PLOT: 4/5 CHARACTERS: 4.5/5 WRITING STYLE: 4.5/5 ROMANCE: 4.5/5 ENTERTAINMENT: 4.5/5
“Flirting is probably just as much about falling in love with yourself as it is with someone else. It’s about seeing yourself through someone’s eyes and realizing there is plenty to like about yourself, plenty of reasons someone might hang on your every word.”
– Taylor Jenkins Reid, One True Loves
My musings
Though February is the month of love, I felt it in a tragically acute way. My baby dog Argo, who showered us with unconditional love for eight lovely years, left us in a rather abrupt manner. And as I ached for him and his love, I leaned towards reading romances.
Taylor Jenkins Reid’s One True Love was first published in 2016, long before she became the phenomenon that she is today. Having read and loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in 2020, I knew that I wouldn’t be disappointed. And as it turned out, I was absolutely right.
Read on to know more about the book and my review of it.
What to expect?
Expect an intensely romantic and heartbreaking read that will leave you an emotional wreck by the end of it. Expect a beautiful and very memorable 5-star read. Expect a love triangle, which though not unique in any way, would leave the reader as puzzled and as agonized as the main characters. Expect a medium-length read (352 pages) that is bound to leave a lasting impression on the reader.
Who can read?
The language of One True Loves isn’t complicated and won’t be much of a hassle for a beginner-level reader. That being said, it is a book that would be enjoyed equally by all levels of readers – beginners to voracious. Especially so, if you have a thing for sentimental and expressive characters.
The summary of One True Loves (no spoilers)
Emma Blair has been in love with Jesse ever since she first saw him in high school. Though Jesse takes his own sweet time to come around, eventually when they do fall in love, it is irrevocable, irreplaceable, and truly, madly, deeply kind of love. They know it in their hearts that it will last forever.
Except that it doesn’t.
On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse goes missing while flying over a remote island, to never come back again. Forlorn and devastated by her loss, Emma decides to quit her job in California and move back to her hometown in Massachusetts.
As the years go by, Emma learns to live with her loss and is quite content with running the family bookstore. Until a brush with Sam, a guy whom she grew up with, reminds her of all that she is missing in life. As Emma grows into her thirties, she finally decides to take the big leap and settle down with Sam.
But life again throws a curveball when Jesse comes back from the dead, as much in love with Emma, as he was, all those years ago. And now Emma, torn between her feelings for the two loves of her life, will have to make a hard decision, one that she can never be too sure about.
The writing
When it comes to reading a love triangle, it becomes important for the reader to feel the same kind of pressure, and confusion that her protagonist is feeling. And in that particular aspect, the book has done a phenomenal job. As the pages turn, the characters grow on you, and you feel for all of them. You get invested in their stories, in their lives, and wow! They do manage to create a small but permanent place in your heart.
Quotes that will melt your heart
When it comes to this review, this is the most difficult part to write. The book is full of beautiful quotes, that make it a challenge for me to pick only a select few. Nevertheless, here are some of my favourites.
“Just because something isn’t meant to last a lifetime doesn’t mean it wasn’t meant to be.”
“True love doesn’t always last,” I say. “It doesn’t always have to be for a lifetime”
“We are two people who are madly in love with our old selves. And that is not the same as being in love.”
“It’s funny, isn’t it? So often men see betrayal in what you’ve done instead of how you feel.”
If you love emotional reads
There is no denying the beauty of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing. She writes from the heart and has the ability to make the readers feel deeply. In One True Loves, she doesn’t just give you romance, she gives you romance that is versatile.
She gives you the high school variety that is naïve, impulsive, and reckless. And she also gives you the mature kind that is more aware, more considerate, and grounded in reality.
She gives you passion and adventures but she also gives you stability. And not just that. There is the familial love, the kind that never goes away. No matter what one has been through and how far one has gone.
Needless to say, this book has everything for an emotional romance lover. So, if you love romances, do yourself a favour and give this book a read. As for me, I give it a well-deserved 5 stars.
Can’t wait to read it? Buy your copy of One True Loves using the link below.
