Published in 2016 – Washington Square Press
Genre: Contemporary Adult Fiction
SOON TO BE A MOTION PICTURE!
What One True Loves Is About – Book Summary
Emma marries her high school sweetheart and they spend their 20’s loving each other and traveling the world and building a life together.
When he goes missing after a helicopter accident and is presumed dead, Emma’s world crumbles. She moves back home to the town and life she didn’t want, grieves and then finally attempts to put her life back together.
Years later she opens herself back up to love with someone from her past and falls in love and gets engaged. And then she gets the call — the one saying her first love and husband has been found after all these years and she finds herself torn between her husband and her fiance.
Want an “at a glance” look at what I thought? Check out my Review On A Post-It or my “Final Thought”
Reaction Upon Finishing
My thoughts & review
Reading One True Loves was one of the most visceral reading experiences I’ve had in a long time. I felt sick to my stomach reading this book and the anxiety in my chest for the main character’s situation was so real that I often had to remind myself that this was fiction and *I* was not actually in this position.
This isn’t the first time that Taylor Jenkins Reid has slayed me emotionally and made me think about things that hit deep in my core. She is DEFINITELY an auto-buy author for me and One True Loves pretty much broke me.
I mean, I felt like I was honestly a wishbone being pulled apart at Thanksgiving. I mean, SERIOUSLY. Can you imagine this predicament??
The love of your life is presumed dead. You grieve for a long time. You FINALLY give yourself permission to be open to love again. You find love again in a real way. You get engaged to be married.
And then: THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE IS ACTUALLY NOT DEAD AND HE’S COMING HOME TO YOU.
Seriously, I wanted to puke with the weight of this situation. I cannot FATHOM it. Two people you love with your whole heart. One who was your first. One who came after that. I. JUST. CANNOT. EVEN. It’s an impossible situation and I felt it the whole way through this book.
It was such an emotional book and I loved how it was laid out telling the stories of her two loves because honestly they both felt like such pure and wonderful once in a lifetime loves which made it even harder on the heart.
I loved her love story with Jesse. I loved her love story with Sam. And that’s what made it so hard. I had a definite strong feeling for what I thought she should do but I still felt the weight of it all because each was love story was just so genuine on its own.
I was a sobbing mess by the end because I was so invested and I felt SO much — happiness and hope and joy and loss and everything in between.
It was heart-wrenching and beautiful and brutal and messy and makes you think about soulmates and if we only get one true love out there for us in the world. I happen to believe we don’t just get one soulmate and that’s comforting to me.
[spoiler]As much as I was like BUT THE MAN SHE LOVED AND LOST IS BACK THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE and I felt for Jesse, I also was pretty firmly certain that she should choose to be with Sam for all the same conclusions she came to. She was different. Their love would be different. It didn’t negate what they had or the truth of their love but too much had changed for both of them. [/spoiler]
My rating of One True Loves
Factors for my rating
+ writing, emotional impact, page-turning qualities, investment in the characters, thought-provoking
– Nothing.
Should you read One True Loves? YES
Should you buy it or borrow it? I think it’s worth buying!
Who Would I Recommend It To?
fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s previous books, readers of “women’s fiction” or “chick-lit”, people who love really complex stories of love
My Final Thought
One True Loves is one of my favorite books I’ve read this year — it gripped me, it moved me, and it embedded itself deep down in my soul. It’s a beautiful and heart-wrenching story about love and loss and finding yourself again that will cause you to reflect and think long after you put it down. The way grief and love and romance and hope are written just impressed me so much — the nuances, the feelings and the messiness. HIGHLY recommend.
Review On A Post-It Note
* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless!
*If you haven’t read it, does it feel like something you’d be into?
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Lizzy says
I’m not usually into the ALL THE FEELS books but this one sounds like I might have to give it a go!
Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit says
YASSS, TJR! =)
Like I mentioned on Twitter, this book actually helped me answer the question of whether you can have more than one true love in your life, and what happens if the first one dies. I’ve LONG wondered if the whole idea of soulmates exists, and I’ve come to the conclusion that yes, they can…but there can also be more out there for us. This situation was SO heart-wrenching for me as well – but I think TJR made an excellent case for why Emma should have been with who she ended up with. But MAN, it hurt, right?
Also, that whole “you” section…holy cow. What a brilliant risk she took there.
chelsea jacobs says
Ahh even just reading your review made me so anxious for the characters! Definitely picking this one up!
Brie @ A Slice of Brie says
I keep seeing this book around, but didn’t really know what it was about. Totally sounds right up my alley. I love emotional reads, even if they drain me lol. Also, my thoughts while reading this totally went to the movie Castaway…didn’t something similar happen to him/his wife once he was found? Haha. Not as emotional in the movie, but ya, that’s where my head went. 😉
Pui-man says
On the one hand, I’m hesitant to read this book because I don’t know if I could handle all of the heartache. On the other hand, I’m really curious about how everything turns out. I think curiosity is winning so I’ll definitely have to read it now!
kristen says
i totally agree with everything you said. i wanted the same outcome. i know you read maybe in another life, did you want one outcome (guy) more than the other? anyway. i agree though, i totally felt like i was living this book and it was tearing me apart. i loved it and i’m so glad you did too!
Sarah J. says
I kept seeing this book around, but it wasn’t until I saw that it was a favorite of yours that I marked it on my TBR. I’m really excited about this one because it’s quite different from what I usually read and I’m ready to be emotionally slayed.
Becky says
Oh man, I have a feeling I’m going to need a box of tissues on hand when I read this. Maybe In Another Life gave me ALL THE FEELS and it sounds like this one is even more feels-y.
Josephine, Bookblogger says
Wow. This book sounds like a must-read.
/Josephine
http://www.instagram.com/books_boegerpaastribe
Akaleistar says
That is an impossible situation. This book sounds really good, but I’ll have to wait to read it when I need a book with all the feels 🙂
Amy @ Read a Latte says
Reading this book was AGONIZING because I truly couldn’t imagine being in her shoes, though I did feel the same way you did in the end. As I was reading I would ask the people around me what they would do and the reaction was always just horrified silence because, really, HOW?
Shannon says
And now I’m crying again just thinking about this book!
Megan says
I just finished this book in a little less than a week. If I had to choose one word to describe this book, I don’t even know of one that is good enough. This book was just awesome. So good. I love how the author moved back and forth between Emma/Jesse and Emma/Sam. The book kept me very interested the entire time and I had to keep reading to find out what would happen and who Emma would choose. It was almost like a good mystery novel. I had to keep reading to see what would happen.
Throughout the book, I put myself in Emma’s shoes and realized I have no idea what I would have done in her situation. It would definitely be tough.
This book was great. I love this author. Would you recommend that I read her other books too? Are they just as good, if not, better?