A review by spellboundchapters
One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? No

3.5

“It’s a scary thought, isn’t it? That every single person on this planet could lose their one true love and live to love again? It means the one you love could love again if they lost you.”

"I am finishing up dinner with my family and my fiancé when my husband calls." I love this premise, this immediately became one of my favourite first sentence in a book ever. I mean, what would you do in this situation? I kinda fell in love with both of them haha, I liked the fact that the author didn’t try to make one of them the good guy and the other the bad one. For the majority of the book I was feeling pretty torn haha, and I’m glad the book went in the direction I hoped it would! That last chapter owns my heart.
The writing wasn’t the best (even though there are a few good passages here and there), but it was extremely easy to read and very addictive. I just wished there would’ve been less corny dialogs and "I love you"’s and more character depth. They all seemed pretty shallow, especially the main character. Even as a teenager she doesn’t really have any passions or hobbies? And as an adult she likes to read and play the piano but she never really talks about it a lot. Even Jesse’s PTSD was so convenient for the story and pretty unrealistic. I’m wondering if several POVs would’ve been a better choice for this story.
I loved the family dynamics in this book! Emma isn’t close to her family at all growing up and moves far away as soon as she gets the opportunity, and only became close to them during her adulthood — I just thought it was refreshing to see this in a book. The sisterly bond’s evolution was beautifully portrayed too. ♥️ And the MC finding comfort in books when her whole life is falling apart is both tragic but also beautiful. 😩
This was a very quick read for me and one I would gladly re-read! I just think everything resolved a bit too quickly and easily… Maybe I just love the drama too much 😂

Expand filter menu Content Warnings