The One Plus One
by Jojo Moyes
Pages: 528
Publication date: February 26, 2014
Publisher: Penguin
Summary:
One single mom. One chaotic family. One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You
Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight-in-shining-armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages… maybe ever.
Source: Goodreads
Thoughts:
I’ve really enjoyed Jojo Moyes‘ books over the years but I have been wary of this chunky book on my bookshelf for some time. Big books have always been a little unappealing to me, much preferring a quick read! But I did it, I recently decided to read “The One Plus One”, dusting it off and finding it to be a little sunfaded having been there so long!
“The One Plus One” is quite a straightforward story, even if it is a little far fetched at times. It made me think of those Netflix and Hallmark Christmas films that you love to hate.
Jess is a single mother, parent to 8 year old Tanzie, a maths pro, and her ex-stepson Nicky, a moody teenager. Jess works as a cleaner, struggling to make ends meet most months. She’s used to scrimping, saving money and making her own sandwiches.
As any mother does, Jess wants more for her children and she’s over the moon when her daughter is offered a massive scholarship to study at an amazing school. There’s just one problem… the scholarship doesn’t cover the full fees. Needing to scrape together some extra cash, Jess sees an opportunity in an upcoming maths competition.
There’s also a guy called Ed. Ed has had some difficulty with and ex and is finding himself lying low for a little bit. Without giving too much away, Ed and Jess’ lives soon become tangled together, sucked into the story whether he likes it or not.
This book was nice enough, but I wasn’t wrong about being wary… it’s so long!! For me, this was too long for this kind of chick-lit story. There were some nice bits here and there but the majority of the plot was dragged out much longer than I would have liked.
What I did like was the character building, and I was grateful to get to know all of the quirky characters, including the dog, Norman. I liked that they all had individual lives and plots weaving in and out of the story. There are also a lot of comedic elements too, which were a nice addition and break from the family drama.
I think it’s fair to say that I enjoyed this book, but it was a little too cheesy and perfect for my personal tastes. A nice easy read, just much too long!
Overall rating: “The One Plus One” by Jojo Moyes is a light-hearted read. If you enjoy her writing and don’t mind a long read, this would be great for you. For me, this was nice but not my cup of tea. A three star read!
Thanks for reading! What did you think of this book? Let me know in the comments if you’ve read it!
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What Rebecca's Read 