The One - John Marrs

Reading Challenge Category: A re-read

Official Blurb:

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO FIND THE ONE?
One simple mouth swab is all it takes. A quick DNA test to find your perfect partner – the one you’re genetically made for.
A decade after scientists discover everyone has a gene they share with just one other person, millions have taken the test, desperate to find true love. Now, five more people meet their Match. But even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking – and deadlier – than others...

My Thoughts:

Review May 2018
Loved this book, it was fast-paced and kept you wanting to read the next chapter. Each chapter was by a different character, spanning five characters, so it alternated, but at the end of each character’s section, there was always a mini-cliffhanger so you would have to wait for five chapters to find out what was going on.
There was a bit of everything romance, horror, suspense drama. It was brilliant. I didn’t see all of the twists coming; and, once the twists and unravelling started near the end, it didn’t stop it just kept hitting you bam bam bam!
And then the end…. I just sat and stared at the last page for ages grinding my teeth!

Update March 2021
So, I needed to reread this after just watching the programme that was just released. I first read this in 2018, and my memory is awful as I could hardly remember any of the characters or details. All I remembered was the concept, ending and Christopher (who I kept thinking was called Charlie!)
I was really excited about the series as I had loved this book when I read it, and I recommend it to everyone that loves reading! However, once I started watching it, none of the characters seemed familiar, nor the storyline. I thought maybe this was just my memory, but when I started telling my husband about it, he confirmed it is nothing like the book. I wasn’t going mad! The main concept is there, and I’d say Rebecca and Ellie have a lot of similar traits. However, the main storyline and all the other characters bare no resemblance to the book.
I am so glad I watched the programme though, and if you try not to compare it to the book, it is a very enjoyable show. It was also the catalyst for me to reread the book, so I could write a proper review to jog my memory in the future.
The book is just as gripping the second time around. I found myself staying awake until 2 am once again so that I could devour it. This was exactly how I had been the first time.
So, we follow five characters, Mandy, Christopher, Jade, Nick and Ellie. Each gets a chapter, and once we reach the end of all characters, we start with the first again. Many of the chapters have mini cliffhangers meaning you have to read four more before finding out what was going on. The chapters are really small, which makes it easy for you to really rush through this book.
Mandy is excited to have met her match, Richard. She wants to settle down, get married and have babies. She is extremely jealous of her siblings that have found this already with their matches. However, not everything is at it seems when she finds out some tragic news about her match.
Christopher is a fantastic character. So complex, and his story could be incorporated into the series. I was actually surprised it wasn’t. I was expecting his gruesome acts to be the main focus. His match, Amy, a police officer, may be represented in the programme as Kate, but she has a completely different path to Amy.
Jade lives a quiet and mundane life. She is in a bit of a rut and needs some adventure in her life. Her match lives on the other side of the world in Australia. She has to make a big leap of faith to meet him, but once again, everything is not how it should be when she does.
Nick is in love with his fiancé Sally and is looking forward to getting married in a few months until Sally suggests finding out if they are the perfect match. Nick’s like gets turned upside down in a way he could never have imagined.
Finally, Ellie meets her match after years of there not being one for her. She has a deep secret that she only shares once she feels comfortable. However, her world is about to be turned on its head when she is betrayed. Like I have said, her aloofness and harshness are very similar to Rebecca’s on the show, but her story is very different.
I can never understand why producers change so much about a book when turning it into a show or movie. This one literally only has the main concept of finding one’s match via DNA as the constant. Everything else is different. So if you have read the book and want to watch the show, I’d say do it but don’t expect to recognise the characters. Watch it as something completely separate from this book.
Once again, this book was utterly fantastic, and it holds on firm to the five stars I awarded it back in 2018.

Buy Now on Amazon Buy Now on Apple