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I know I haven’t been updating my posts, but with Winter School Holidays, it has been difficult to update my posts in the frosty nights. Plus with lockdowns, work has been a little more of a challenge.
Lyrebird by Cecelia Ahern
Author: Cecelia Ahern
Amazon: Paperback
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Laura the Lyrebird
I read this a while back, but this Cecelia Ahern’s story sticks. The story starts with Solomon, a sound engineer who is part of a documentary crew with his girlfriend Bo and Rachel the camera person. They were wrapping up a documentary when Solomon met Laura, hiding in a cottage.
It turns out that Laura is the daughter of the dead twin brother, because nothing can be easy at the start of the book. What is amazing is the fact that Laura can mimic sounds. The image of her barking at Solomon certainly brings a laugh.
Characters
Solomon is a sound engineer and part of a three-person crew. He’s the person with the microphone. I think Cecelia Ahern was trying to create a hero much like Gerry in PS I Love You (who Gerard Butler didn’t do such a great job becoming) but he isn’t.
Bo is the director of Mouth to Mouth, and Solomon’s girlfriend. Bo is a person with determination and a certain edge of ruthlessness. She is also good at her job: interviewing peole. She can get people to talk, even when they do not want too. She returns to a farm where her first documentary wins acclaim: the Toolin brothers.
Rachel is the camera woman, and sometimes the referee between Solomon and Bo. She is the easy-going one, but she has a backbone that does not bend easily.
Laura, even though she is the daughter of the dead Toolin twin, her last name is Button. Her mother and grandmother hid her away from the world, so Laura is also an unregistered person. She lives alone in a cottage that is in the Toolin’s property after the death of her mom and grandmother.
Story
You can see where this goes, can’t you? The title Lyrebird is pretty obvious, it is a bird that can mimic sounds it hears. Laura happens to have that ability, and Bo capitalizes on it. Laura acquiescences and leaves the safety of her small world. Mind you, the living Toolin brother was clueless till the day Solomon notices her.
It all goes peachy until somehow Bo signs her up for StarrQuest, a show that her ex-boyfriend Rory runs. While I am not sure what Bo was thinking, but her quest towards another award-winning documentary starts to derail the moment Laura steps on the stage.
The story goes from cheesey to cringey, mainly to watch poor Laura’s naivete get crushed like tomatoes. Solomon tries to protect her, not sure how to balance between his attraction to Laura and his relationship with Bo.
While I cannot write more because of spoilers, I can say that Lyrebird is Ahern’s attempt to returning to PS I Love You. This attempt, however, fails because there is no chemistry between Solomon and Laura. Laura’s situation makes it really hard to have romantic notions, and Sol’s hero complex is not really love.
Verdict
The concept and story of Lyrebird is sound. I enjoy the journey, which is why I actually remember how the story goes months after returning the book. However, is it a book that I will re-read, not really.
I do not squeal with childish glee, nor did I ship the relationship between Sol and Laura. I squirm a lot more during encounters, which is not always a good thing. Overall, I think Lyrebird has much promise, but falling short when you consider the author.
Should you read it? If you must, I will not shove the book under your nose and make you.
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