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veecundill's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I enjoyed this and some of the bits from The Daily Trumpet had me laughing out loud, but it was just a bit too neat for me and not one of my favourite Milly Johnson’s.
hannahbenwellpoulter's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The love story is so emotional and what they characters have gone through and the back story is so emotional
sarahthereadingaddict's review against another edition
5.0
This is another brilliant book by Milly Johnson.
Romantic and emotional with a shock surprise half way through.
I enjoy Millys style of writing, it's always so involving and I get so into the book that I feel like I'm part of the story.
My one true north is a perfect title, like serendipity, the pushing together of people.
Romantic and emotional with a shock surprise half way through.
I enjoy Millys style of writing, it's always so involving and I get so into the book that I feel like I'm part of the story.
My one true north is a perfect title, like serendipity, the pushing together of people.
sslovesbooks_1's review against another edition
5.0
“As humans when we can’t rail against the true culprits, we use ourselves as the target instead”.
This book has been on my shelves for a long time and having read it now I don’t know why I put it off for so long.
I thought was going to be an easy to read romance which it was, but it had so much more than boy meets girl.
It follows Laurie and Pete who both are experiencing grief from the sudden deaths of their partners. Meeting at a tea room where Molly runs a group where those bereaved can have tea/coffee, some cake and find time to talk about their experiences, they find themselves growing closer to each other.
This is until Pete uncovers a secret which will rock his world and even though I guessed this early on it didn’t spoil my experience of reading it.
It takes a really serious and emotional subject and deals with it in such a heart-warming and supportive way. I found it a heart pulling read, it is about finding yourself and taking a chance and embracing a new life.
It was so funny - thanks to the local newspaper featured in the book. It was easy to get into, there were lovely characters and you root for them to deal with their grief and find some kind of peace to allow them to move on. I found it such a warm read and gave off cosy vibes.
I haven’t read anything before by this author but I will be looking for other books she has written.
A 5 star
emmascr's review against another edition
4.0
This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Ok, so I have a confession to make. This is the first Milly Johnson book I've read. I know it's scandalous! I am going to be righting that wrong very soon. I've had this on my TBR pile for a few months. During lockdown, my work decided we should start a virtual book and this was the chosen book.
The beginning of this book really hooks you. It draws you in immediately. The two main characters Pete and Laurie have both recently lost someone they loved. They meet at a bereavement group. It's no ordinary group and I think this is why it really works. This book, while it deals with grief, does so in a light way. It's not a book that leaves you feeling horribly depressed. It gives you a feeling of hope. That even when you think everything has gone wrong there is still reason to have hope.
The bereavement group are something special. I really liked this lot. They have all lost someone they loved. Each member brings something different to the group. I loved that as well as the obligatory tears there was also lots of laughter in this group. Oh and cake. We must not forget the cake!
The story switches between Laurie and Pete's lives. What these two don't know yet is that their lives are more entwined than they know! It was quite exciting knowing something they didn't and waiting for them to find out. I felt so much for these two characters. I was really rooting for them to make it work.
Milly did such a good job of writing about these sensitive subjects. This could have been a very depressing story but Milly manages to make it humorous and light without trivialising the feelings. This is a tough thing to do but Milly does it beautifully.
As I said this was my first book by Milly but I know that I'm going to be picking up more of her books very soon.
The beginning of this book really hooks you. It draws you in immediately. The two main characters Pete and Laurie have both recently lost someone they loved. They meet at a bereavement group. It's no ordinary group and I think this is why it really works. This book, while it deals with grief, does so in a light way. It's not a book that leaves you feeling horribly depressed. It gives you a feeling of hope. That even when you think everything has gone wrong there is still reason to have hope.
The bereavement group are something special. I really liked this lot. They have all lost someone they loved. Each member brings something different to the group. I loved that as well as the obligatory tears there was also lots of laughter in this group. Oh and cake. We must not forget the cake!
The story switches between Laurie and Pete's lives. What these two don't know yet is that their lives are more entwined than they know! It was quite exciting knowing something they didn't and waiting for them to find out. I felt so much for these two characters. I was really rooting for them to make it work.
Milly did such a good job of writing about these sensitive subjects. This could have been a very depressing story but Milly manages to make it humorous and light without trivialising the feelings. This is a tough thing to do but Milly does it beautifully.
As I said this was my first book by Milly but I know that I'm going to be picking up more of her books very soon.
alexxlovesreading's review against another edition
challenging
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
rebroxannape's review against another edition
5.0
**Re-reading on audible 2/28/2023**
Enjoyed this very much. No surprise. To my below review, I just want to add some things that really stood out for me this time around. (A little spoilery) First of all, I appreciated Laurie's strength in standing up to some bad characters who sought to take advantage of her. She was not a victim of Alex's mother nor the guy she started dating later in the story who turned out to be a narcissistic controller. He was practically a clone of Helen's husband in Yorkshire Pudding Club, but unlike Helen, she did not get trapped in his web. I like that she acknowledged to herself, though, that she came too close for comfort. I think that Milly may have had some experience of that in the past (total speculation based on how often this kind of character shows up in her books), and this is her way of warning women (and men!) about some of the red flags to watch out for.
She was much stronger than Pete, who this time around, I didn't like as well thanks to his reaction to finding out the full truth about his wife. I didn't like how he acted like such an immature jerk. I didn't like how he did not give Laurie the opportunity to decide for herself what she wanted to do, and just felt like he had the right to decide for her. He was trying to "protect" her, but it was paternalistic and he treated her like a child instead of an equal partner. I really hate when men do that in books or movies.
**This is my review from April 5, 2021 which Goodreads lost/deleted. Luckily I have a blog it was copied to. Currently re-reading on audible, which led me to discover this. I wonder how many more are missing.**
I just finished this book by Milly Johnson, and I’ma little extremely bummed. I only have one more to read of her backlist titles, before I am in the same position as all the other Milly fans and have to wait 6 months or longer between new publications. As always after I finish a Milly Johnson I have to exert the utmost discipline not to go right into the next book on my TBR list. Let’s see. Her next book is not out until October 14th (Way too long) So that means the U.S. version will probably be available about 5 days after that. I finished this book yesterday. So that’s 197 days. 197 divided by 2 is 98 1/2. So that means I can start I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day around July 13th in order to not be too long without a new Milly Johnson. OK, we’ll see how long my plan holds up.
My One True North continues to demonstrate the growth that Milly had started to show in 2017 by breaking free of her tried and true formula of basing her novels around 3 women and their personal growth from being victims of men (at least one of them) to triumph and love, usually late in life (at least for one.) Not that I didn’t enjoy this formula because she did it so well. Despite the similarities in the books, each one was fresh and so very entertaining and engaging. After all, As far as character development, no one can do “nice” like Milly and no one can do “vile” like her either.
This novel centers around a young widower and the bereaved fiance of two people who were tragically killed in the same horrific multi-car crash. Their journey to recovery and ultimately new love takes some twisty turns both encouraging and happy to sad and scary. As the story progresses, we are given little hints that all was not as rosy as it seemed with their deceased partners. We understand that things were very wrong by about the 20% mark and the ugly truth is made apparent around halfway through. As usual, the mystery slowly reveals itself with some red herrings thrown in which keeps up the suspense and anticipation. As the two find their way to their “one true north,” we meet some old friends from two previous books and look behind the scenes of a certain hapless newspaper, a comic legend in the Barnsley community where most of Milly’s books are set. As always there is plenty of wit and humor despite the subject matter. We get to know their friends and family and are engaged in the little side stories. There are two evil villains in this story, but I loved that others I thought were also thoroughly despicable had some redemption or were not as black as I originally thought. In this book, even shallow low-character people can have hearts and find their soul mates. And a little celestial magic along the way to the satisfactory conclusion was more than welcome.**5 out of 5 stars**
https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings.com/2021/04/06/my-one-true-north/
Enjoyed this very much. No surprise. To my below review, I just want to add some things that really stood out for me this time around. (A little spoilery) First of all, I appreciated Laurie's strength in standing up to some bad characters who sought to take advantage of her. She was not a victim of Alex's mother nor the guy she started dating later in the story who turned out to be a narcissistic controller. He was practically a clone of Helen's husband in Yorkshire Pudding Club, but unlike Helen, she did not get trapped in his web. I like that she acknowledged to herself, though, that she came too close for comfort. I think that Milly may have had some experience of that in the past (total speculation based on how often this kind of character shows up in her books), and this is her way of warning women (and men!) about some of the red flags to watch out for.
She was much stronger than Pete, who this time around, I didn't like as well thanks to his reaction to finding out the full truth about his wife. I didn't like how he acted like such an immature jerk. I didn't like how he did not give Laurie the opportunity to decide for herself what she wanted to do, and just felt like he had the right to decide for her. He was trying to "protect" her, but it was paternalistic and he treated her like a child instead of an equal partner. I really hate when men do that in books or movies.
**This is my review from April 5, 2021 which Goodreads lost/deleted. Luckily I have a blog it was copied to. Currently re-reading on audible, which led me to discover this. I wonder how many more are missing.**
Every life gone south could be fixed, every compass could be recalibrated to point upward to a north of hope.
“My compass is obviously off,” she said…
I just finished this book by Milly Johnson, and I’m
My One True North continues to demonstrate the growth that Milly had started to show in 2017 by breaking free of her tried and true formula of basing her novels around 3 women and their personal growth from being victims of men (at least one of them) to triumph and love, usually late in life (at least for one.) Not that I didn’t enjoy this formula because she did it so well. Despite the similarities in the books, each one was fresh and so very entertaining and engaging. After all, As far as character development, no one can do “nice” like Milly and no one can do “vile” like her either.
This novel centers around a young widower and the bereaved fiance of two people who were tragically killed in the same horrific multi-car crash. Their journey to recovery and ultimately new love takes some twisty turns both encouraging and happy to sad and scary. As the story progresses, we are given little hints that all was not as rosy as it seemed with their deceased partners. We understand that things were very wrong by about the 20% mark and the ugly truth is made apparent around halfway through. As usual, the mystery slowly reveals itself with some red herrings thrown in which keeps up the suspense and anticipation. As the two find their way to their “one true north,” we meet some old friends from two previous books and look behind the scenes of a certain hapless newspaper, a comic legend in the Barnsley community where most of Milly’s books are set. As always there is plenty of wit and humor despite the subject matter. We get to know their friends and family and are engaged in the little side stories. There are two evil villains in this story, but I loved that others I thought were also thoroughly despicable had some redemption or were not as black as I originally thought. In this book, even shallow low-character people can have hearts and find their soul mates. And a little celestial magic along the way to the satisfactory conclusion was more than welcome.**5 out of 5 stars**
https://rebekahsreadingsandwatchings.com/2021/04/06/my-one-true-north/
srk001's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Quite an abrupt ending. I liked the book overall, but it did drag at points and some of the subpoints seemed unnecessary.
There were a few heavy topics.
There were a few heavy topics.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Sexual content and Pregnancy