I’ve been through a reading slump recently, so I picked up a thriller with a great premise to help me bust through it. While this book kept me reading, I wouldn’t say that I enjoyed it, more that I was compelled to find out what happened in the end. If you’re looking for a quick read to keep you engaged, this is a good pick. I loved the premise but not the writing as much.

The One
by John Marrs published by Harlequin (US & Canada) Hanover Square Press has to be one of my favorite books that I have read by an author new to me this year. It was one that I couldn’t put down even though I am so late on writing this review. I am thankful to Netgalley and all parties involved for receiving this arc. The review below is my honest opinion. Living in 2018 many of us know that there are more dating sites then we know what to do with. Yet we all try to find that perfect match. This book uniquely explores the concept of love that is matched by your DNA. What could go wrong right???? Here is the catch, your DNA match could live on the other side of the world, or be decades older than you, or already married, or even the same gender as you. It may not matter, you are made for each other.
Now what hooked me… The original writing the short chapters and fast paced story line. Every character has its own personality and you connect with each one even the strange ones and there are a couple of them I promise. I think that everyone is interested in finding “The One” and being perfectly suited that they sometimes get lost in the bigger picture. If you like Psychological Thrillers this is “The One” for you.

I was very entertained while reading this book and enjoyed wondering how I would feel or respond in each of the various scenarios.

The structure of having cliff-hanger chapter endings pulled me along, I thought the pacing was good. I thought that a few things were predictable, but I was also pleasantly surprised a few times as well. Plus the ending reveal that many matches had been randomly done / were not correct because of the sabotage, this retrospectively throwing into question all of the feelings and connection with the other pairings throughout the book was a fun twist!

I'm not sure whose point of view I enjoyed the most, possibly the serial killer or Nick's point of view, but none of them in particular were ones that I dreaded reading (except for possibly Mandy and the pregnancy one)

At the end, Tim's reasons for hating the CEO and wanting to bring down the company felt a little weak? I don't actually remember them

The technology being a mysterious gene made me eye roll because it doesn't make any sense.

Some reviewers complain that the characters felt pretty one-dimensional, and while I do agree there could have been more death to the characters, I felt like the point was the situation they were in and the reactions they had, and that they were sort of supposed to be relatable/generic. I do also agree that there were a number of characters and decisions made throughout that that were nonsensical, but so are humans? Additionally, some reviewers complained about the writing quality and the dialogue in particular, though this was not something I felt took away from my reading experience.