One True Loves

✮✮✮✮

Mar 17

One True Loves - Taylor Jenkins Reid

my review : ✮✮✮✮

What a uniquely heartbreaking love story.

“I am finishing up dinner with my family and my fiancé when my husband calls.” That is the first line of this book, and I don’t think you could find a more compelling beginning to a story. We meet Emma Blair on the evening she learns her husband, who has been considered dead for the past three years, is alive. I know the way I am describing it makes it sound like a daytime soap. But it’s written by TJR, so you know I am doing a terrible job explaining it, and this story is beyond excellent.

Taylor Jenkins Reid is such a gifted storyteller. This book spans many years and is told beautifully. It’s simultaneously heartbreaking and hopeful. Her writing feels effortless and refreshing. I found the characters wandering into my mind throughout the day; I just couldn’t shake this story.

This is a different kind of love story. It made me spend a lot of time in my head ruminating on what it means to love and be in love. This book made me laugh out loud and made my heart ache (how cool is that? God, I love books!).

If you’re a fan of romance, I really recommend this one. It’s not your average love story, which makes sense because TJR is not your average writer.

Best paired with wine in a jelly jar. I would suggest pinot noir and a roaring fire if you can track one down.

P.S.: I watched the trailer for the movie based on this book, and it felt so cheesy and lacking. But, I once read a quote by Paulo Coehlo that says, “The book is a film that takes place in the mind of the reader. That's why we go to movies and say, "Oh, the book is better.” I simply don’t think anything could have compared to the film that took place in my mind.

P.P.S:. I love jazz, but I know virtually nothing about it. I had no clue who Charles Mingus was, but I listened to him after this and felt like I was sitting with Sam. I don’t know that I’m as enthusiastic about Mingus as Sam is, but I see the appeal. Of Mingus. Of Sam. Of chopsticks on the bar 🎹