Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - The One

What a spectacular, brilliantly creative piece of writing. I couldn’t put it down and fell asleep reading it after keeping myself up way too late on a work night, that good. There are a multitude of storylines for varying characters and relationships, all centering around the universal “truth” that, in this world, there is one perfect match for everyone on earth and it’s genetically determined. Just send in a DNA sample and await your results. Simple, right? Far, far from it. Absolutely riveting, I will be thinking about this one for a long time.

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 :)

Content Warnings

the_one_krissy's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Whew, that was some ride.

The premise of this thriller was quite intriguing. What if "the one" really exists for everyone and could be found with a DNA test? Happily ever afters for everyone, right? Right?!

As it turns out, that's not quite what happens in this book. Five people find their match, but none of them are exactly the kind of once-in-a-lifetime love story they expect. I won't spoil the plot, because the twists and turns of these relationships are what keeps the story interesting, but let's just say that people have secrets and DNA testing can't account for every kind of situation that life may dump on you.

Another interesting aspect of this book was the unpleasant and inevitable fallout of this kind of biological match-making for people whose relationships and marriages have been formed in the goodie oldie way of actually getting to know each other and making life decisions based on that. In this book, the more common DNA testing becomes, the worse non-tested people are stigmatised and considered second-class citizens. It's pretty much expected that if you get tested and a match pops up, you should go for them even if you're already in a steady relationship or married. Leave your wife/husband for your match - obviously it wasn't meant to be and you can only find true love and happiness with the one who is meant for you.

If you really start to think about it, this book will seriously give you the creeps. It was a very dynamic and fast-paced story with multiple equally engaging points of view, and I blazed through it in just a couple of days. I wasn't a fan of some of the endings for all the characters, and thought one of them in particular was a cheap cop-out, but this was a fun enough read all the same.

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megelizabeth's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

"I was angry at everything, especially thinking that everyone else would have a lifetime of sunrises and sunsets, while mine were limited."

This is twisty, pacy, and incredibly thought-provoking. There's an interesting mix of characters and plotlines - some stronger than others, and I personally would've much preferred not to read from Christopher's perspective, but it was fascinating to see the myriad of ways in which a scientific discovery can affect lives and relationships and, essentially, social order and humanity. I predicted some things but not others, and I definitely found myself invested and eager to find out what was going to happen next and how things were going to develop and intersect.

I did, unfortunately, have a few issues with this book, mostly towards the end. The writing of some of the female characters feels a bit dodgy at times, and the only brown characters end up being pretty much just a plot device, which is incredibly frustrating and really something we should have moved beyond. There's also another thing that happens with the plot towards the end which to me felt like a huge cop-out and which I really wish had been handled differently. On a different note, there are also quite a lot of editing errors, which always takes me out of a story a bit.

As well as all of this, I was also somehow expecting just a bit more from this book? It's definitely dark and twisted and has some interesting things to say, but I wasn't as shocked or thrilled as I expected to be. It's been on my radar for years, so I'm glad I finally got around to reading it, and I did enjoy it, but just not quite as much as I would have liked to.

Definitely check content warnings, as this book is extremely graphic in places. Also be warned if, like me, you're at all squeamish with anything to do with eyes - there's one particular scene which I'm sure will haunt me for the rest of my life!

Content Warnings

bookishdreamer61's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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kkm88's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

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decembermagpie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

kylieqrada's review against another edition

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emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Baby's first 5 ⭐️ thriller!!!!!! This was funnnnnnn!!!! The multiple storylines had me flipping the pages like WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!? It had just enough of a sci-fi twist to spice it up without losing its essential thriller-ness. Highly recommend this one.

Content Warnings

krys_kilz's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a fast-paced and creative thriller with some surprising twists. I read most of the book in one day, so it definitely keeps you engaged with the suspense.

I liked hearing the multiple perspectives, but Christopher, the serial killer's character, felt a lot less strong than the others. He felt like a tool for shock value and there was some underlying saneism in how he was written. I am just really over the whole "psychopath serial killer" trope in the genre.

The premise of the book is also deeply rooted in cissexism, compulsory monogamy, biological essentialism, and the pedestaling of romantic relationships.

I would recommend this book if you're looking for a page turner with some cross-genre elements. It definitely delivers in that regard.

tw: murder, gore, cancer

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