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paulaks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Medical content, and Pregnancy
brandilovesbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The One takes place 10 years after this groundbreaking test became public. Millions across the world have been tested. The One follows 5 people who get their match. A woman whose match is across the world, a CEO who always puts her business first, a man who is pressured by his fiance to take the test to prove they are soul mates, a woman who attends her match's memorial after getting matched, and a psychopath who is in the middle of a murder spree.
There is so much more I could say, but I don't want to give anything away.
I enjoyed not only the "what if's" raised by the premise but the way each story unfolded. They were all completely different and each had parts that were completely unexpected.
Definitely recommended.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
xwritingstoriesx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, and Miscarriage
Minor: Abortion
read_with_loren's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
leebeeloves's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
pages_of_gray's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Cancer, Infidelity, and Miscarriage
cady_sass's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Edited to add: this is sci-fi, and the science written here is obviously not sound. If you’ll be bothered by the scientific inaccuracies of the central element here then skip this, otherwise have fun pretending it’s real :)
Graphic: Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, and Alcohol
marareading's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting
franklola's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Vomit, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
vereadsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“If you’ve got the opportunity to love someone as much as they love you, then grab it with both hands and hold on to it for dear life.”
This is my third book on my journey to read 5 books to see if I can trust gabby tastes. 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 are 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…
“We have roughly 100 trillion cells in our bodies and inside each of them are two metres of DNA – if you unravelled them all, they’d stretch to the sun and back a hundred times.”
Sometimes a book catches my attention because it has a good concept. But it isn't well executed. That was my fear with this book. However, John Marrs manages to execute this concept very well.
The book seems like a collection of short stories surrounding the same theme: What if a DNA test could tell you who your soulmate is?
“It’s that feeling you don’t get when you’re around anyone else, like nobody in the world matters when you’re in their company. Like you and them are this one, solitary...thing... And no matter what crap the world throws at you, you can get through it because you have them on your side.”
The book intersperses 5 points of view that show us how this DNA test affects the lives of each of the characters, generating different and unique stories that explore all the what if...
“What if it turns out our DNA doesn’t Match?” “Then we’ll be mindful that maybe we’ll need to put more effort into our relationship. Like John Lennon said, ‘All You Need Is Love.’” “Yes, but he also said, ‘I Am The Walrus,’ so let’s not hold too much credence to his pearls of wisdom.”
The One explores the negative side of science and technology applied to relationships in the best Black Mirror style. If you have any experience with this tv show, you will know that the endings are not exactly happy.
Some points of view caught me from the beginning, and others gained strength towards the end. But each story left me thinking about how science and technology affect our way of interacting and relating.
“Maybe when you took it back to basics, that’s what love really was: just being there for someone when the sun rises and sets.”
An engaging psychological thriller with short chapters that favor reading fluency and brings to the table discussions about technology, love, relationships, and especially one of the moral dilemmas of science: Is it okay to play God?
Can I trust gabby tastes on thrillers?
Rock Paper Scissors ★★★☆☆
The Silent Patient ★★★★ ½
The One ★★★★☆
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting