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A Place Called Here Cecilia Ahern 9780007258871 Books

Download As PDF : A Place Called Here Cecilia Ahern 9780007258871 Books

A Place Called Here Cecilia Ahern 9780007258871 Books

Although it is written as an imaginary story, there is so much that applies to real life. I felt like I could be the girl who had problems in high school that no one understood. I wished I had had a counselor like she did to get her through many difficult years, but reading the details of her sessions enabled me to be that girl and to finally be understood. The concept of being lost so we can be found helped me to realize that the need to be found was a large part of the unhappiness I had felt for so many years. I had borrowed this book from the local library, but ended up buying a copy for my home library to keep!


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A Place Called Here Cecilia Ahern 9780007258871 Books Reviews

Cecelia Ahern manages to combine magic and reality in he most fascinating, believable way. The story unfolds beautifully and smoothly, keeping you riveted with every word.
This was simply a fun book; something completely original and different from what's current in fiction. People who are giving it one star reviews either have no imagination or refuse to think out of the box. It was a FANTASY. The author was very detailed and brought the character of Sandy Shortt alive with all her quirks and personality traits. I felt that she was a very believable character because she wasn't perfect and didn't try to be. After a childhood friend goes missing, Sandy is consumed with finding lost things and people; to the extent that she opens a missing persons agency. One day Sandy wanders down a jogging trail and winds up in a place called Here, where missing things and people go. She meets several people she had been searching for and finds that thousands of lost people have made a life for themselves in Here. The plot is interesting, original and so different that I couldn't stop reading. I highly recommend this book to anyone who can just unwind enough and open their minds to something new.
I always loved her first novel and when I saw this one I decided to give it a try. She is a very good writer, and her dialogue is always believable. I loved her main character, but at times the story got a little slow for me. It was worth the read, but unfortunately it did not keep pace with her earlier work, P.S. I Love You.
Promising beginning, not very engaging development and disappointing ending. The main idea of the book is interesting, but somewhere in the middle it became plainly boring.
To really enjoy this book, you'll have to suspend your disbelief a bit, and not ask too many questions. But if you can do it, this is a great book to get lost in. If you've ever wondered where all the little things you lose in the course of your life go, this book provides one possible--and quite interesting--answer. Sandy is a wonderfully flawed character who engages you and drags you along in her quest to find all things lost.
If you're a Wizard of Oz fan, you'll love the ending--especially if you've read the book.
This is the third book I have read by Cecilia Ahern and I am in awe that such depth, creativity, and mature insight can come from someone so young. It appears to me that several of the previous reviewers have missed much of the point of this book.

This book was not just a fantasy about a magical land where lost things and people reside. It is about the very deep and complex emotions of grief, love and guilt. It is about choosing either to survive or fade away in despair. It is about following your heart when the rest of the world says you're wrong, a fool, or just plain crazy. It is about murder, betrayal and healing.

Just like in P.S. I Love You, this book deals with the grief of losing a loved one but it goes deeper. It's not just the loss that causes the characters to suffer, it's the not-knowing what happened or where they are. Previous reviewers seem to have missed the whole story lines about Donal, Bobby, and Jenny-May and the effects their disappearances had on their loved ones. The never-ending grief of those who could not move on with their lives without knowing if their loved ones were dead or alive; of being afraid to move from a house, take a vacation, or even turn off a porch light for fear they would miss their return. It was about the feelings of isolation and abandonment those grieving people feel when they see the rest of their families picking up the pieces, giving up the search, and going on with their lives while they are left to suffer alone. It was about how such tragic events can sometimes bring a family closer together and other times totally rip it apart, no matter how loving and supportive everyone tries to be.

That someone as young as Ahern could recognize, analyze and describe those deep dark emotions and make them come alive in an uplifting story is amazing to me. Ahern made it work in P.S. I Love You and she made it work here.

For the emotion of love, Ahern shows how suffering through such a tragedy can destroy even the most stable and loving relationship. In regard to Jack's personal life, he loves Gloria, doesn't he? They've dreamed of a house and children. Gloria's been supportive and understanding through it all, made no demands, never questioned his actions, never rushed him. Why doesn't Jack feel anything toward her anymore? Is he trying to drive her away? Jack doesn't know himself . . . but apparently Ahern does, and again, for someone so young, I find that amazing.

The story also shows the adverse effects a hostile environment and the emotion of guilt can have on a developing child because, after all, this is the life story of Sandy Shortt.

Sandy had psychological problems (obsessive/compulsive and insomnia) and had been seeing a counselor from the time she was 14 years old. Her problems started when she was 10 years old and her classmate, Jenny-May Butler (who did everything she could to make Sandy's life miserable) disappeared just a few hours after Sandy had wished for just that very thing. After Jenny-May's disappearance, Sandy began questioning everything, no matter how minor and would repeatedly tear her parents' house apart looking for missing things as insignificant as one sock or a roll of Scotch tape.

I find it interesting that some reviewers say the premise of a place where missing people and things reside is too far-fetched or ridiculous and then say they were disappointed in the ending because they expected Sandy to bring everyone back. Just how far-fetched would that have been?

Another reviewer comments that "being missing without anyone missing you" is "just plain weird" as she states in her title line. I guess that reader never heard the story about the boy who cried wolf because that is exactly what Sandy Shortt was. As stated before, Sandy was in therapy since childhood. As an adult, she had very serious commitment issues, so bad that she always left her purse or luggage by the door anywhere she was visiting so she could make a quick get-away. Every time she began to feel trapped in a place or in a relationship she would take off, often being gone for several days. That's why those who were closest to her didn't sound any alarms. They missed her but just expected her to return.

Also, I disagree with the reviewers who say the ending was too abrupt. The clues were to be found in the land of Here if those reviewers had read carefully rather than just skimming through as they admitted. Sandy was not the first person to arrive at Here and then disappear again later . . . alone. The governing body gives conflicting stories to explain those disappearances and it is demonstrated that they are willing to lie to cover up any evidence that might lead to false hope or hysteria by those people who feel trapped in Here.

I loved a particular passage in the book where Sandy was questioning the existence of this amazing society she had stumbled upon. It was the question they say all people and all religions attempt to answer. Why are we here? In the book, Sandy asks

"Was it an accident that we were all here? Did we stumble upon a blip in the earth's creation, a black hole on the surface, or was this just a part of life that remained unspoken throughout the centuries? Were we lost and unaccounted for, or was this where we truly belonged and our normal lives the original error? Was this a place for those who felt like outsiders in life to belong, to finally feel relief?"

To me, for a young person Ahern's age to ask those questions, that is pretty deep.

And finally . . . the book was also about murder and betrayal. All previous reviewers seemed to miss that point!
This is my second time reading this book and I loved it as much as the first time. It may not be a Booker Prize winning book but Ahern has captured something rare ,here in this book. It is a book about loss and how we cope with the concept of coming to terms with it, knowing that we may never really be the same again and will probably never get the answers that we are looking for.
Although it is written as an imaginary story, there is so much that applies to real life. I felt like I could be the girl who had problems in high school that no one understood. I wished I had had a counselor like she did to get her through many difficult years, but reading the details of her sessions enabled me to be that girl and to finally be understood. The concept of being lost so we can be found helped me to realize that the need to be found was a large part of the unhappiness I had felt for so many years. I had borrowed this book from the local library, but ended up buying a copy for my home library to keep!