Review: One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.

On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever.

Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.

That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.

Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly?

Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying.

Pub Date: June 7th 2016 | Page Count: 352pp | Publisher: Atria

Rating: 5 Stars | Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Romance

    

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Review

“Romantic love is a beautiful thing under the right circumstances. But those circumstances are so specific and rare, aren’t they.”

ONE TRUE LOVES is easily one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. As a woman in her middle twenties I could relate and find it enlightening at the same time, I could feel every single emotion so vividly I was kind of scared the estranged husband I didn’t know I had would appear out of nowhere.

How would you feel if you had to choose between the greatest loves of your life? Make no mistake. ONE TRUE LOVES is not about a love triangle, it’s about a woman still finding herself in her 30s, about how beautiful changes are and embracing them even if they turn out to be what you least expected.

“But I’m starting to think you don’t always know what your dreams are. Some of us have to run smack into one before we see it.”

I was a bit in love with the three characters, but most of all with Emma. As a teen she dreamed of seeing the world, that world most of us will never see, and she did. Now a woman and after experiencing tragedy, her goals, ambitions and even tastes have changed. I loved how strongly I felt what Emma was going through, she loves these two wonderful men, it is clear but choices aren’t as easy, there’s turmoil and passion and one thing that stuck with me was how Emma embraced every emotion she was feeling throughout, probably, the second most difficult experience of her life.

We refrain sometimes from feeling a certain way simply because it isn’t the norm. Emma allowed herself to explore these deep emotions people sometimes don’t even realize they’re there, and it’s a beautiful kind of power, when you’re capable of willingly put yourself at your most vulnerable state, and that there’s nothing shameful about this.

“Hollow and empty are terrible ways to feel when you’re used to being full of joy. But it’s not so bad when you’re used to feeling full of pain. Hollow feels okay. Empty feels like beginning,”

How can a story this fictionalized feel this real? Taylor Jenkins Reid has the answer, her writing is one of the most evocative I’ve ever read, so full of meaning, constructing every scene so heavily charged with emotion, in an honest fashion it makes everything seem much more real and raw. I love reading books like this one, where I feel encouraged to feel any way I want without making up excuses; I’m allowed to grow, to change, to love multiple times unconditionally.

ONE TRUE LOVES had the most amazing closing line, for obvious reasons I can’t quote it, but just know it’s beautiful and when I read it, I felt shivers down my body.

“I had predicated my life on the idea that I wanted to see everywhere extraordinary, but I’d come to realize that extraordinary is everything.”

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About the Author 

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an author, essayist, and TV writer from Acton, Massachusetts. Her debut novel, Forever, Interrupted, has been optioned with Dakota Johnson attached to star. She is adapting her second book, After I Do, for Freeform, formerly known as ABC Family. Her most recent novel, Maybe In Another Life, has been featured in People, US Weekly, Cosmo, and more.

In addition to her novels, Taylor’s essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, xoJane, and a number of other blogs.

She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Alex, and their dog, Rabbit.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads Author Page

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Other Books by Taylor Jenkins Reid

        

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