Julie's Review: One Plus One

Author: JoJo Moyes
Series: None
Publication Date: July 1, 2014
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
Pages: 381
Obtained: purchased
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line: Sweet but predictable story
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Library

Summary: 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 cant afford to pay for. Thats Jesss life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight-in-shining-armor offers to rescue them. Only Jesss 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. ~powells.com

Review: One Plus One is a sweet story about always looking on the bright side, figuring out what you want and learning to be fine with who you are. This is a misfit group of people we have in this book and somehow Ms. Moyes makes it work. Jess is eternally optimistic and given her situation it's probably best that she has that attitude. Ed made a stupid decision that will end up forever altering his life. Tanzie is a bit of a geek but sweet. Nicky is struggling to fit in and figure out who he is. Mix them all together and you get a story of love and acceptance.

The book isn't without it's tears and laughs but for me it wasn't as strong of a connection to the characters as Me Before You. They are all endearing in their own way but I felt that in this book she was trying to cover too many social issues. Not that they aren't all important but focusing on one or two would have been preferred for this reader.

My favorite character was Nicky. You couldn't help but root for him and want him to come out of his shell. You wanted the people who bullied him to get their karma. You knew they would but you just didn't know how. He's the character who grew and changed. He became more comfortable with who he was and perhaps where he might go to. He opened himself up and when he did that he found that he liked who he was and he liked who he belonged to.

I liked Jess but sometimes I wanted to tell her to shut it. I know there are people in the world who have a cheery disposition but sometimes it's ok to be pissed with how life as sucked. It's ok to be mad at times, just as long as you don't let it get you down.

Ms. Moyes is still an author I will gravitate towards but this wasn't her strongest for me.

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