself answer the questions it poses, and seeing if you fall into any of the traps that Ben does. I’d bet we all have at some point in our lives!

I feel so lucky to have been accepted for an ARC of this book, due for release, October 2020. I absolutely love the stories where people are taken back in time to see what their lives could have been if they had made different choices and Tom really knocked this one out of the park - it was, to put it straight, phenomenal.

Ben's story had a twist of A Christmas Carol and Groundhog dog, in which the story begins with him wallowing in the mistakes he has made over the past few months, whilst being in an unhappy marriage. He starts to question what his life could've been if he had made that anticipated move on his old university friend, Alice, rather than on his current wife, Daphne, all those years ago. With his marriage in a bit of shamble and the eager feeling to reconnect with Alice consuming him, Ben questions if his marital issues are due to the fact that he and Daphne weren't meant to be. Should he have actually chosen Alice and would life be better for him now? With the help of a mysterious stranger and a broken watch, stuck on one minute to midnight on Christmas Eve - Ben is given the second chance to go back in time and see if all of the thoughts niggling in his mind are true.

I absolutely loved that with this watch, Ben was pulled back through time starting at uni, where he made the ultimate decision in the first place, all the way in to the future to see what could have been, if he had chosen Alice. He is forced to relive moments that cause him much heart-break and torture, however, with every moment relived, Ben finds out something that he hadn't the first time round - allowing him to see situations in a different perspective. What he didn't appreciate in the present, he soon began to appreciate in the past and future.

I had all the expectations that Ben would realise that he did, in fact, choose the wrong woman all this time - however, the story took a whole other turn, opening Ben's eyes to what he already has, how he'd become too self-obsessed to see how much his wife had gone through and given up to support him during rough times, and most importantly, having the chance to fall in love with Daphne all over again.

I absolutely loved this book. I don't read books from a male perspective very often, if ever, so this book was a breath of fresh air from what I had grown so used to. Ben was a really likeable character, who most certainly had his bad moments, but, who doesn't? I was fascinated with the 'A Christmas Carol' structure, in which Ben relived certain moments of his past, while not making any impact on the present whatsoever. It was literally just a second chance for him to make things right - no one else was affected. There was some very moving scenes with his mother and father as well, showing that Ben being pulled back through time was not just to solve his problems with Daphne, but also to get his second chance with other people in his life - things he wished he hadn't said, things he wished he had said, questions he never asked. He finally got the closure, even if those people will never know it happened.

An absolutely outstanding book from Tom Ellen, now leaving me extremely eager to purchase all other books he has written, whilst get excited for what else is to come!

What a good read . I enjoyed this book from the beginning and couldn't put it down by the end . I laughed, cried felt that Ben was a total idiot and admired him at times. I loved the characters, well portrayed and likeable (or not !!) . Also liked reading about the self insight that Ben acquires during the story.
The story does have some element of fantasy, but in a strange way also believable. Written in down to earth language and recognizing that men and the British aare not always that good at talking about their feelings ...

I just adored this book! It is such a lovely read, particularly in the first days of December. I feel a bit sad that it isn’t going to be available to buy for family and friends this year.

The writing is just beautiful, a modern twist on a Christmas Carol, with a lot of gentle but important life lessons woven through the tale. I felt a whole range of emotions as I read; joy, unease, anger, sorrow, amusement. Yes, you have to suspend your disbelief and yes it won’t be for people wanting a heavy and serious book but for those wanting something captivating and seasonal then give this a go.

And as a little aside, how beautiful is that cover?! Yes yes I know we don’t judge by them (but in this instance we should)!

A fun, enjoyable read about second chances. Definitely one for fans of Sliding Doors. Something to curl up with a glass of wine or hit chocolate.

Dec 07, 2019 · edit
really liked it

I recieved this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First thing I will say is this book really wasn't what I was expecting. From the description I thought I was getting a light, fluffy rom com, but ended up with a retelling of A Christmas Carol, which managed to be hilarious and quirky while handling some deeper, serious topics. I laughed, I cried, I totally lost my cool (anyone remember All Dog's Christmas Carol?) and I will definitely be picking a finished copy up when it comes out next October.

It's December 2019, but I think I've already found my book of 2020. I binged this book today - it's wonderful. Funny, warm, charming, sad, profound and joyous. An inventive take on the structure of A Christmas Carol, this moving and beautiful book is a real must read!

What a lovely story. Ben is 34 years old and at a crossroads. His fifteen year old relationship with Daphne is shaky, not helped by her career success and his failure which has led to him being very negative about himself. The sudden loss of his mother has poleaxed him too especially as they fought the last time he saw her. So, when an email comes from Alice, a girl he was attracted to at university, he seriously thinks about starting an affair with her. But on Christmas Eve 2020 he is given a watch stopped at one minute to midnight which transports him back to the past, into the present and into the future giving him the chance to gain a new perspective on his life.

I loved this book. Ben is such a likeable character even though he's a bit of a dick at times but then, who isn't? I thought the use of the structure of A Christmas Carol was very clever and the insights he gained from his various 'trips' was great. I found the scenes with his mother very moving. We've all been there; wishing we had time again with loved ones to say the things we didn't say and ask the questions we didn't ask. A very wise book. Perfect for fans of David Nicholls this is bound to be a bestseller. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.

This book follows thirty four year old Ben, whose marriage has gone stagnant, as well as his career. The night before Christmas 2020, he is gifted a watch that will take him through to the past to relive some of his past experiences, and maybe appreciate them in a different way. A modern day Christmas Carol!

I was SO pleasantly surprised by the course this book took. I was sure that it would be a case of Ben realising that he followed the wrong path back in University, and that he should have fallen in love with Annie, instead of Daphne (his present day wife). The fact that this book was about appreciating what you DO have, and Ben falling in love with Daphne all over again made my heart sing. I really enjoyed the appreciation for family and friends, and the lesson of opening yourself up to past mistakes and holding yourself accountable. The ending was realistic, and I think that it really rounded off the book well.

I’ve read some Tom Ellen before (Freshers made me laugh out loud), and can honestly say that his writing style is one of my favourites. Witty, emotional, and honest. I want to give Daphne and Ben’s Mum the BIGGEST of hugs!

A charming romance, bound to be the One Day in December of 2020. Lovely take on relationships and family with a few terrific jokes. Tom Ellen assuredly makes the jump from YA to adult fiction.