I was completely immersed in this story and sped through it in a day. The way it was written with few chapter breaks meant you just got sucked into the story and went with it.

Alice was an interesting character, slightly awkward but with what she was dealing with your occasional frustration with her was expected.

My only slight dislike was the controlling nature of her relationship with her husband - stopping her seeing her friends, his behaviour at the wedding, telling her how much she can share with him, but despite this I loved reading about their lives together.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I’ve enjoyed all of the books I’ve read by Cecilia Ahern and this is no exception. I’m fascinated by synthasaesia so was really interested to read this book about Alice who sees colours around people which differ according to their moods and personalities….gold signifying innocent life, pregnancy and babies, white from the crown of the head when someone passes, lust shown to her as pulsing red. She also sees colour around living objects such as trees but suffers with headaches and migraines from this ‘gift’. As an observer it seems like a wonderful talent to possess but it must be overwhelming.

Alice is a wonderful character and I loved learning about her and following her life.

I liked the sheer originality of the unusual ideas in this book. It was well written, with some interesting characters, who were not perfect as real people are not. I had a few tiny gripes, but for some great ideas I have to give this book full marks.

Wow, this book really blew me away, I just absolutely loved it! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

Wow! This book was just incredible. I couldn't stop reading, I was absolutely absorbed in the story. I think it will take a lot to top this one. I adored every thing about it. The characters, the storyline, amazing. Thank you to the author, publishers and netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

Such a, unique, extraordinary story, I was drawn in from the beginning and could almost feel the colours of the different characters as Alice saw them this was so beautifully written. I cried so many tears and will miss Alice kelly for a very long time.
My thanks to Netgallery for my opportunity to read such a wonderful book.

Alice has a life changing experience when she is 8:years old, she realises she sees colours surrounding people, they vary as to what emotions they are feeling. She has a difficult family life with a mother who is bi-polar, a father who leaves when the children are young, an older brother, Hugh, she idolises and a younger brother, Ollie, who becomes a problem the older he gets.
Alice’s gift leads to problems at school and she gets sent to a boarding school for difficult children where she makes 2 good friends who we briefly meet again once Alice has moved to London and is trying to find a job she can do.
I have read a lot of books by Cecelia Ahern but this was the first one that took me a while to get into reading. I am glad I persevered as I enjoyed it the more I read.

An absolutely epic read that I enjoyed immensely. It was so well done, so well-written, I looked forward to reading it every night. It was different to any book I had read before. It had a unique premise, insightful characters, and a really interesting take on how we see life differently. I also liked the fact that it went through her entire life. I did wonder if the end was a little rushed but it didn't detract from the enjoyment. A five-star read by a talented writer.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for a digital review copy of this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.

“Finding your way is never a simple journey…

Alice sees the worst in people.

She also sees the best.
She sees a thousand different emotions and knows exactly what everyone around her is feeling.
Every. Single. Day.

But it’s the dark thoughts.

The sadness. The rage.
These are the things she can’t get out of her head. The things that overwhelm her.

Where will the journey to find herself begin?”

I am a great fan of Cecelia Ahern’s books but this one really blew me away! I was totally immersed in this book with its unique storyline about Alice Kelly and her ability to see peoples colours. This is storytelling at it’s finest and I found it a moving, beautiful read that will stay with me for a long time.

What an absolutely beautiful book! I loved the characters and was completely engrossed. It's so, so lovely. Highly recommended.

Another wonderful story from Ahern looking at unusual characters, in this case Alice who sees and reads auras, both in people and in nature. The book spans most of her life and is filled with wisdom and beautiful description, as Alice tries and stumbles to navigate growing up in light of her gift, which for a long time she sees as a curse. Heart breaking at times, funny in others, it’s a real story of light and shade in a world of abundant colour.

Alice sees the worst in people.

She also sees the best.
She sees a thousand different emotions and knows exactly what everyone around her is feeling.
Every. Single. Day.

But it’s the dark thoughts.
The sadness. The rage.
These are the things she can’t get out of her head. The things that overwhelm her.

Alice has a gift- though she doesn't always perceive it this way. She views people's auras, her ability enabling her to detect and feel how others' feel vividly. Burdened with the pain, despair and anxiety of others she develops ways to shield herself from the transference of their colours.
Cecilia Ahern has produced a masterpiece here, an original premise for a book and mesmerising characters. Simply stunning. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

An intriguing read that had me hooked from the start. Unusual subject matter of Synesthesia which I had come across before but not to such an extent as Alice, the main character together with a gift of insight makes this an unforgettable book.. Wonderful development of characters throughout and the world through Alice's eyes throughout her life which was somewhat timeless. Certainly a powerful book and I think Cecelia's best that I have read to date. A resounding 5 stars.

Loved it ! From the first few sentences the story had me. An interesting plot and characters you could visualise, don’t want to give things away but I felt I was “ seeing “ too, it was so well described . A delight to read and I loved it was a complete finale even though I did have a lump in my throat. Definitely a bestseller and yet again a totally fab book from Adele.

I absolutely loved this book! Alice is a little girl living with her two brothers and her single parent mother who seems to be suffering depression. Alice does not have.a happy childhood. One day Alice returns home from school, petrified at the amount of deep blue hanging around in the air, unable to wake her mum up. The blue seems to be suffocating her. Alice is disruptive at school and she’s confused with herself. Several years later her brothers girlfriend realises what is different about Alice. Alice sees colour around everyone. She can tell if they are good or bad; happy or sad; a danger or a safe person. It’s a medical condition, it’s all clear now. Alice struggles to come to terms with this and spends most of her adult life hiding away. Until she meets Naomi, a Reiki healer, who makes her see her gift differently. Alice eventually lets in love, and her world is turned around, I absolutely loved this story.

I adore Cecilia Aherns books I really, really do. Some of them have a really special place in my heart and are amount my favourite books I have ever and will ever read. I devour them all hungrily and greedily like gulping down water after waking up in the morning after eating a Chinese. I have had this book on my to read list since way before Christmas time when I first discovered that it was coming out.

We first meet Alice when she is a child she is living in a toxic household, with a mother who doesn't really care about her and wishes she wasn't around. The mother is suffering from terrible depression or so we think at first. Alice one days comes home from school and finds her mother asleep however there is a blue hue surrounding her and all over the room, it is seeping through Alice's sink. Alice thinks something terrible has happened to her mother and so she calls an ambulance. However her mother is fine and it is here that we discover that Alice has a very rare condition where she can see the colours of people. She can tell what they are thinking, how they are feeling just by looking at the colours they are omitting.

We see Alice struggling to come to terms and trying to understand something so monumental .mostly on her own, trying to work through life, family life ect which is really hard and scary for her.

We see her through her schooling life, her teenage years, her adultlesence, her adulthood, motherhood, married life and old age. We see her family evolve and change and all the struggles and turmoils that brings. We see her ups and downs and everything in-between. We discover how glorious and how frightening this ability is and how she must navigate the world.

People think that this ability would be great. But I'm not so sure. I'm not sure because think about how hard it is to have to explain things to people for them to not understand you and to never feel like you fit in, anywhere. Never having anyone really truly understand and get you. Having noone to be able to relate to you and to have noone be able to talk to you about things and discuss things with you and to help you make sense and understand what you go through every single minute if every single day of your life.

It is a book that talks to us about the importance of kindness, the importance of never judging someone by their actions, or words alone, but to try and get to know the real person because you never know what internal struggles someone is secretly dealing with. It is a book that begs the read to show compassion and understanding to everyone they meet, especially to people who are different to them and whose lives are different to our own.

Everyone has their own struggles in life, everyone has things that they have to try to understand and work through, everyone has things that are hard and difficult. But I can say that having a few things that rarely most people have is difficult, it's difficult to find people to believe you and to understand you and to appreciate and get you for who you are. It's hard to live in a world where most people do not have pain in their every waking moment and to not fit in with the norms of sociatal expectations. But to look to the outside world like you should and to look like you have everything together all the time. This book shines a light on people who are like this and how completely draining and hard life can feel and be. Thank you for writing this book Cecelia. It was written with such poise, such care, such understand and much love. I applaude you and thank you for the hard work and effort it must have taken to write this book. It means alot.

I loved this book. I was hooked straight away and didn't want it to end. It is the story of Alice who can see people like others can't and how she navigates through her day to day life.

Firstly I must say how much I admired the cover shown on the site, beautiful and so evocative of what was to come. An amazing story of what could be seen as a disability, but had so many more layers. Thank you for a chance to review this book, it was extremely readable.

I enjoyed the way in which the main character, Alice, develops and learns to overcome the problems created by her chaotic childhood.

For me the references to synaesthesia were overdone. These sort of issues have been dealt with more sensitively in other books such as Once there were Wolves. However colour synaesthesia does provide a useful tool for investigating strong emotions in relationships. The story illustrated feelings that exist in all of us, and in extreme forms when we are under stress, but are difficult to acknowledge and deal with.

I found Hugh a bit too good to be true, whereas the younger brother, Ollie, was tragic but recognisable.

The writing is clear and economical, covering a lifetime of experience and character growth effectively. Different environments are created and help to illustrate how Alice finds an expansive and fulfilling life from a challenging start.

A sad story, but an enjoyable and, ultimately, encouraging read.