Janica hat früh im Leben gelernt, jeden Tag als ein Geschenk anzusehen, ihn zu feiern und zu genießen. Mit ihrer besonderen und lebensbejahenden Art zieht sie Thomas in ihren Bann und eröffnet dem verschlossenen jungen Mann einen ganz neuen Blick auf die Schönheiten und die verschiedenen Farben des Lebens. Thomas verliebt sich bis über beide Ohren in die starke junge Frau, wird ein Teil ihres quirlig-verrückten Freundeskreises und ihrer liebevollen Familie. Doch schon bald trifft die beiden das Schicksal mit voller Wucht.
Eine bewegende, hoffnungsfrohe Geschichte über die Kraft der Liebe und ein vom Glück erfülltes Leben.
Als Kind erkrankte Janica an Krebs. Sie hat ihn besiegt und lebt seitdem jeden einzelnen Tag besonders intensiv. Jeder Tag ist ein Geschenk! Eines Tages trifft sie beim Spazierengehen mit ihrem Hund auf Steffen. Steffen hat unzählige Probleme und Sorgen und kommt damit nicht mehr zurecht; er überlegt, von einer Brücke zu springen und allem ein Ende zu setzen. Janica kann ihn davon abhalten und lernt durch Steffen Thomas kennen. Die beiden verlieben sich ineinander, doch dann schieben sich Wolken vor das junge Glück... 💝💝💝💝 Mein Leseeindruck: "Du, ich und die Farben des Lebens" ist ein zugleich unglaublich schöner und unglaublich trauriger Roman. Es ist eine zarte, warmherzige Liebesgeschichte und eine Liebeserklärung an das Leben. Das Buch hat mein Herz erwärmt und mich gleichzeitig sehr zum Weinen gebracht. Ich habe mit den Charakteren sehr mitfühlen können und war tief bewegt von ihren Lebensgeschichten. Dieses Buch geht unter die Haut; es ist definitiv kein Buch für zwischendurch. Auf dieses Buch muss man sich einlassen, es langsam lesen, genießen, Taschentücher bereitlegen und sich darüber im Klaren sein, dass die Geschichte tiefgreifend ist und den Leser so schnell nicht wieder loslässt. Die Autorin hat einen sehr angenehmen Schreibstil. Trotz der ernsthaften, traurigen Thematik lässt sich der Roman doch "leicht" lesen, unkompliziert. Aber die Geschichte geht unter die Haut; nichts an diesem Buch ist oberflächlich. Die zarte Liebesgeschichte, die sich im Laufe der Geschichte zwischen den Protagonisten entwickelt, hat mich sehr berührt. Ich persönlich mag diese gefühlvollen Szenen, die gänzlich ohne Erotik auskommen, sehr gerne. Wer mal wieder ein Buch lesen möchte, das tief berührt und auch zu Tränen rührt, der sollte sich diesen Roman auf jeden Fall näher ansehen! Obwohl die Geschichte zum Teil auch sehr traurig ist, so kann man auch Hoffnung aus ihr schöpfen!
I found this story and the characters interesting, inspiring, extremely emotional, absolutely heart-breaking, but also hopeful, as it focused on being positive even in the face of quite possibly life’s biggest challenge.
I loved the focus on colours. I’m a very visual person myself and love colours, so I was able to relate to this part of Janica’s personality.
You, Me, and the Colors of Life made me cry so many tears throughout, so although it’s one I definitely recommend, I would advise you keep some tissues nearby.
I borrowed this in audiobook format through Amazon Kindle Unlimited.
Chick-Lit isn't typically a genre I read and enjoy, but You Me and the Colors of Life is an exception. This story is beautiful and moving and will definitely make you cry a few times. Janica and Thomas's story will also make you appreciate the littlest of blessings in your life. They are characters who you can't help but fall in love with and root for. I don't think there was a single character in this story that I didn't enjoy. This book was almost a 5-Star read for me, but at times I felt like the story was too busy and focused on the lives of too many characters, but in the end I was able to see how each of them were important to the story. There were also times where I felt the characters' inner monologues would ramble on and on. Even at 4-Stars, I will be adding this book to my list of favorites.
I liked the round about way that Janica and Thomas met but beyond that there wasn't a lot to like. Her thing with the colors was weird (no one is really like that) and she was too cheesy. They fell in love too fast for it to be believable. And they both seemed overly concerned with other people i.e. when Janica went home after meeting Steffen and wondered "what he is doing right now? why would he do this? what is his family life life? etc etc'. None of it seemed real. I wasn't attached to any of the characters at the end of the book. It kind of just left me thinking "So what?". It had the right elements this type of book should have but it lacked any depth. And I felt like there was too much emphasis on Christianity. So overall a bummer. I'm not really sure why it was published.
With the mixed reviews and ratings, I decided to still pick this up. Some reviews explain the colors as overbearing. I didn't get this at all. This IS the main character, Janica, her personality and how she views life but also how her "colors" change all those around her. The colors went well with the story and by the end I had absolutely no concentration on the color aspect, only the story and characters. If you take the chance on this book, get ready for an emotional roller coaster of laughter, inspiration, heart-break, and blessings. Every character in the book has a story and they all intermingled so well together that you can't help falling in love with each of them. Well done!
I haven't finished this book yet -- and I suppose I should, but I have to say that I'm amazed at all the glowing reviews. The writing is choppy -- just one declarative sentence after another. The metaphors and analogies are pedestrian and predictable. The color thing seems self-conscious and pasted on. The narrator is very, very talky -- explaining everyone's actions, thoughts, and emotions. Maybe I'll keep reading and check back.
Well, I finished it. It got even worse. Sentimental, strained, sappy. I'll give it two stars for -- I imagine -- good intentions.
This never quite felt like it managed to hit where it was aiming. There was so much potential emotional death in what was covered - depression, suicide, the trauma of frontline responders, terminal illness - but for the most part it felt superficial. The religious overtones were also offputting - having characters make their peace with life and death only because of an imagined afterlife isn't particularly satisfying. There were sweet moments - the love story, the hospice kids - and the practical realities of living with terminal illness were captured well. But in the end it felt like the main character really just existed as a learning device there for the benefit of others - "How many times had he wondered whether Janica was a visitor from heaven, come down to show the Hejduk brothers the colors of life before disappearing again?" She was that little bit too good, too vivacious, too kind, to feel like a real person rather than a fantasy.
I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I finished this book, it was so treacly and _so_ simplistic. But I will give it this: It was a fast, easy read, and I could see where a lot of people would enjoy it and appreciate its message of positivity and hope. I mean, even as a confirmed cynic, I smiled and/or got teary-eyed a few times. (And of course I had to see how it ended.)
Also, I wanted to live on that farm.
But none of that outweighed a book-reading experience much akin to overdosing on cotton candy. Oh, wait: Overdosing on cotton candy spun in the pink of Cozy Cottage Antique Garden Roses.
I have a feeling this book is probably better in its original language - you always lose something in a translation - the subtle language that is so important. So I'm not going to comment too much on the writing, because as a foreign reader it's not my place. It was a lovely story and I enjoyed being pulled into the lives of the characters. I did find myself 'cringing' throughout though. I really love it when a sad story is told with a positive outlook but some of the positivity and philosophy was just cringeworthy, simplistic, patronising and over the top. I almost gave it 3 stars because it irritated me so much, but it was such a captivating, beautiful story despite its shortcomings, it deserves a decent rating.
The first half of this, I really had to fight through. In most parts it was just too metaphorical and full of lengthy descriptions, though I did like the thing about colours and the small things in life. The characters are interesting and the story did touch me but all in all everything was just slightly over-the-top.
Are Hallmark Christmas movies too nuanced for you? Is two dimensional one too many dimensions for your preferred characters? Do you want your chick lit romance novel to include undertones of religion and "blue lives matter" (or whatever the German equivalent is)? Does mainlining corn syrup not give you enough sugar? This is the book for you.
This is the perfect book for writing teachers who want to explain to their students what they mean when they say "show, don't tell." Because boy does this book tell us what is happening without ever showing us. We are told that Janika is so spontaneous and Thomas is so rigid. We are told that Janika's friends are so wild and crazy and intimidating. We are told that Janika's sister is a famous pop star who has overcome past struggles. I couldn't find any actual evidence of these characteristics in the text but the author told us they were true so...
This is easily the worst book I've read all year and I hope it remains so. I can't handle another.
This book was a selection in the Amazon World Book Day. It's hard to say whether the original writing or the translation bogged it down. It did seem that the author tried to incorporate too many story lines, which resulted in an often disjointed story. The book probably could have ended about 100 pages sooner if it had a tighter focus. Fairly predictable plot. Can't really recommend this one.
not all bad, but for my taste, overall too long and given the length, the love story is too superficial. Also too religious and too much romanticization of the battle against fatal illness (i.e. cancer).
This was a free Kindle book from World Book Day. It is not the type of book I typically read, but It pulled me in at the start as sweet, optimistic Janica saves a young man from attempting to take his life. The book, part first-person, part omniscient, is full of Janica’s rosy & sincerely grateful take on life. It is beautiful, sad, uplifting, thoughtful and cheesy all at the same time. I bet it lost some of its depth in translation; still it was a fast, uplifting read. I wish I could visit that magical farm! 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Memorable passages: “Profound events like the one your brother’s going through change people. They leave a mark. Sensitive people who have experiences that try to drag their soul down a dark hole never come back the way they were before—but they do have a chance to come back even better.”
“What’s important is that he realizes life is worth living. Problems, pain, and suffering are all part of the human condition. Not only so we know what happiness is, but also because they build character, change us, teach us.”
“Admirable.” “You think? They don’t really have a choice. They have to live their whole life in a fraction of the time most people get. They learn very early on things that healthy people don’t learn until old age, for example that we can’t know happiness until we’ve experienced suffering, that we don’t appreciate our healthy body until we’ve been sick, that human life is worthless unless we give it meaning.”
“He knew her well enough by now to know that she wasn’t merely entertained by the birds, but actively thankful for the sight. This gratitude for every tiny, seemingly insignificant experience was the key to her joyful life.”
Ich hab das Buch ohne Erwartungen gelesen - und ich wurde positiv überrascht! Es war ein super schönes, einfach zu lesendes Buch und ich kann es nur weiterempfehlen 🥹 Herzzerreißend mit ein paar Lebensweisheiten und einfach einer tollen Story. ✨
Did you read Love Story? Marley and Me? Guess what? The main character in this book dies and it sucks.
Janica is a free spirit who beat childhood non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She's out riding her bike one night and sees a guy about to jump off a bridge and talks him down. She takes him home and meets his younger brother, Thomas, an uptight, very organized teacher. Janica's father is a counselor and she suggests that Steffan, Thomas' brother, spend some time at her parents' farm/bed-and-breakfast. He agrees and the stage is set for Thomas and Janica to get to know each other and fall in love.
Thomas reluctantly pursues Janica - she's his polar opposite personality-wise - and they eventually start dating. She introduces him to a children's hospice where she volunteers and he soon begins volunteering as well. Several months into their relationship, Janica's cancer recurs and she pushes Thomas away. Once he finds out why she's ditched him, he asks her to marry him so they have what little of her life is left together. Their life together is bittersweet and, yes, she eventually dies, which the author describes in detail. You can't help but cry and also be angry that Janica doesn't beat the disease.
I need HEA endings, so I couldn't give this more than two stars despite the fact that I liked most of the characters. We find out about Janica's cancer recurrence about half-way through the book and for a while, I deluded myself into thinking that she'd recover. Nope!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Janica feiert das Leben, Tag für Tag, jeden Tag aufs Neue. Sie bewahrt Steffen davor, sich das Leben zu nehmen und lernt dadurch dessen Bruder Thomas kennen. Dieser ist ganz fasziniert von der immensen Lebensfreude, die Janica ausstrahlt. Nach und nach schließen sie einander in ihre Herzen und Thomas lernt von Janica, was im Leben wirklich Bedeutung hat...
MEINUNG
Ich beziehe mich auf das Hörbuch. Anfangs war ich noch etwas skeptisch und dachte beinahe, ich hätte das falsche Buch gewählt. Denn vor allem während der ersten Hälfte des Romans schweiften meine Gedanken immer wieder kurzzeitig ab, sodass ich Perspektivwechsel schlichtweg "überhörte". Aber das ist ein Punkt, der vermutlich daran lag, dass ich noch nicht viele Hörbücher gehört habe und dementsprechend wenig "geübt" im Umgang mit dem Medium war. Denn je länger ich hörte, umso intensiver lauschte ich der Vorleserin.
Diese sprach sehr angenehm und schaffte es zugleich, die Tonart je nach Figur zu variieren, sodass oft sehr klar war, wer da gerade sprach. Ich mochte das. Inhaltlich bin ich nicht sicher. Denn der Roman hat kein Happy-End, sondern endet einfach nur traurig-tragisch. Janica hat so einen großen Einfluss auf die Leben so vieler Menschen, es ist spannend gewesen, diesen Einfluss mitzuverfolgen. Es hat Spaß gemacht, zu hören, wie sie die Leben aller um sie herum verändert hat. Das macht das Ende noch wesentlich tragischer und, ja, ich habe beinahe befürchtet, auf offener Straße in Tränen auszubrechen, weil mich ihr Schicksal so bewegte (die Befürchtung bewahrheitete sich zum Glück nicht!). Insofern ist es wohl ein gutes Buch und ich mochte es insgesamt ziemlich gut leiden. Deshalb vergebe ich 4 von 5 Sternen. :)
I read up to 52% of the book and decided I wasn't going to finish it. It wasn't particularly good or bad up until that point, but we discover that Janica had just found out that her cancer had returned, and from the way the story was going, it didn't seem to me that there was any hope at all.
The story was apparently going to focus on how Janica was going to live well despite the prognosis, and how Thomas was going to love her, but she was going to die anyway. I can't say for certain this is what happens in the book because I didn't finish it, but it seemed that way, and I couldn't bring myself to take this journey with them.
I am all for stories of people living well and loving well despite life-threatening illnesses, and I am sure there is a lot of wisdom to be learned if I had continued the story, but it is just a little too close to home for me. I had the same cancer as Janica does in the book, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and I don't want to read about someone dying from it despite living well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I have been reading some tough books lately and this was an easy reprieve. The characters are all kind and good and loving people. They are the kind of folks I try to surround myself with. There was enough drama and pending romance to keep me hooked. If you are looking to enter a world in which people deal with tough issues in a thoughtful, positive, and kind way, this might be a good place to spend some time.
So viel Liebe und Humor, so viel Weisheit und Charme. Lachen und Weinen. Das alles vereint in einem wunderschönen Buch, das einem verdeutlicht wie wertvoll das Leben ist.