Reviews with content warning for Cancer - The One That Got Away

2 stars (please check trigger warnings before reading).

It was a struggle for me to finish "The One That Got Away" by Charlotte Rixon. I almost did not finish it several times, but I persevered and pushed through to the end. I really didn't enjoy this book, which is odd because it seemed right up my alley. I love books that combine romance with drama and heavy subject matters (this year's "Adelaide" by Genevieve Wheeler is a perfect example). Unfortunately, despite a killer prologue that promised brilliant, beautiful writing, I think Charlotte Rixon dwells too much in the mundane for this novel to be successful. She starts with two annoying characters and makes them progressively more irritating as the book goes on. Main characters Clara, and to a lesser extent Ben, are just the most incredibly selfish people who don't dare deign to have a conversation with one another. Oh no, that would be too easy! Why communicate when they could lie, cheat, and make up excuses for their behavior?! Then, she adds an annoying and difficult-to-follow timeline on top of it. In the present time time-jumps, it is obvious to readers that Clara has not grown up or learned a damn thing in two decades. Here is an example of yet another book where a female character places herself in an unhappy life and marriage based on her own doing because she'd rather be unhappy than alone. Instead of just, you know, TALKING TO HER SPOUSE (which, I'll give Rixon credit, does eventually happen), she proceeds to be miserable for the better part of twenty years while pining for the one that got away. I *loved* a well-written flawed female character, but Clara grated on my nerves the entire book, and I know she went through some really, really traumatizing stuff, but she's a self-centered a$$hole way before the bad stuff happens. It's giving desperate midlife crisis. I couldn't get invested in her and Ben's love story because of her poor attitude and toxic behaviors. And Ben! IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE AS MUCH AS YOU CLAIM YOU DO, JUST FREAKING HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GAH! I feel like I am going batty sometimes with these characters who refuse to open up!

There are likely plenty of readers who will enjoy "The One Who Got Away," but it was not for me. It was too long, too slow, too grating, and too trauma-p0rny without any resolution or real purpose. I did enjoy Carl Prekopp and Katherine Press's audiobook narration, though. They are both wildly successful at bringing these characters to life.

Thank you to NetGalley, Charlotte Rixon, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

Content Warnings

missredreads20's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I loved this book. It is rarer these days for me to read a romance but as it's February I found I was in the mood. However, this book is much more than romance. It is about first love, first loss, the first time you realise love may not solve everything and external events bursting that bubble.

Clara and Benjamin meet at university. They are very different people but see something in each other they need. The book reminded me of another of my favourite books - One Day by David Nicholls - in the way the story was told and also the behaviours of the two characters.

For me personally this book was incredibly nostalgic. I am only 5 years younger than the characters so recognised a lot of the cultural and new stories references of the time and I went to university in Sunderland so regularly travelled on the London to Newcastle train and I have very special memories of those train journeys. I'm also nostalgic for when it used to be £10 each way on the train!

The story has an enormous amount of depth. It starts with a bombing and the link back to this at the end was very clever. I thought Clara and Benjamin's ending was perfect, although I would definitely be open to a sequel!

My favourite quote:
"It has changed, but not so much that the faded memories - of being a different person, a different version of herself - don't creep behind her as she walks."

Content Warnings

korinnagarcia's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This story was gripping, poignant, and foreboding. It touches on a lot of heavy life subject matters that can be triggering and there are so many, for example; suicide, bomber, sexual assault, alcoholism, death of a parent, fertility issues, and manslaughter, just to name a few. I appreciate that the author handled these subjects with as much care and sensitivity as possible. This story is very character driven and non linear. I personally love non linear/dual timeline plots, I find them more immersive than linear plots. I loved this story and I instantly fell for Benjamin. I greatly sympathized with his character, he reminded me so much of Connell from Normal People. To me Clara was a bit unlikable but I found her state of ennui and her constant indulging in reminisce very relatable. This book had a lot of dark parts but were perfectly balanced with moments of beauty in the simplicity and realism of the characters.

I recommend to anyone who can stomach all the triggers, to fans of second chance romance, to fans of Normal People, and to those of you that relish in the heart wrenching stories, like I do. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*Thank you so much to NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and of course Charlotte Rixon, for allowing me to read this E-ARC.

Content Warnings

livinthebubble's review against another edition

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dark emotional lighthearted medium-paced

2.0

I'm going to start this review off by saying that I had to force myself to finish this book. If it wasn't an ARC I would've stopped at around 20%.

Plot

Going into this, this is what I understood of the plot:
- a guy and a girl meet in uni, fall in love
- something happens, and they don't talk for years
- fast forward, they rekindle and happy ending for them

Where in the blurb would I ever guess that they a) are married and b) have kids? Nowhere, besties.

Also, the random ass subplots didn't work for me.

There are heavy topics thrown in (solely for impact imo). TW: alcoholism, assault, self-harm, terminal illness, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, death of a parent, infertility and cheating. As I said before, it sounded like a light-hearted story, but boy was I surprised when she out of nowhere describe in detail how she'd self-harm.

Characters

The story spans 20 odd years of the main characters' lives, but they meet when they are 18/19. I was that age not long ago (3/4 years ago to be exact), and I ~~unfortunately~~ had a relationship during that time. Why am I telling my life story? I remember the feelings and behaviour I had during that relationship, and I do not understand why Clara would be this dramatic.

Everything Benjamin did, she overthought to the extreme. All the problems the two had were because of her. Any one of them, you can trace back to her.

Although he's at fault, I felt like Clara played a huge part in him going to jail and she didn't even help him or defend him.

Benjamin, although sometimes badly, tried his best to communicate. He told her he was going to go home for a while, and since this is literally the year I was born, texting wasn't as popular as nowadays. Why does she assume the worst and cheat on him? No ~~fucking~~ brain cells. She blames him for cheating on him, and she thinks he deserves it. Benjamin deserves better. Also, her being mad at him for wanting to watch football with his friend, please stfu. She's selfish, rude, dumb, whiney, irrational, and impulsive... I could go on. And even in her 40s, she has not matured AT ALL.

The fact that she could be married to Thom, which in my opinion also deserved better, for a decade and yet always think of what could be with Benjamin. This woman had cheated on every man she dated during this book, whether emotionally or physically. For someone who was traumatized by her ex-Daniel cheating, she really followed in his footsteps.

Romance

For a book advertised as a romance, there was literally none to be found. The main characters had no chemistry, they kept saying they were soulmates yada yada, but they just felt like dumb naive teenagers in their first relationship (been there done that folks).

Ending

The ending is random and I hate open endings.

In the end, they are friends although I think I can infer that they'll date somehow,

which was very unsatisfying, to be honest.

Overall, not for me, at all. Is there anything I liked? Well, Benjamin was wholesome but that's about it. I wouldn't recommend but if you enjoy books spanning most of the characters' lives and open endings, this might be for you.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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