One Day by David Nicholls

I borrowed this book from my sister who said and I quote "This book is amazing you have to read it." Now this is a phrase that is passed quite casually from book lover to book lover when suggesting a new read and really does not carry too  much weight considering that a lot of people love a lot of books a lot of the time. I find that even when a book isn't spectacular it is hard for me to give it a negative critique because even a subpar book is something you dedicate yourself to, immerse yourself in and whether you like it or not you grow attached to the characters and their stories. A subpar book is like an annoying family member, they may not be your favorite but at the end of the day they know you, you know them and there is some love there. So with that being said I take suggestions with a grain of salt because I know how difficult it is for me to say that book was just a waste of my perfectly good weekend. However my sister is completely different because she is not really a reader. In all our years growing up together I don't think I ever saw her reading a book and that includes the required school reading. I am not saying she couldn't read or that she was too stupid or really any other superior condescending reason you may be thinking right now but in reality she didn't read because she didn't want to, just wasn't her thing. So when she actually took the time to read a book (with an active one year old to keep up with by the way) I knew this book must be great.... right?


Well the book was pretty great, most of the time. One day is about Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew who after years of studying at the same university never spoke a word to each other but after one fateful party end up spending the night together and becoming life long friends. What I found to be super interesting about this book is it flipped between Dexter's point of view and Emma's point of view which isn't exactly ground breaking or anything but what I did find extremely interesting was the authors choice to have the entire book center around the same day each year. The book spans from 1988 to 2006 taking you through Emma and Dexter'f friendship as well as their own individual lives.

Emma is an intelligent, caring, clever girl who refuses to admit or acknowledge her own self worth. People constantly use the word beautiful when the describing Emma however you never hear Emma describe herself with anything but the word awkward. As a woman I found Emma's character to be extremely relatable. The self doubt and searching to find who she is, what she wants and really the ability to believe and trust herself is something that I think all young people can really understand. With that being said her constant inability to be happy, the always wanting something she doesn't have or feeling like she should want more even though she is content became a tedious trait of hers. But really when it comes to tedious character traits Dexter takes the cake.

Dexter is the opposite of Emma in ever way imaginable. Not only does everyone use the words handsome or even beautiful when describing Dexter, Dexter himself uses these words and more to describe how physically perfect he is. Dexter is self satisfied, cocky, unreasonably happy with his life considering its constantly in a state of  disarray and turbulence. He is almost always drunk or drugged and only ever really thinks of himself. The only likable thing about Dexter is his friendship with Emma.

People come and go through their lives, spouses, friends, parents, lovers but in the end they always have each other. Dexter and Emma, Em and Dex they are unable to move on from each other and have to come to terms with how much they love each other. I have never read a book where two people who so obviously belong together fight it as though to be happy is a bad thing.

Stephanie and Me !

One Day is funny, interesting, well written however at times tedious because you feel as though you are on a merry-go-round. Not only are you examining the same day every year over and over, the characters, well really Dexter has the same problems over and over and over again. He is in a constant circle of booze and boobs and refuses to grow up. This book is pretty well loved (by my sister especially) and although I enjoyed it I did not love it. The ending especially left me feeling completely cheated.. I don't want to give anything away so I will leave it at that. Even though I did not LOVE this book it is still worth reading, I thought the concept was new and really pretty fascinating and the characters for better or worse were complex and interesting. So give it a read and tell me what you think, am I being overly critical and harsh? Would love to get some opinions on the book because I feel like I might be looking at it the wrong way, trying to make it something it is not. Pick it up and let me know, Who was right me (questioned but truly liked) or my sister Stephanie (pure and unquestioning Loved)???

Happy Reading!!!