If Only

One milestone birthday, two little words, a lifetime of possibilities

By: Melanie Murphy

Narrated by: Amy McAllister

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

The warm, sparkling first novel from Melanie Murphy, author of nonfiction best seller Fully Functioning Human (Almost) is full of heart, humour and magic.  

Erin is about to turn 30, and her life is definitely not where she thought it would be. She hates her job, she's jealous of her perfect flatmate - and she has just called off her wedding.  

A trip home to Ireland to celebrate her birthday with her beloved grandmother is exactly what Erin needs, and she's spent days preparing herself to break the news about her broken engagement.

What she's not prepared for is the gift she receives: a secret family heirloom that will change everything.  

Could this be the answer Erin has been looking for - the key to the happy life she's always dreamed of? Only time will tell....

©2019 Melanie Murphy (P)2019 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

wonderfull!

brought back my love for books I recommend this for anyone who feels lost in life

Spoiler alert

Absolutely loved it. I have watched Melanie on YouTube and social media for years and just love her courage and the way she speaks. I knew I would love her writing style. I do wish that it had more about Erin and Finns life together but it's still also perfect the way it is.

love

Love the story and all the wonderful throw in your face advice that one thinking with what if. I just want more of hearing Erin's story. 💚

Beautiful Story!

This story is incredibly beautiful. The journey you take with Melanie’s writing is one full of self learning & love. During a bit of a hard time, this book was a welcome break. My only dislike is that it isn’t longer.

Amazing!

I loved this book! It was an amazing story and the narrator did a great job making it come alive! I would definitely recommend this book!

exceeded my expectations

I love the book and it exceeded my expectations! It made me reflect on my own life:)

Loved it! *spoilers*

I very much enjoyed ‘If Only’.

I appreciate a story told from this modern perspective that people in my generation are not settling as often as generations before us and are often lost at an age when our parents and grandparents had long since established their lives. We all feel that pressure that we’re “behind” in life and it’s refreshing to see that explored.

I also really liked how honest Erin’s character was. It’s rare that we get to see all the dark and typical thoughts that cross peoples minds in real life and it was done so naturally. We got to see her stupid humor and paranoia and quirks and insecurities and moments of being selfish or being a bad friend and it made her feel so alive. We also got to see her fight the negative parts of herself and learn from them. We got to see her use the necklace in ways that made her appreciate her real life and trust herself. It was such a great thing to see her learn to trust herself.

I was really into the seemingly mundane day-to-day situations and conversations between her and her friends that, when you looked below he surface, is meaningful without being as obvious. It truly just felt so real that I connected with it in a way different then most stories.

I also loved the evolution of ErIn’s character, the foundation of friendship, the effect of family, the serious topics represented without it being the “theme” of the story, the realistic timeline of her falling for Finn.

Such a lovely story! It felt so warm. One of my favorite movies is “About time” and this book gives me the same feelings. Brilliant job to Melanie Murphy!

awful ‘gay best friend’ character

The writing was a bit schoolgirlish and rambly. The main character’s best friend is this dreadful character and a horrible LGBT stereotype.

The narrator was quite enjoyable to listen to - I’m not sure I could have stuck the book if I had been reading it rather than listening to it

me gusto pero no tanto

me gusto pero me pareció muy largo y el final un poco abrupto. le doy un 6

Great debut novel from a lovely author.

The story clicks very well with the Irish narrator and is a very good example of casual magic in an otherwise ordinary everyday life. Very relatable characters and enjoyable dialogues . Loved the casual rainbow mentions too.

Just okay

The idea for the story was good. However, I really struggle to finish listening. Not gripping or suspenseful. The best friend character was awful and his voiced accent grated. The main character was unlikable, unrealistic and didn't act like the adult she was meant to be.

A beautiful & feel good read!

I loved this book by Melanie Murphy! I felt like I had lots of things in common with Erin with judging people too quickly, having slef-esteem issues & the bond that she had with her gran! I was in tears with their final reunion in the last chapter! It made me think about the 'what ifs' in my life and it reminded me that I'm happy living in the present. Making sure to have no regrets! Thank you Mel for sharing this wonderful story x

This book gives me the tinglies

I couldn't stop! I listened to the audio book while reading the actual book. I cried, laughter and cried again. I think anyone could relate to the main character. Not having a clue where your going in life is so stressful and I think we all wish we could take a look at what certain situations would be like if we did x and y.

I truly fell in love with this book. definitely something I would read again.

Really struggled with this.

Firstly, I have to mention the narrator. Her Irish accent was lovely and I felt so at home with it (Erin's grandmother reminded me of older Lorraine Mcfly from 'Back to the future' and this is what I pictured when listening) but all other accents made me cringe so hard. Reed almost made me spit with disgust when ever he spoke. Everyone felt so up them selves and it really took away from the story. Maybe I would have enjoyed the story much more if it had a different narrator. Don't get me wrong, the voices she could do were very good but potentially just not right for this book.
Secondly, I felt hurried along in the story, it was rushed and I looked back sometimes and thought "what does the main character even look like?" my all time favourite authors so clearly describe the characters that I envision them from the get go; I felt like I only knew what Erin looked like after the second half.
The ending was not good. I was left feeling disappointed and asking "aye? its finished?"
Unfortunately, won't be eager to read anything else from this author.

Fantastic story, voices need work

Love this story and everything in it. The voice of Reid and Dan are cringe and far too aggressive.

Great story… not so great audiobook

The storyline was phenomenal; covering topics that are taboo but in such a delicate and sensitive manner. Being a ‘northerner’, the northern accents portrayed in the book are really quite degrading. They are not authentic, nor realistic, which is such a shame considering the eloquence of this tale

Great listen

Really enjoyed this book, couldn't stop listening to it once I started.
Love this narrator aswell.

Amazing!

Such a different book, I’ve been reading a lot of auto biography’s at the moment and whenever I want fiction I always resort back to Harry Potter. It was so nice to listen to something new and completely escape! With just enough mystery I found I was hooked. I became emotionally invested in all the characters and it was very relatable. I think we’ve all question “If only” in our lives and it made a lot of food for thought. Can’t wait for Melanie’s next book Glass Houses 💚

it was good but...

I loved the voice for this book she gave it such character and I believed the characters were actually people which of course is to do with Melanie's writer along side Amy's reading but I gave it a two for overall because even though I loved the story and the characters I can't get over how much I hated the main character it almost made me stop listening to be honest which is such a shame otherwise this would be a story I'd go back to