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marjenn 's review for:
One Plus One
by Jojo Moyes
My inaugural Jojo Moyes!
I've hears so many positive things about Ms. Moyes, specifically Me Before You. When I saw the ARC of One Plus One on NetGalley, I ordered it straight away.
Jess is a struggling single mother with one chance to get her math whiz daughter (Tanzie) into her dream school, and it involves driving her daughter, along with her sulky teenage stepson (Nicky) and their yak-sized dog (Norman, and also my favorite character) across the country to a math competition. She find a ride and companion in geeky Ed Nichols, who is battling his own financial demons of an entirely different sort. Mayhem and romance ensues.
The two kids and the road trip aspect reminded me of Little Miss Sunshine, and the relationship between Nicky and Tanzie was really sweet and well-done. The biggest problem I had was the relationship between Jess and Ed, which I felt was very forced. They didn't have anything in common, and I couldn't really figure out what their chemistry was based on. They also go from the I-hate-you phase to the sharing-secrets phase in a manner of one day and it all felt a little rushed.
Speaking of pace: the timing was off to me, as well. I felt like the premise was that the road trip was the whole book, but there's about 1/4th (-ish) post-road trip with a lot of falling action and some random sub plots that are created and then almost immediately resolved. I was skimming by the last couple chapters, and just trying to get it done with. I shouldn't feel like a book that's only 350-ish pages is dragging.
Also, just a warning because I know there are a lot of big hearted people who can't handle any kind of violence against animals -- there is one pretty graphic instance of dog-related violence.
There are moments of wonderful humor, and the plot itself is fun, it's just the execution I couldn't get behind. I will definitely try Me Before You, which I've heard is much better, but I was overall quite disappointed by One Plus One.
I've hears so many positive things about Ms. Moyes, specifically Me Before You. When I saw the ARC of One Plus One on NetGalley, I ordered it straight away.
Jess is a struggling single mother with one chance to get her math whiz daughter (Tanzie) into her dream school, and it involves driving her daughter, along with her sulky teenage stepson (Nicky) and their yak-sized dog (Norman, and also my favorite character) across the country to a math competition. She find a ride and companion in geeky Ed Nichols, who is battling his own financial demons of an entirely different sort. Mayhem and romance ensues.
The two kids and the road trip aspect reminded me of Little Miss Sunshine, and the relationship between Nicky and Tanzie was really sweet and well-done. The biggest problem I had was the relationship between Jess and Ed, which I felt was very forced. They didn't have anything in common, and I couldn't really figure out what their chemistry was based on. They also go from the I-hate-you phase to the sharing-secrets phase in a manner of one day and it all felt a little rushed.
Speaking of pace: the timing was off to me, as well. I felt like the premise was that the road trip was the whole book, but there's about 1/4th (-ish) post-road trip with a lot of falling action and some random sub plots that are created and then almost immediately resolved. I was skimming by the last couple chapters, and just trying to get it done with. I shouldn't feel like a book that's only 350-ish pages is dragging.
Also, just a warning because I know there are a lot of big hearted people who can't handle any kind of violence against animals -- there is one pretty graphic instance of dog-related violence.
There are moments of wonderful humor, and the plot itself is fun, it's just the execution I couldn't get behind. I will definitely try Me Before You, which I've heard is much better, but I was overall quite disappointed by One Plus One.