Hello Bookish Friends :)
I hope you're all doing well, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.
I'm going to be continuing on today with reviews for the holiday themed reads I read during the Christmas in July readathon I participated in this week.
Unfortunately, the title I'm going to be reviewing on my blog today was not only the worst book I read during the readathon, but it's safe to say that it's also easily one of the worst books I've read this entire year.
Are you curious as to why that is? Well then keep reading on and I'll tell you all about why this particular title was such a disappointment for me.
One Day In December by Josie Silver:
Source: Library
Publisher: Broadway Books
Publication Date: October 16th, 2018
Genre: Women's Fiction
Synopsis:
Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.
Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic... and then her bus drives away.
Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.
What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
After finishing One Day In December, I have to honestly state that I don't understand all the glowing reviews. If you're expecting a lovely holiday romance that will leave you with a smile on your face and an extra appreciation for love and friendship, then this title is probably not what you're looking for. If however, you want to read an almost four hundred page, nine year journey about two extremely selfish and juvenile characters who make nothing but bad decisions, hurt everyone around them, and still try and make everyone else out to be the bad guy, then go ahead and give Josie Silver's holiday themed read a chance.
I went into this one having heard nothing but great things, and I'm sorry to say that my experience was not nearly that positive. Jack and Laurie were both characters that grated on my nerves throughout the entire story, and in my opinion, by the end, neither character has really shown any character growth in the slightest. Instead, the various side characters, like Sarah, Oscar and Amanda, who fail to understand the great love that exists between them are made out to be cruel and horrible human beings who should never have dared to call Laurie and Jack out on their issues.
Secondly, I'm not a fan of romance novels that promote cheating, and that's exactly what this one does. Jack leads two women on at the exact same time, and seems to see nothing wrong with doing so. Emotional and physical cheating are both pulled into play, and yet he doesn't seem to want to make a decision between one or the either. Laurie is definitely not an innocent victim throughout it all either, as even when she commits to a serious relationship with Oscar, she continues to pine away for Jack, and then the reader is lead through a series of situations where Oscar is meant to be the bad guy so we'll all support her still wanting to be with Jack.
I can't remember the last time a book annoyed me as much as this one has, and I really struggled with even wanting to finish it. It heavily reminded me of Happily Ever After by Harriet Evans and One Day by David Nicholls, both of which I also couldn't stand. The cheating, the characters, the repetitive plot line, all of that was annoying enough, but I also couldn't understand where this "great relationship" between Jack and Laurie emerged from in the first place. Their "love at first sight moment" lasts less than a couple of minutes, and then Laurie spends an entire year searching for him. When she's introduced to him as her best friend's new boyfriend, the two barely have any interactions together for the next year and a half or so, and yet throughout the later parts of the story their great friendship keeps being referenced. It would have been nice if the reader had been given more of the interactions between the two of them to truly understand why they were as drawn to one another as they were.
All in all, this one just didn't work for me, and I was left highly disappointed. I also find it a little strange that this has been marketed as a holiday novel, when really, no part of it ever even takes place at Christmas.
Final Rating: 1/5
I will most definitely not be recommending this one.
Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day!
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
I hope you're all doing well, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.
I'm going to be continuing on today with reviews for the holiday themed reads I read during the Christmas in July readathon I participated in this week.
Unfortunately, the title I'm going to be reviewing on my blog today was not only the worst book I read during the readathon, but it's safe to say that it's also easily one of the worst books I've read this entire year.
Are you curious as to why that is? Well then keep reading on and I'll tell you all about why this particular title was such a disappointment for me.
One Day In December by Josie Silver:
Source: Library
Publisher: Broadway Books
Publication Date: October 16th, 2018
Genre: Women's Fiction
Synopsis:
Two people. Ten chances. One unforgettable love story.
Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic... and then her bus drives away.
Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.
What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.
(synopsis from goodreads)
My Review:
After finishing One Day In December, I have to honestly state that I don't understand all the glowing reviews. If you're expecting a lovely holiday romance that will leave you with a smile on your face and an extra appreciation for love and friendship, then this title is probably not what you're looking for. If however, you want to read an almost four hundred page, nine year journey about two extremely selfish and juvenile characters who make nothing but bad decisions, hurt everyone around them, and still try and make everyone else out to be the bad guy, then go ahead and give Josie Silver's holiday themed read a chance.
I went into this one having heard nothing but great things, and I'm sorry to say that my experience was not nearly that positive. Jack and Laurie were both characters that grated on my nerves throughout the entire story, and in my opinion, by the end, neither character has really shown any character growth in the slightest. Instead, the various side characters, like Sarah, Oscar and Amanda, who fail to understand the great love that exists between them are made out to be cruel and horrible human beings who should never have dared to call Laurie and Jack out on their issues.
Secondly, I'm not a fan of romance novels that promote cheating, and that's exactly what this one does. Jack leads two women on at the exact same time, and seems to see nothing wrong with doing so. Emotional and physical cheating are both pulled into play, and yet he doesn't seem to want to make a decision between one or the either. Laurie is definitely not an innocent victim throughout it all either, as even when she commits to a serious relationship with Oscar, she continues to pine away for Jack, and then the reader is lead through a series of situations where Oscar is meant to be the bad guy so we'll all support her still wanting to be with Jack.
I can't remember the last time a book annoyed me as much as this one has, and I really struggled with even wanting to finish it. It heavily reminded me of Happily Ever After by Harriet Evans and One Day by David Nicholls, both of which I also couldn't stand. The cheating, the characters, the repetitive plot line, all of that was annoying enough, but I also couldn't understand where this "great relationship" between Jack and Laurie emerged from in the first place. Their "love at first sight moment" lasts less than a couple of minutes, and then Laurie spends an entire year searching for him. When she's introduced to him as her best friend's new boyfriend, the two barely have any interactions together for the next year and a half or so, and yet throughout the later parts of the story their great friendship keeps being referenced. It would have been nice if the reader had been given more of the interactions between the two of them to truly understand why they were as drawn to one another as they were.
All in all, this one just didn't work for me, and I was left highly disappointed. I also find it a little strange that this has been marketed as a holiday novel, when really, no part of it ever even takes place at Christmas.
Final Rating: 1/5
I will most definitely not be recommending this one.
Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your day!
This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.
Comments
Post a Comment