Where Rainbows End

by Cecelia Ahern

From the no. 1 bestselling author of PS, I Love You comes an enchanting novel about two childhood friends whom fate and destiny can't help toying with…

From naughty children to rebellious teenagers, Rosie and Alex have stuck by each other through thick and thin. But just as they're discovering the joys of teenage nights on the town and dating disasters, they're separated. Alex's family moves from Dublin to America – and Alex goes with them. For good.

Rosie's lost without him. But on the eve of her departure to join Alex in Boston, Rosie gets news that will change her life forever – and keep her at home in Ireland.

Their magical connection sees them through the ups and downs of each other's lives but neither of them knows whether their friendship can really survive the years and miles – as well as new relationships. And at the back of Rosie's mind is whether they were meant to be more than just good friends all along. Misunderstandings, circumstances and sheer bad luck have kept them out of each other’s arms, but when presented with the ultimate opportunity, will they gamble everything – including their friendship – for true love?

Destiny, Alex and Rosie discover, is a funny thing and fate isn't quite done with them yet…

• ISBN13: 9780007189953
• Publish Date: 8 November 2004
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 15 February 2008
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: HarperCollins
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Nessa Luna]

Actual rating: 3,5. Before I start this review, I have a confession to make. I only wanted to pick up this book because - in the movie - the role of Alex was played by Sam Claflin (our beloved Finnick Odair in the Hunger Games). I really wanted to see that movie, because I just think Sam is gorgeous and u g h. But, I also kind of wanted to read the book first, to get to know the story a bit better. So when I saw it for only 7,95 at my local bookstore, I decided to buy it.

Where Rainbows End tells the story of Rosie Dunne, and Alex Stewart. They have been best friends since they were five, and they are inseparable. But then, Alex's parents move to Boston and - naturally - they take him with them. He finished high school there and goes onto Harvard to become a heart surgeon. Rosie promises to come there to study Hotel Management as soon as she's graduated. That is until she gets pregnant.

I was a bit confused at the size of this book, because I honestly thought the story happened over a period of a couple of years or so, maybe from their teens until their late twenties. But before picking up the book, I read a review on Goodreads that told me this book started at around Rosie's seventh birthday and ended around their fifties or something. A much longer period than I had expected, but still, I was interested in the story. It mainly consists of letters, emails, chat sessions, text messages and post cards send between not only Rosie and Alex, but their families and eventually their children as well.

I personally really liked the idea of this book, the different types of exchanges between Alex and Rosie. And later on their families, Rosie and Ruby, Katie (Rosie's daughter) and her best friend Toby and so on. It reminded me a bit of - I am going to say it - Illuminae, except without all the action/suspence and the spacey-wacey stuff of course. The way the book was composed made it so much easier to read in my opinion, and I really finished the 500+ page book within three days.

There was one thing I didn't really like, and that was how - at age forty/fifty - Rosie still sounded a bit like a teenager to me. I don't know, maybe she did really change her writingstyle over the years, or maybe people just don't do that at all, but I felt like I was still reading about nineteen year old Rosie. Because I don't have that experience yet, I don't know if people really change their way of writing as they get older, but I do know that I write differently than I used to write when I was sixteen, so yeah.

In the end, I really liked Where Rainbows End but I have to admit I didn't love it. My main problem was that it was too long. Had it been told over a shorter period of time, I may have enjoyed it much much more!

If you're a lover or stories like Just One Day, Anna and the French Kiss, and Lobsters, but you want a more grown-up book, you should definitely check out this book!

My opinion on this book in one gif: 

So sad the movie screwed it all up.

[Leah]

Rosie Dunne and Alex Stewart have been friends since they were 5 years old. Years later Alex and his family move to Boston. Rosie plans to follow him there but something happens which forces Rosie to abandon her plans. As the years go by, the pair keep in regular contact but their friendship is put under tremendous strain through a variety of things. Are the pair destined to ever be together or will they always be just best friends?

Following on from Cecelia Ahern’s hugely successful debut, PS, I Love You, I was always going to be wary that her second novel (and subsequent novels) wouldn’t live up to the hype. Thankfully any wariness was dispelled pretty quickly as Where Rainbows End is a fabulous story. So good, I’ve now read it twice. I find I form a better opinion of a book on the second reading for some reason.

Where Rainbows End is written in an incredibly unique way. It’s written through a series of letters, instant messages and emails and that’s the whole book. When I first read it I was worried we wouldn’t get to know the characters properly but, surprisingly, we get to know the characters better this way as they reveal their inner-most feelings in the letters, emails, etc.

I loved Rosie Dunne, and in turn, Alex, too. To like this novel you have got to like both of the main characters as they are featured the heaviest, writing notes and emails and things to each other. I couldn’t help feeling for the pair of them and hoping that, for once, fate would allow them to be together. Even though there was a lot thrown in their way, their friendship still remained and I loved how Cecelia managed to keep that up. I love that they didn’t drift apart, even through the rough times.

There are also emails between the other characters we meet in the book, Katie, Rosie’s daughter; Toby, Katie’s best friend; Ruby, Rosie’s friend; Stephanie, Rosie’s sister; Kevin, Rosie’s brother; Rosie’s parents; as well as Alex’s son Josh. Cecelia manages to weave the story and all of the emails/notes in perfectly well and the book flows easily.

Where Rainbows End is the ultimate love story. It goes on for decades, which makes it sound long-winded, but it’s not. It also doesn’t drag at all, which it could have easily have done especially in the way it’s written. It really is an immense book and is well worth a read. Cecelia is an outstanding writer and her books are like fairytales for grown-ups! I can’t praise Where Rainbows End enough, it really is that good.