Booklist Reviews
Sixteen years after her debut, P.S. I Love You (2004), captured the hearts of readers, and was adapted into a film starring Hilary Swank, Ahern (Roar, 2019) revisits Holly Kennedy, picking up Holly's story seven years after the death of her beloved husband, Gerry. Now 37 and working in her sister's thrift shop, Holly thinks she might finally be ready to move in with her boyfriend, Gabriel, a divorced dad who adores her. And then Holly's sister, Ciara, convinces her to record a podcast to talk about the letters Gerry left for her to open in the year after his death. Not only does the podcast stir up old memories for Holly, but several terminally ill people form a group they christen the P.S. I Love You Club, and they want Holly to help them write letters to leave behind for their loved ones. Holly wrestles with whether to get involved, and her decision has serious repercussions for her relationship with Gabriel. Readers will want to have plenty of tissues on hand for this lovely, touching, heartwarming sequel. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.
Booklist Reviews
Ahern, daughter of the Irish prime minister, writes a charming, heartfelt debut. At age 29, Holly Kennedy is reeling from the loss of her soul mate and husband, Gerry, to a brain tumor. Before he died, Gerry mailed her a packet of 10 envelopes, one for each month from March to December. The envelopes contain a list of things for Holly to do to help her get through the coming year and ultimately move on. The instructions range from tasks as simple as buying a new outfit to harder ones, such as going to the ball she used to attend with Gerry. Luckily, she has her best friends, Sharon, who is married to Gerry's best friend, and Denise, to help her through--until she realizes they are moving on with their lives and she isn't. Ahern herself might be all of 22 years old, but she has realistically captured the ups and downs of a woman whose life has fallen apart and how she picks herself back up and moves on, one step at a time. ((Reviewed February 15, 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews.
BookPage Reviews
Advice for a young widow
Cecelia Ahern, the 22-year-old daughter of Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, writes with insight beyond her years in her debut novel, P.S. I Love You, a book at once poignant and comical, introspective and farcical.
Holly Kennedy, 29, has just become a widow when the novel opens, her husband Gerry—her best friend, lover and soul mate—having succumbed to a brain tumor. Holly slogs through aimless days and nights with only memories to keep her afloat until her mother reminds her of an envelope she received in the mail just before Gerry's death. The notes inside are labeled with the remaining months of the year, March through December, and each one contains a tip, written by Gerry as he was dying, to help Holly get on with her life. The first instructs her to go shopping for a new outfit, which gets her out of her dirty jeans and Gerry's T-shirts; July's note sends her on a vacation to Spain for a week with her two best friends, September pushes her to get out and look for her "best job ever," and December, the last note, encourages Holly not to be afraid to love again.
Gradually, Holly emerges from her cocoon. Armed with a new job in charge of advertising for a trendy magazine, she is constantly buoyed by her long-time friends, who serve as the vehicles for Ahern's comic side. They drag Holly along to "hen parties," shopping trips and balls against her wishes. Side plots focus on Holly's family, who include her doting parents, a stodgy older brother who emerges as one of her staunchest supporters, and her younger sister, pink-haired and flaky, who can always make Holly laugh.
Ahern weaves just the right amount of humor into her tale of Holly's struggle with grief and its aftermath, resulting in a highly engaging addition (for which the movie rights have already been sold) to the "plight of the suddenly single" genre.
Deborah Donovan writes from Cincinnati and La Veta, Colorado. Copyright 2004 BookPage Reviews.
Kirkus Reviews
Fluffy romance from the cute-as-a-button daughter of Ireland's Prime Minister.At the tender age of 22, film student Ahern pens her very first novel! The heroine: a young widow, Holly Kennedy, who discovers a batch of letters from her late husband Gerry, one for every month of the year. Yes, the posthumous postings are meant to help Holly heal, to laugh again and love again, and to remind her always to walk on the sunny side of the street, cherishing her memories and the happy future ahead (come to think of it, only a 22-year-old could write a book like this). Tra-la-la, come skip down the streets of Dublin with Holly and her chum Sharon. They spend a lot of time "laughing and joking about old times, then crying, followed by some more laughing, then more crying again." Though still consumed by grief, Holly can see that she has dark circles under her eyes, her hair is a fright, and her lips are chewed and chapped. Maybe now it's time to stop crying! And as she opens the first envelope to read Gerry's letter, she realizes that tomorrow is a new day. Reassured that Gerry is looking down from heaven, she vows to follow his lighthearted, loving advice and buy that new lamp, sing in a karaoke bar, etc. And each time she opens an envelope, it seems that Gerry is just playing a happy little game with her, even though they live in two different worlds. Holly knows he's right there, she can feel his spectral presence, she even talks to him. Of course, he'd know if she cheated at the happy little game, so she doesn't. There are other Big Questions, though, and our Holly searches for Answers. Get a Job or Keep On Shopping? Fall in Love with A Handsome Man or Start An Exciting Career at a Fashion Magazine? Don't worry! The ending is happy!Sappy rehash of some very familiar plots.$250,000 ad/promo; film rights to Warner Bros. Copyright Kirkus 2004 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
Kirkus Reviews
Seven years after Holly's husband's death, fate brings her a strange opportunity to retrace her early days of grief. But will she discover that she hasn't moved on after all? Ahern (Lyrebird, 2016, etc.) returns to the story of her debut novel, P.S., I Love You (which inspired a movie, as well), in which Gerry Kennedy left 10 letters for Holly to find after his death—10 letters that eased her passage out of emotional paralysis. This sequel finds Holly building a new life, working at her sister's vintage clothing store, biking the streets of Dublin after work each night, selling the house Gerry and she bought, and sharing the story of Gerry's letters on her sister's podcast. She's found love with Gabriel, a burly yet sensitive tree surgeon. They are even ready to move in together. When the podcast goes public, however, a group of terminally ill listeners asks her to teach them how to write letters to their soon-to-be-bereaved loved ones, too. As Holly struggles with whether to lead the P.S. I Love You Club, fearing that she will slip back toward her grief-stricken days, she has to confront whether she has really committed to Gabriel. But Gini ka, an illiterate teen mom dying of cervical cancer, tugs hard at Holly's heartstrings with her plea to teach her to write just one letter to her daughter, and Holly capitulates. As Holly encounters each of her newfound companions—ranging from a young man in remission to an elderly man in swift, emphysema-wracked decline—Ahern opens more doors to Holly's lingering grief, pushing her to expand her social connections. But with Holly mentoring the writers rather than reacting to letters meant for her, Ahern's tale pulls its emotional punch. This well-intentioned but disappointingly sentimental sequel will delight only die-hard fans. Copyright Kirkus 2019 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Ahern, the mediagenic 22-year-old daughter of Ireland's prime minister, debuts with a sweet, sentimental tale of a young widow's trials and triumphs in the year after her husband's death. Soul mates Holly and Gerry married in their early 20s; when Gerry dies of brain cancer at 30, Holly is utterly bereft. But Gerry has a final gift: a series of letters, which Holly is to open on the first of each month from March to New Year's, and which will guide her on her journey from grief. Gerry correctly predicts that Holly will not have gone through his belongings by June, found a new job by September or considered falling in love again by December, but with his posthumous epistolary encouragement she does all those things. She also enters a karaoke contest, takes a beach vacation and dances at a holiday ball she'd always attended with Gerry. The months pass as close friends help prop Holly up; around her, a marriage falls apart, a couple gets engaged and a friend announces her pregnancy. Within her tight-knit family, Holly's youngest brother makes a revealing film of her birthday party, her elder brothers change places in her allegiance and her parents take in one stray grown child after another for stays short and long. Ahern's speed (she wrote the book in three months) and her youth do show-the wisdom in evidence owes much to Nicholas Sparks and Sophie Kinsella-and her prose is pedestrian. She boasts a natural storytelling talent, however, resulting in a compelling tale sparked by an unusual premise. (Feb. 3) Forecast: Ahern-who's young, gorgeous and rich (thanks in part to a huge advance and rights sales to over a dozen countries)-should prove a huge draw on her eight-city author tour, and Hyperion is backing her with a $250,000 marketing budget. Warner Bros. and Wendy Finerman (a producer of Forrest Gump) have signed on for the movie version of this screen-friendly tale (the epilogue even boasts a meet-cute). The novel's curiosity factor will be high and, smartly priced at $21.95, it has an excellent chance of hitting national bestseller lists. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.