Where Rainbows End (“Love, Rosie”) by Cecelia Ahern | Rating: ★★★★★

"Our life is made up of time; our days are measured in hours, our pay measured by those hours, our knowledge is measured by years. We grab a quick few minutes in our busy day to have a coffee break. We rush back to our desks, we watch the clock, we live by appointments. And yet your time eventually runs out and you wonder in your heart of hearts if those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, and decades were being spent the best way they possibly could.

In other words, if you could change anything, would you?"

For years, I’ve heard rave reviews when it comes to this novel. I’m surprised I hadn’t read it sooner, in fact, because admittedly I do own quite a few of Cecelia’s books. And I absolutely adore her writing. She manages to come across as charming and heartfelt in a way that makes her so good at expressing most of our deepest thoughts.

(There is also the fact that it came out around the time that I was in middle school and had just begun settling in my love for reading.)

Cecelia Ahren has a way with words and capturing your heart. There are times while reading the thoughts of her characters that I can’t help but think: hey, did she get inside my head for that? Which, to me, is one of the most beautiful things about reading — when you find another person, a writer, who manages to connect you and their characters together.


Love, Rosie is a simple read told in the form of letters, emails, instant messages and other varied forms of communication through the years between a pair of best friends — which I absolutely adored. While other authors have written in this format, this is one of the rare stories which isn’t vague or lackluster and proves that sometimes, even the simplest forms of communication can bring you into somebody else’s life in full colour.

Anyway, after years of waiting: I finally got my hands on a copy of it this month and I have to say…

Some things are worth the wait. This book, this relationship, was completely and incredibly worth the wait. Time was never on my side when it came down to getting this book, which is ironic seeing as time wasn’t always on our two lead character’s sides, either. Love Rosie is a charming form of story telling and answers the age old questions: can men and women really just be friends? Sometimes, surely, they can.

Rosie and Alex? Perhaps not.

I loved it. SO. MUCH. Every time I think of the story, the way it was told and the way it was formed based on the summary, I am pleasantly surprised. Because so much could have made this story a bore or a cliche or impersonal and the fact that it wasn’t any of things, ultimately, really impressed me.

I don’t really recommend reading this book if you’re looking for something that happens quickly. As I said before, time wasn’t particularly on these characters sides and it took quite a while for them to reach the same point. I mean that literally, the wait was incredibly long and in spite of this, it was still worth the read.

Many of my friends thought that the ending was a bit of a downer, which may be true for you. However, looking back — it was perfect, for me. It was simple and let us know how those chapters, those phases, of life for Rosie and Alex ended. And ultimately, the wait was completely worth it for me.

As for the characters…

Rosie Dunne was a delight to read. Our poor girl couldn’t seem to strike a good luck in life for a majority of the story and yet she kept pushing on. Which is wonderful. She overthinks a lot of things and is just a very fascinating mind to get into. Like I said, she keeps pushing through life even when it lets her down and ultimately that is my favorite part about her and this story in general. Her relationship with Alex is one of the main focuses, in spite of the distance between their homes, but other relationships make their appearance known and show different sides of love to her.

Alex Stewart was also impossible not to root for. There were times when I wanted to shake them both but mostly it was me wanting to shake him. I did like how he kept in touch with Rosie’s daughter even when he and Rosie were fighting. He showed moments of being a bit of a moron in terms of how he handled things (re: his second marriage) but overall, he was a lovely character.

Love, Rosie will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you think. It may make you long for love. It will remind you how special certain relationships in life are and that even as time passes, feelings don’t always go away.

Next time you’re at a book store and happen to come across this novel, if you haven’t read it, please do me a solid and pick up a copy. It’s the perfect read for a day in the sun and you’ll devour it fast, with a head and heart full of emotions.