One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Sometimes you come across stories that really hit home. They come to you at a time when you really need them and it feels like the author just really, really gets you. One True Loves was exactly this for me. It found me right when I needed it and in so many ways, it’s reflective of my own life and my own choices (hell, the protagonist even has the same name as me). I think it resonated with me more than any book I’ve read in a long, long time, and possibly ever. Plus, any book that can make me cry is truly a special one.

At first I was a little skeptical about the plot. Emma Blair must make the hardest decision of her life in choosing between her fiance Sam, and her husband Jesse. (I know, right?!) Except Jess is her high school sweetheart who went missing on a work trip several years ago and whom everyone believes is dead. Until he’s not. I’ll admit that I was like, yeah, sure, this is some Days of Our Lives/Castaway shit right here. But seriously, I bought every word Reid was selling. It takes a mighty good author to make me believe a far-fetched plot like this. But it really felt so incredibly genuine.

Reid really hit the nail on the head when it comes to depicting romance. She doesn’t sugar coat it. She recognises that love and relationships are messy, and that when it comes to breakups, it’s inevitable that someone will get hurt. When Emma realises this in the novel was the moment I really connected with her as a character. It tore her up inside knowing that she would hurt people she loved and that there was no winning in her situation. It’s incredibly hard to write this review without spoiling the ending, so I’ll just say that Reid did an amazing job at exploring how love is fluid, how it can change and grow with time (just as we as people do), and when love presents itself to you, you should never let it pass you by. You have to get ready for it.

This book showed me that love can be both ordinary and extraordinary. That love can change, and we can change, and that’s okay. And that moving on from loss doesn’t make us selfish. It makes us brave. It makes us hopeful.