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Monday, June 30, 2014
One Plus OneBy Jojo Moyes
Published by Pamela Dorman BooksRelease Date: July 1, 2014
*ARC received at BEA
One single mom. One chaotic family.
One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times bestselling
author of Me Before You
American audiences have fallen in
love with Jojo Moyes. Ever since she debuted stateside, she has captivated
readers and reviewers alike, and hit the New York Times bestseller list
with the word-of-mouth sensation, Me Before You. Now, with One Plus
One, she’s written another contemporary opposites-attract love story that
reads like a modern-day Two for the Road.
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.
One Plus One is Jojo Moyes at her astounding best. You’ll laugh, you’ll
weep, and when you flip the last page, you’ll want to start all over again.
Review: As a reader I tend to gravitate toward fantasy or historical literary fiction, One Plus One was a bit of a departure for me. I’m really happy to say I enjoyed it. The plot of the novel, a road trip fraught with various mishaps as a family travels to a competition, is reminiscent of the movie Little Miss Sunshine but includes a lot more romance. It’s funny, poignant, sad, romantic in an unexpected way, and I always found it entertaining.
One thing I appreciated was the
fact that this is not a narrative where the heroine meets a rich man who then solves
all of her problems with his money. Cinderella stories are all well and good,
but with contemporary romances I prefer to read about couples coming together as equals. This is something that Moyes does very well, as Jess and Ed both
have issues that they help each other with, though ultimately they take individually take action to solve their problems.
Another of the novel’s strengths
is the way it presents class issues. Jess is a single mother supporting two children by working two low-paying
jobs. They live in a neighborhood with a family whose teens are targeting
Jess’s adopted son Nicky, going as far as putting him in the hospital with
severe injuries. The constant stress and anxiety caused by this inescapable
persecution affects Nicky’s school performance and leads him to consider
dropping out entirely. The police are no help or protection, they are dismissive of Jess due to her lower-class status. Jess's daughter Tanzie earns a scholarship to a school that would open up many opportunities
for her future, and also allow her to escape the bullying Nicky is facing, but the scholarship does not cover the exorbitantly expensive uniforms and all of the fees. Jess first meets Ed
while cleaning his house, and at that point he treats her like a tool, not a
person.
As far as the characters, while Jess (resilient single mother who always tries to stay positive) and Ed (computer geek who has disconnected from his relationships) felt like extremely familiar character types, they were developed and dynamic enough that their characterizations had depth. Nicky and Tanzie, however, are a bit more two-dimensional. Some of the story is told through their POVs, but I found their characteristics a bit on the cliche side. Still, the writing of each POV was distinct, adding many different voices to the narrative.
This story includes car sickness, a flatulent dog, surprise reveals, characters taking responsibility for their actions, characters being mature about divorce, and characters maybe not always following their better natures. I had fun reading this book and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a novel with well-developed romance, a humorous road trip, and some social commentary. I'll have to check out more contemporary novels in the future.
Four Stars
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Monday, June 30, 2014
Early Review: One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
One Plus OneBy Jojo Moyes
Published by Pamela Dorman BooksRelease Date: July 1, 2014
*ARC received at BEA
One single mom. One chaotic family.
One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times bestselling
author of Me Before You
American audiences have fallen in
love with Jojo Moyes. Ever since she debuted stateside, she has captivated
readers and reviewers alike, and hit the New York Times bestseller list
with the word-of-mouth sensation, Me Before You. Now, with One Plus
One, she’s written another contemporary opposites-attract love story that
reads like a modern-day Two for the Road.
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.
One Plus One is Jojo Moyes at her astounding best. You’ll laugh, you’ll
weep, and when you flip the last page, you’ll want to start all over again.
Review: As a reader I tend to gravitate toward fantasy or historical literary fiction, One Plus One was a bit of a departure for me. I’m really happy to say I enjoyed it. The plot of the novel, a road trip fraught with various mishaps as a family travels to a competition, is reminiscent of the movie Little Miss Sunshine but includes a lot more romance. It’s funny, poignant, sad, romantic in an unexpected way, and I always found it entertaining.
One thing I appreciated was the
fact that this is not a narrative where the heroine meets a rich man who then solves
all of her problems with his money. Cinderella stories are all well and good,
but with contemporary romances I prefer to read about couples coming together as equals. This is something that Moyes does very well, as Jess and Ed both
have issues that they help each other with, though ultimately they take individually take action to solve their problems.
Another of the novel’s strengths
is the way it presents class issues. Jess is a single mother supporting two children by working two low-paying
jobs. They live in a neighborhood with a family whose teens are targeting
Jess’s adopted son Nicky, going as far as putting him in the hospital with
severe injuries. The constant stress and anxiety caused by this inescapable
persecution affects Nicky’s school performance and leads him to consider
dropping out entirely. The police are no help or protection, they are dismissive of Jess due to her lower-class status. Jess's daughter Tanzie earns a scholarship to a school that would open up many opportunities
for her future, and also allow her to escape the bullying Nicky is facing, but the scholarship does not cover the exorbitantly expensive uniforms and all of the fees. Jess first meets Ed
while cleaning his house, and at that point he treats her like a tool, not a
person.
As far as the characters, while Jess (resilient single mother who always tries to stay positive) and Ed (computer geek who has disconnected from his relationships) felt like extremely familiar character types, they were developed and dynamic enough that their characterizations had depth. Nicky and Tanzie, however, are a bit more two-dimensional. Some of the story is told through their POVs, but I found their characteristics a bit on the cliche side. Still, the writing of each POV was distinct, adding many different voices to the narrative.
This story includes car sickness, a flatulent dog, surprise reveals, characters taking responsibility for their actions, characters being mature about divorce, and characters maybe not always following their better natures. I had fun reading this book and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a novel with well-developed romance, a humorous road trip, and some social commentary. I'll have to check out more contemporary novels in the future.
Four Stars
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