The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

The Book of Tomorrow
Author: Cecelia Ahern
Publisher: Harper (an imprint of HarperCollins)
Release Date: January 25, 2011
Edition: ARC
* Won through Shelf Awareness.

Summary from GoodReads: The magical new novel from number one bestseller Cecelia Ahern. Tamara Goodwin has always got everything she's ever wanted. Born into a family of wealth, she grew up in a mansion with its own private beach, a wardrobe full of designer clothes and all that a girl could ever wish for. She's always lived in the here and now, never giving a second thought to tomorrow. But then suddenly her dad is gone and life for Tamara and her mother changes forever. Left with a mountain of debt, they have no choice but to sell everything they own and move to the country. Nestled next to Kilsaney Castle, their gatehouse is a world away from Tamara's childhood. With her mother shut away with grief, and her aunt busy tending to her, Tamara is lonely and bored and longs to return to Dublin.When a travelling library passes through Kilsaney Demesne, Tamara is intrigued. Her eyes rest on a mysterious large leather bound tome locked with a gold clasp and padlock. What she discovers within the pages takes her breath away and shakes her world to its core.

My Thoughts: 

When Tamara Goodwin's father dies, he leaves both her and her mother in so much debt that they have to sell off everything they have and move to the country to live with Rosaleen and Arthur (Tamara's aunt and uncle). It's there, in the country, that Tamara's world changes. Suddenly her mother never leaves her bedroom, Rosaleen is constantly keeping a scarily vigilant eye upon Tamara, and she's never allowed to see the mail. Meanwhile there's Marcus, the boy who drives the traveling library about and within said traveling library Tamara discovers a leather-bound tome with a lock on it. Thoroughly intrigued, she takes it back with her and with the help of Sister Ignatius, she manages to get it open only to discover that it's blank inside. Later that evening she opens it only to find that one of the pages has been filled by her. Only, it's been dated for the following day and everything that's been mentioned in the entry has yet to happen. With the ability to take her future into her own hands, what will Tamara do? Will she help her mother recover from her father's death? Will she discover what Rosaleen has been keeping from her? 


In The Book of Tomorrow, Tamara Goodwin's life gets turned upside down. Suddenly she's fatherless, living in a tiny house in which you can hear just about everything, and her mother never seems to leave her room--or be awake for that matter. Left to her own devices, she discovers the traveling library, Marcus, and thus, the blank book which becomes her diary (well, contains her diary entries from the day proceeding the current one). Thanks to the book, Tamara takes matters into her own hands and because of this, she discovers a series of secrets that the adults have been keeping from her--as well as a secret that has been kept from her mother. 


I'll be honest, I didn't see the big secret coming. Sure, I thought it'd have something to do with the castle, but wow. I could say a little more than that, but at the same time I really don't want to give it away--as it is a pretty major secret. Needless to say, Cecelia Ahern did not disappoint. The Book of Tomorrow kept me guessing and well, there's a little bit of romance tossed in as well--which was a nice touch and I think Tamara picked the right one. Don't get me wrong though, it's more suspense than romance and well, although it starts out slow (I wasn't exactly loving the first two chapters) things get better after you reach chapter three and Tamara begins from their arrival at the gatehouse. This can be considered a Young Adult book although there are references to sex and a bit of cussing as well--which personally doesn't bother me, but I thought that I'd give more sensitive readers the heads up about that.


Overall Rating: ★★★★