The Time of My Life, by Cecelia Ahern

We get reminders from doctors and dentists about our next appointments, but Lucy got a reminder about not missing her appointment with life. Yes, life. After skipping her appointment several times, Lucy eventually comes face to face with her life in the form a run-down man. As Lucy continues trudging through her days, her life takes over and leads her in directions that she never would have dreamed of.

The concept of this book seems a bit confusing, especially because the man Lucy's Life (as in his name) but rather Lucy's life (as in the noun). When I first saw that life was a man I was convinced there would be a romance between him and Lucy but once I vaguely understood the concept of an appointment with life I realized how implausible that would be. My comprehension of the idea swayed back and forth between a logical explanation of that being Lucy's life was the man's job, but at some point in the novel I was forced to let go of logic and enter Ahern's slightly magical world.

My favorite thing about Cecelia Ahern's books is how though they may seem similar to many other novels, there is often either a mystical element or a unique way of writing that lifts her books above the norm and keeps them from being cliche. She manages to insert humor into topics that aren't the most cheerful and reading her books ignites all different sorts of emotions in the reader.

The reason why I gave this book 4 stars was because of the slow beginning. It took a while for it to really kick off and so when I was really tempted to stop I flipped to the ending and after determining that I liked it I resumed at my boring location near the beginning. My advice is to stick through the dull parts because once it gets good it gets great.

4.3 stars

Lucy Silchester has an appointment with her life – and she’s going to have to keep it.

Lying on Lucy Silchester’s carpet one day when she returns from work is a gold envelope. Inside is an invitation – to a meeting with Life. Her life. It turns out she's been ignoring itand it needs to meet with her face to face.

It sounds peculiar, but Lucy’s read about this in a magazine. Anyway, she can’t make the date: she’s much too busy despising her job, skipping out on her friends and avoiding her family.

But Lucy’s life isn’t what it seems. Some of the choices she’s made – and stories she’s told – aren’t what they seem either. From the moment she meets the man who introduces himself as her life, her stubborn half-truths are going to be revealed in all their glory – unless Lucy learns to tell the truth about what really matters to her.