The One by John Marrs

4 Stars

Publisher: Harlequin (U.S. & Canada), Hanover Square

Date of publication: February 20th, 2018

Genre: Adult Fiction, mystery, thriller

Where you can find The One: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book Synopsis (from Goodreads):

How far would you go to find The One?

A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner—the one you’re genetically made for.

That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance, and love.

Now five very different people have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others…

A word-of-mouth hit in the United Kingdom, The One is a fascinating novel that shows how even the simplest discoveries can have complicated consequences.

Trigger Warning: stalking 

My review:

 

When I read the plot for The One, I was intrigued. A future where you can find your perfect match through your DNA. That made my interest grow even more. Then I started reading the book. For the most part, I enjoyed reading the book. But there were some little things that grated on my nerves while reading.

The plotline for The One was very original. Being able to find your perfect match through your DNA? What a way to find your soul mate. The One looks at 5 different people and how finding their soul mates affected their life. But, more importantly, The One shows the dark side of this discovery. It also raises the question: Can love truly be in our DNA or is it pure luck.

The characters of The One are Mandy, Christopher, Nick, Jade, and Ellie. Mandy is a divorce who is trying to get her life back together. When she goes to meet her match, she is in for a very unpleasant surprise. A surprise that rocks her world. Christopher is a serial killer who is blindsided by his match. Nick is engaged to the love of his life when his Match throws him off-kilter. Jade has a long distance relationship with her Match. She decides to throw caution to the wind and travel to Australia to meet him. What she finds when she arrives shocks her to the core. Finally, there is Ellie. Ellie is the scientist who found the gene that started the whole Match business. Ellie has finally found her Match but little things start to bother her about him. Things that don’t make sense. When Ellie finds out who her Match is and what he wants, he could ruin her.

What I liked the most about The One was that it made me think. It made me think “what if someone discovered something like this“. What would happen? Would people accept it and use a DNA test to find their true love? Or would they denounce it? Would the social ramifications be as stated in the book: high divorce rate? Protests? Broken hearts? Like I said, it made me think.

The multiple characters didn’t do it for me. I felt that there were too many characters for me to remember. If the author had done 2 characters, I would have been fine. But 5. Too much. On the flip side, though, I thought that the author did a great job of fleshing out the characters. He made them relatable. He also made their situations relatable.

While I liked the plotlines and found them engaging, I did find it rushed in spots. I felt that the author got sick of writing about a character and wanted to end that characters scene before starting on the next one.

Each character got their own ending at the end of the book and not all were happy. Ellie’s was the last one featured. It was also the one with the most punch. Not going to say what happened but I was kind of expecting it. I wasn’t surprised at what went down.

I would recommend The One to anyone over the age of 21. There is a serial killer storyline that gets into somewhat graphic detail. Also, there is violence and language used. There are also sexual situations detailed but no outright sex. I would recommend The One to family and friends.

I would like to thank Harlequin, Hanover Square and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The One.

All opinions stated in The One are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**