FOR anyone, losing your job is a bad enough thing to deal with. But for workaholic Jasmine who started and sold four businesses by the age of 33, it's a nightmare.

As she struggles with the monotony of a work-less life, she finds herself watching the ins-and-outs of her neighbour's feuds and a chance meeting on New Year's Eve sees their lives collide in a way neither of them could have expected.

Cecelia Ahern manages to present the journey of friendship and chart life's changeable path in a way that only an author with 11 bestselling novels can.

It is difficult not to get drawn into the book, and feel jointly protective over her sister Heather who has Down's syndrome, or concerned over the neighbourly responsibilities Dr Jameson seems to take on.

The Year I Met You forces the reader to consider what their response would be should their life be turned upside down like Jasmine's - and to question whether unpredictability is sometimes a good thing.

8/10
Review by Rebecca Flitton