You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Abandonment
I FREAKING loved this book.
Jojo Moyes... you are amazing.
I started reading this yesterday and had to work and be productive so I didn't really get to get to into it. Then last night I couldn't sleep, it was 2 am and there was no way I was getting to sleep on my own, so I picked up this book.
Basically I had to be up for work at 8am, I finished this book at 7:55am. No regrets.
Normally when I pick up a book when I'm in sleepy mode I'll fall asleep within the chapter. Nope. I couldn't have even thought about putting this book down, it was too fantastic.
Only criticism: It wasn't 10000 pages.
Jojo Moyes... you are amazing.
I started reading this yesterday and had to work and be productive so I didn't really get to get to into it. Then last night I couldn't sleep, it was 2 am and there was no way I was getting to sleep on my own, so I picked up this book.
Basically I had to be up for work at 8am, I finished this book at 7:55am. No regrets.
Normally when I pick up a book when I'm in sleepy mode I'll fall asleep within the chapter. Nope. I couldn't have even thought about putting this book down, it was too fantastic.
Only criticism: It wasn't 10000 pages.
Really enjoyed this book. I try to avoid any books here lately that might have serious undertones just because my work is serious enough. This book was not too heavy on the serious and had some humor thrown in to make things lighter. I am not a huge fan of romance and happily ever after, just because I am cynical, and this book was a nice balance of the two. Believable romance and an ending that was happy but not juvenile "everything is going to be grand forever" type happy, if you understand what I am saying. Jess was a character I could easily relate to even though I have luckily not been in her position. I could feel her struggling every day to hold her family together and keep her kids from feeling like they had no place to go but down. Tanzie and Nicky are great kids and I was rooting for both all through the book, and they both grew as characters. They were not in the book as just support characters or to add to Jess, they had feelings and stories of their own. I loved that Ed was not some rich dude that falls for a pretty girl despite her silly ways. He too had his own story and struggles which added yet another layer to this book. Cannot forget Norman the dog. While we don't get his inner musings he is a character that I promise will be memorable in a couple of ways. This is a believable romance novel that does not drown the reader in sap or even angst. It is a balanced and well paced read that has me eager to read more by Ms Moyes.
I simply loved this book from beginning to end. There was not one point in this story where I was like meh boring or couldn't get into it. This was a very realistic portrayal of a woman separated from her husband, juggling two children, one who isn't even hers, and trying to make ends meet who never makes time for herself. One circumstance after another befalls her and her family, but her optimism shines through when I think if any of the things that happened would happen to others, they'd be a hot mess. Things though eventually turn around and there is a happy ending, not in a cookie cutter way, but in a way I was happy and comfortable with. I am definitely reading this author's other novels, what a truly refreshing read.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Slow to start and a predictable ending, but the story in between was enjoyable.
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4,5 stars for this romantic story by Jojo Moyes. This being my first introduction to Moyes' work, I didn't know quite what to expect. I did know that the reviews for her other book "Me before you" were brilliant. And I did know that I either love romantic stories because of their originality, or hate them, because of their predictability and what I tend to call "mushy-ness". "The One plus One" clearly belongs to the first category. It's a brilliant literary work that makes quite day-to-day subjects such as living on a tight budget, dreams that may or may not come true, troubles at work, kids being bullied in school still very special. in this story, which is about Jess, who tries to get by with her two kids Tanzie (a math genius for whom life is told in numbers - I just LOVE that part) and Nicky (an almost-bullied-to-death gothkid) in the daily struggle of life, Moyes just sucks the reader in the book and after 1,5 pages it is as if you were being bullied, as if you were cleaning the dirty loos of the rich people and even almost a math genius. And just when she hits rock bottom, things take a turn, and yet another, and another... The characters are very well developed. I just love how Jess copes with setbacks over and over again, keeps bouncing back. How Nicky grows towards the ends of the book and the sheer honesty of little Tanzie. I love how a romantic story turns out to be a lot more, and touches upon more difficult themes like love, friendship, death, financial trouble and even crime. About motives of people to do things, that might seem the right thing but aren't quite. A book about which you're sorry it only counts 516 pages.