September 9, 2014

One & Only


"I should have been thinking about God. Or the meaning of life. Or simply grieving the fact that my best friend was now motherless and my own mother without her best friend." ~ pg. 3

Let me gush over the cover first. It is in one of my favorite colors—a beautiful teal with white large cursive colors and a huge star. The bestselling author's name stands out in yellow letters. Emily Giffin is one of the few authors that I will read any and every release from. The eBook was ready to read on my NOOK on the release date back in May, but once I saw the cover, I had to read it in hardcover. This novel has the perfect cover for reading poolside.

The Chicago Sun-Times call Emily Giffin a "modern-day Jane Austen." No disagreement here. Something Borrowed and Something Blue are in my best list of chick lit books. I was stuck in a rut and unable to read for quite a while. Usually I would dive in reading a new novel the day it is released. However, I waited damn near three months to read Emily Giffin's seventh novel One & Only. I needed the right mindset and beach setting to fully enjoy the story.

One & Only is a story about finding your passion, following your heart, best-friendship, loyalty and forgiveness. What I didn't expect was a sports theme. Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby spent her entire life in Walker, Texas—a small college town that lives and dies by football. To say football is Shea's passion is an understatement. An unexpected death along with encouragement from Coach Carr, makes Shea question every aspect of her sheltered life from her mediocre boyfriend to her unfulfilling job. She is forced to confront desires, fears and feelings.

"The things that make football like life—and life like a game of football." ~ pg. 413

One of the reasons I love Emily Giffin's novels is because she has a knack for making readers like characters we should hate. I always root for the so-called wrong person or be in favor of the wrong relationship. However, Shea was an exception. This time I couldn't bring myself to be in favor of Shea's romantic choice. It was bothersome and weird. Definitely my least favorite novel of Giffin's. I finished reading with very mixed feelings about it.

I think of One & Only as the "one and only" novel of Emily Giffin's that doesn't compare to the rest.

Title: One & Only
Author: Emily Giffin
Published: May 2014
Pages: 416
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥♥♥

 

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