ammaarah
Written on Jul 3, 2016
"I don't want to be one of those easily forgotten people, so important at the time, so special, so influential, and so treasured, yet years later just a vague face and a distant memory. I want us to be best friends forever, Alex." (Rosie Dunne)
Love, Rosie is told through transcripts such as letters, emails and instant messages. This unique format makes the book interesting, but it creates a wall between the characters and I and I wasn't fully drawn into the book and the characters emotions and feelings.
This book centers around two best friends, Alex and Rosie from the age of 7 to their early 50's. The plot of this story is predictable. It's a book about best friends becoming more and realizing that they have feelings for each other. I knew what the endgame of Love, Rosie was going to be, but it's the journey to the endgame and the twists and turns along the way that was supposed to keep me reading. However, the plot dragged and was extremely repetitive.
Alex and Rosie don't have easy lives and I understand that this book is supposed to be realistic, show that people don't always get what they want or what they deserve and that life doesn't end up the way you want it to, but there so many unnecessary "coincidental" obstacles that are thrown in front of Alex and Rosie. These obstacles became extremely repetitive as though the same story was being told all over again and the characters kept on making the same damn mistakes without learning from them. It got to a point where I was so bored and I forced myself to continue reading. The issues in this book could have easily been solved if Alex and Rosie just talked their feelings out and managed to communicate efficiently. Honestly, Love, Rosie had more pages than was necessary. The plot just drags on and on and is one of the most tedious things ever.
Even although there was a wall between me and Love, Rosie and I felt distant from it, it was the characters that kept me reading. The characters in this book just jumped off the page and even although that's something that's difficult to achieve when writing a book told through transcripts, Cecelia Ahern made it look easy. Rosie's such a fun main character to read about. She's sarcastic, humorous and cynical and I loved her! I also enjoyed the complete turnaround that some characters had such as Ms Casey and Brian. My favourite characters in this book are Katie and Ruby. The plot of this book lies heavily on characterization and character development so I don't want to talk too much about them in fear that I might give important things away.
Even although I have issues with this book, there are moments in Love, Rosie that are laugh-out-loud hilarious and I enjoy Ahern's writing style and her realistic characters. The concept behind Love, Rosie didn't work for me, but I would definitely love to give Ahern's other books, that have a plot that is more up-my-alley, a try.
