ARC Review: One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Title: One True Loves
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Series: none
Genre: contemporary romance

From the author of Maybe in Another Life—named a People Magazine pick and a "Best Book of the Summer" by Glamour and USA Today—comes a breathtaking new love story about a woman unexpectedly forced to choose between the husband she has long thought dead and the fiancé who has finally brought her back to life.

In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.

On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever.

Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.

That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.

Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly?

Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying.

Amazon US | Amazon UK

FLO'S REVIEW

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Unpopular opinion:

This book just was not for me. I have a few friends who loved One True Loves dearly and I was so excited to read, but unfortunately it just didn’t work as well for me.

Objectively there isn’t anything seriously wrong with the story. In fact, the premise of the heroine losing her husband, eventually moving on only to find out her husband survived. Absolutely intriguing.

Here is my problem. I did not connect. The way the book was structured and the fact that the author put the evolution of two complete relationships into a 350 page book was too much and too little all at the same time. For the first 40-50% I felt like the story was told to me instead of shown. As a result I felt like reading a list of chronological events without feeling like I experienced them through the characters. I simply did not connect. I didn’t feel the love between the characters enough to make me miss them when they were gone, or came back for that matter.

So around 50% I started to speed read. I have to say there were some very emotional parts towards the end, but then some of the characters actions were very questionable, even though they were in impossible situations, I just had a hard time understanding them.

I guess it comes down to tastes. There are people who love this book and the author’s style to no end and I wish I was one of them. Ms. Reid has a way with words and a feel for very unique stories, but I’m afraid the style is just not my cup of tea.



**ARC very kindly provided by publisher (via edelweiss) in exchange for an honest review.