Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - One Day in December

Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

One Day in December by Josie Silver

17 reviews

heather_freshparchment's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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rachelrisseeuw's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

One Day in December really exceeded my expectations. I went into this book thinking it was going to be a Christmas romance. It was so much more than that. This is a right person wrong time story line and the way it was written is fantastic.

The fact that they included the best friend, the tragic death of a parent, infidelity, and gaslighting makes this story one that really makes you root for the two to end up together.

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natekka's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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emilywemily6's review

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emotional slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This one is hard to rate. I think this is not the romance for me. The bus stop moment at the very beginning and the very last scene both made my heart melt, but I didn’t really enjoy anything in the middle. It did not feel like a romance to me because the book spanned across 9-10 years and basically showcased defining moments in the lives of these characters. It felt more like a general fiction with a romance subplot. But even then, I did NOT like Jack as a person. He’s honestly terrible. And I wasn’t really a fan of Laurie either. This book felt like I was reading about realistic, messy people, but I didn’t care about these characters or connect with them. The tropes of fated mates/soul mates is not one I am on board with personally when it comes to romance. I didn’t see the chemistry between the characters either. Others have mentioned that there is a lot of emotional cheating and putting a toe across the boundary line and I was not ok with that. Jack was way worse at it than Laurie, who actually tried to build a life even though it was clear that Oscar and her were not living in the same world. This book had almost nothing I like in a romance. I also feel like it was lacking in holiday/December vibes. While I liked how everything was split up into years and dates, it made it hard to keep track of where we were in the timeline (i.e. how long so-and-so had been engaged, how many years it had been since the bus stop meeting, etc.)

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quotes_with_a_quill's review

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lighthearted reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Trigger discussion- (review below)

Alcoholics beware- recommend avoiding this one.
Discusses loss of a sibling retrospectively- probably be okay for most that have experienced loss- proceed w caution
SA survivors- should be okay. I know well how unrelated and specific things can trigger- but this book doesn't have anything classically triggering.
Child abuse- none
Divorce- yes.
Infertility- ish. Some trouble conceiving right away. No angst or depth. It was annoying. Just how it was handled was annoying. Didn't think it was handled right or wrong. Again, going along theme of book, it was flat.

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Early twenties to early thirty characters.

Thought it was flat, which is a good thing sometimes. It was an easy read. The sticky points could have been made very dramatic and delved into to give it much more angst. But it didn't, which kept it flat but also easy. The theme of the book is the meanderings through life and love and relationships. Not the hell each time period can bring.

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thatswhatshanread's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Twas a very sad discovery to finally read this Christmas-themed romcom and find out that it was quite meh. Normally I love a romance story that spans many years, but this could have easily been summed up in less than one year, maybe two. It was so frustrating! I also love a second chance romance, friends-to-lovers storyline; however, this one fell flat for me because I never particularly felt much chemistry between our two inevitable lovers. All in all, every relationship in the book was rather dull.

Also, our MMC wasn’t especially charming or redeeming? It was hard to root for them getting together after reading all this build up of how he treated the other women in his life. Idk.

The writing was good and I liked the setting for the most part, I just really wish the characters were more developed and the plot lines more exciting and thought-provoking.

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theonlybaillie's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I enjoyed this book. I had ALL of the feelings while reading it, as second-chance love is a trope that really hits for me and makes me cry basically every time.

The main characters in this book felt very real to me...in the sense that they had very annoying flaws that were, unfortunately, realistic IMO. Jack was emotionally immature and wanted to blame others and deflect any emotional pain or self-wrongdoing. Laurie was a pushover and bent to others wishes and plans until the end of the book where she finally decided that enough was enough and took ownership of her life (FINALLY!).

Relationships ebb and flow as seasons of life change, and I love that Jack, Sarah, and Laurie were still part of each others lives throughout their twenties. Lifelong friendships are a blessing, even though they can get quite messy over the years.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. It is not the light-hearted Christmas read that most people look for this time of year, but I appreciated the story that it told.

I also appreciated the phrase "kissed stardust into my mouth", because I have never heard it before and thought it was creative and funny. :)

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