Reviews with content warning for Child death - One Day in December

Reviews tagging 'Child death'

One Day in December by Josie Silver

48 reviews

sarabelle's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

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katelynmill2's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Very torn between 3.25 star and 3.5 star. I loved the themes of this book, primarily being that sometimes life goes in ways we don’t expect and that sometimes people don’t follow along the same path our own lives take. I loved that this book followed the general census of “sometimes it’s better to let people go, even if you love them.” Other than the themes, I thought this book moved kind of quick for me with very little intricate relationship building between Laurie and Jack. I would recommend this book to some but probably not to the majority if I was asked for book recommendations. I will say though, I liked Jack for the first quarter of the book, didn’t care for him the next 2/4, and then liked him again for the last 1/4. His relationship with Laurie just felt stale and never quite like there was anything to really yearn for, other than getting to know each other/interact.

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erinkabez's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

What a charming story that took me on a roller coaster of emotions. The characters were relatable, unique, and interesting. Typically I like books written from multiple points of view and this one was no different. I enjoyed seeing the interactions and individual storylines of the 3 main characters from each of their perspectives, but at times I felt a bit of whiplash from jumping from perspective to perspective so quickly and suddenly. I also loved the way Silver wrapped up the story without giving us too many "after" details which lets us as readers speculate about where the characters lives could have gone afterwards.

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bookedupchick's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful slow-paced

4.0

“If anyone ever asks if I've ever fallen in love at first sight, I shall say yes. For one glorious moment on the 21st of December 2006.” 🚌♥️❄️

Laurie is on the bus on her way home from work, when she spots this man waiting at the bus stop. As soon as their eyes meet, ✨ sparks fly ✨and they both miss their chance to meet when the bus pulls away. Laurie and her best friend Sarah have been besties through college and roomies ever since. They decide to throw a Christmas party 🎄 and Sarah has invited her new boyfriend who she claims is the love of her life who Laurie has never met….and guess who that ends up being? You got it — BUS BOY… aka Jack…😱

Laurie and Jack’s story spans over a decade. You basically want to scream for Laurie and the struggle bus she is on 😫 This is a slow burn and I don’t feel it ended as epically as it could have (IMO it needed a little more 🔥), but I enjoyed it. And I would still very much recommend it!

Read this if you like ⤵️

🚌 Friends To Strangers To Lovers
🚌 Slow Burn Romance
🚌 Romantic Comedy
🚌 Closed Door
🚌 Soulmates
🚌 London Setting 🇬🇧
🚌 HEA 💖

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
One Day In December by Josie Silver

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amandalorianxo's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.0

I’m not entirely sure how I fully feel about this novel. The synopsis (to me) kind of made me feel as if the predictability about Laurie & Jack’s situation was obvious from the get go. I’m also not entirely sure what it was about Jack that had Laurie smitten. A lot of telling instead of showing when it came to describing personalities. I did like that Laurie stood up for herself at one point when it came to Brussels. Of course, life happens and plans don’t always go as we originally thought but everything seemed too… convenient. It’s a well written story but I’ve never been a fan of cheating, lying or miscommunication, both in real life and in fictional stories 🤷🏽‍♀️

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confusedmuse's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.5

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soundlysmitten's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.25

While I resonated deeply with this book’s portrayal of loss and grief, I did not so enjoy the romantic storyline. And that’s what I was looking for this time—romance and emotional pining, not loss and grief 😹 But part of me feels like I should’ve known better than to pick this one up… for one thing, I really don’t understand the concept of love at first sight. Infatuation at first sight, sure. But to me, love is an action that requires commitment. It isn’t a magical condition that just materializes. I mean, that heady 🥰 in love 🥰 feeling can absolutely spring up out of nowhere, but I think the action is what determines if something is truly love.

All the same, I was willing to go along with the love at first sight thing for the sake of the story. But while I wanted Laurie to be happy, I couldn’t bring myself to root for her and Jack. For the most part, I received Jack as selfish and emotionally stunted. Yes, he has a way with words at times, but he’s got a temper and a disrespectful tendency to patronize/brush people off. So even though I felt for his loss, I didn’t like him as a romantic partner.

I didn’t particularly like Oscar either and definitely didn’t agree with Laurie assuring him he’s been a great husband as they’re splitting up.

I also didn’t think it was cool to have certain people quit on each other just cause things don’t feel like they used to and chalk it up to their love simply not being strong enough to last. As if two lovers don’t have the final say in how strong their love can be… (I’m glad they broke up, I just don’t like the message their reasoning sends. I would’ve rather read about them taking responsibility for the fact that they just don’t feel like trying anymore).

That said, I did mostly enjoy Laurie’s relationship with Sarah. And there were things I found heartwarming along with things that made me cry, especially the parts on caring for aging parents and feeling like you’re running out of time. The plot is suitably predictable, but I’d say it’s also well paced. And I’d agree that the writing is charming in a Bridget Jones’ Diary way—even if the author may have inserted three or four too many nods to said book. So I’m not saying don’t read One Day In December, just that it wasn’t love for me.

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claragweny's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

The beginning was cute, the end was cute, but the middle was so boring and irritating. I enjoy a romance that’s very non-realistic, fairytale like, and swoon worthy. If reality based romance is more your thing I think this could be an enjoyable read but it’s definitely not one I’d recommend to everyone.

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kaylasonlyheart's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing 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

4.0

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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emotional slow-paced

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

2.5

Title: One Day in December
Author: Josie Silver
Genre: Romance
Rating: 2.5
Pub Date: October 16 2018

T H R E E • W O R D S

Slow-paced • Underwhelming • Multi-layered

📖 S Y N O P S I S

As Laurie sits on a crowed bus on a wintery day in December, she happens to look out the window and her eyes land on Jack. They share a magical moment, and then the bus drives away. Over the next year, Laurie will look everywhere for him to no avail. That is until, a Christmas party where her best friend Sarah introduces her to her new boyfriend, who just happens to be Jack.

💭 T H O U G H T S

One Day in December felt like a missed opportunity to me and I was actually disappointed because I really thought I was going to love it. At the start, I was invested in the story, and was curious to see where it was going to go. In my opinion it just went in the wrong direction. The plot was extremely slow to develop and I quickly lost interest. It's frustrating to me as a reader when a book is drawn out so much and when you get to the end, it feels rushed, which was the case here. Part of the problem with it could be that I did not like the characters, although Laurie did grow on me.

The portrayal of death and grief is the one thing that felt real to me in this novel, and for that reason alone I couldn't write the story complete off.

It was long. It was slow. It took me two tries to get through, and I ended up having to get the audio. It probably would have been a forever DNF if not for fulfilling a book club prompt. All that to say it wasn't my cup of tea. But do keep in mind I am in the minority here.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of Love Actually

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"I'm so very tired of swimming. Most of the time I feel like the tide is going to pull me under, but here in Jack's arms I feel as if he's just reached over the side of a life raft and hauled me to safety."

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