#Review #NetGalley #Freckles

Release Date: 2nd September 2021 / Publisher: Harper Collins UK, Harper Fiction

You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.
 
When a stranger utters these words to Allegra Bird, nicknamed Freckles, it turns her highly ordered life upside down. In her current life as a parking warden, she has left her eccentric father and unconventional childhood behind for a bold new life in the city.
 
But a single encounter leads her to ask the question she's been avoiding for so long:  who are the people who made her the way she is?  And who are the five people who can shape and determine her future? Just as she once joined the freckles on her skin to mirror the constellations in the night sky, she must once again look for connections.

Told in Allegra's vivid, original voice, moving from Dublin to the fierce Atlantic coast, this is an unforgettable story of human connection, of friendship, and growing into your own skin. 

Five people. Five stars. Freckle to freckle. Star to star.

Buy It Here!

My Review

I was excited to see a new book by this author.  The title and cover both intrigued me and drew me in instantly.  Freckles is the nickname of Allegra Bird. She's a traffic warden in an Irish city.  She always wanted to be a police officer in the Irish Garda, but failed to make the grade, so a traffic warden is the nearest she'll get.  When the owner of a car she keeps ticketing tells her that "you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with…" it sends Allegra's life into a spin with her trying to decide who her five people are.

This is a very cleverly written book with plenty of things to think about, both for Allegra and yourself as you read.  I have to admit though, it took me ages to get into the story properly.  I became invested in Allegra's character quite early on; I liked her character and her routines.  Then as the story moved on, I lost the connection a little, and then I got it again, then lost it again…and I found this continued through well over half of the book.  I found the book a little complicated at times but there was something in the story which pushed me to continue with it.  The supporting characters were good, I loved Paddy and Tristan and they made the story.  The whole supporting cast were a mixed bunch of characters, but they worked well throughout the book and kept it going!

For me, the best part of the story was the last quarter of the book.  I became so engrossed in the story that I actually felt quite sad when I finished it, which felt strange considering I'd struggled with the rest of the book.  The premise of "the average of the five people you spend the most time with" was interesting and by the end of the book, this all made perfect sense.  The book was emotional and moving throughout, and on the very last page, I have to admit, I was reduced to tears.  This was such a difficult book to review, I normally would have given up with it very early on, but as it was an author I like, it spurred me to carry on.  In the end, I'm so glad I did! 

The Author

Cecelia Ahern is an Irish novelist known for her works like PS, I Love You, Where Rainbows End and If You Could See Me Now. Born in Dublin, Ahern is now published in nearly fifty countries, and has sold over 25 million copies of her novels worldwide. Two of her books have been adapted as major motion films.

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