Saturday, June 9, 2012

Review: One Day by David Nicholls

THE DETAILS:
Pages: 435
Genre: Adult Fiction, Contemporary
1st published: 2009
Publisher: Hodder and Stroughton
Purchased from a store.

THE BLURB:
You can live your whole life not realising that what you're looking for is right in front of you.
15th July 1988. Emma & Dexter meet on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their seperate ways.
So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that?
And every year that follows?

THE REVIEW:
I've had this book sitting on my shelf for ages. I didn't really know if I wanted to read it and it was on a two for one deal and I couldn't find anything else to go with the other book I wanted so I bought it. My mother bought the DVD on a shopping trip, so I decided to hurry up and read it. I would prefer to read the book first... So here I am a week later. I've read it. Let's just hope the movie was better.

The book starts off. The characters have just "slept" together (minus any actual sleeping). I could argue that it is morally incorrect that they should be sleeping together already, but I don't. I give the book the benefit of the doubt and continue. Further in. I decide that I am enjoying this book greatly.

I really liked the characters. Emma Morley reminded me of myself in so many ways. She wanted to do something creative with her life, but she doesn't really know what. Nothing sticks. Everyone is constantly harping on at her to get a boyfriend. Really, this book is just as much a story about Emma Morley figuring out who she is, as it is a romance. Dexter is an idiotic, but somewhat likable character. He's one of those character's that could be good, but doesn't know how.

Another thing I liked was the storytelling. I loved that even though the book was in third person I could tell what the characters felt and were thinking. I loved the humour and there were definitely times where I wanted to cry.

The actual story line though? Didn't like it. I enjoyed probably the first 70 or so percent of the book. I was quite into it. I thought that Emma and Dexter would get together anytime now and they would get married and live happily ever after. The end. Nope.

It got to a point where I was like "Are these characters ever going to get together?". At the rate it was going they were going to both be in a nursing home with dementia before they realised that they were meant to be together. When they finally got together (And, no they weren't in a Nursing home), it was pretty anti-climatic. It was like they just went "Ok. Let's get together then". Like they were discussing what to have for lunch. I'm not exactly expecting fireworks and a parade, but when I read a book that takes so long to get anywhere I expect more than what I got.

And, that's where the book should have ended. They got together. YAY! I would have given that a four star rating and went on and on about how awesome Emma Morely was. That if I were in the book she would be my best friend and so on. The book however continues and gets really depressing. And, I think "Why?". Maybe it's more realistic than what I expected, but it's a piece of fiction. Fiction shouldn't be so realistic. That's depressing.

That's when it got to the point where I had to make myself finish it. I had to tell myself that there would be some redeeming quality in the remainder of the book. The problem was that the book didn't seem to know where it was going to end. It just kept going. I'd turn a page thinking "Yes! It's over" and only to see that there was another chapter ahead.

Overall this book is worth 3 stars. I'll watch the movie later today. Hopefully It's better. If you are into writing and great character development then go ahead and read it. If you like happy romantic novels, or even just romantic novels I don't think you would like this.

Your Favourite Blogger,
Natalie

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