Saturday 25 June 2016

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes

Synopsis from Goodreads:

One single mom. One chaotic family. One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You.

Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight-in-shining-armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages . . . maybe ever.


My review:

Every time I think Jojo Moyes cannot possibly write a better book than the last one, I am proved wrong. After breaking my heart with Me Before You I picked this book thinking 'This sounds like a lovely, easy to read story!'. And it was. And it still made me cry and laugh and think myself lucky and take another look at myself and my family. Jojo Moyes has this gift of getting right under your skin with her words and I applaud her once again for a fabulous book.

Jess is an inspiring character. Single mum of two, working two jobs, but staying optimistic throughout the crappiest things that happen to her family. Ed on the other side is a hardworking rich guy that made a mistake and is now paying for it. They seem to be miles away in their situations, but they soon realise that they have a lot to learn from each other and sometimes the best thing you have is your own strength.

The kids are awesome. Tanzie is a lovely, geeky, maths addict who gets an offer to attend a prestigious private school with a ninety percent scholarship. Jess just needs to find the rest. Easy, right?

Nicky is a gothy teenager and a victim of being different in a small-minded world. Seriously bullied, taking anxiety drugs and not able to fall asleep without smoking a joint.

Then Jess and Ed make separate decision to take hold of their lives which bring them together for a journey to Scotland for Maths Olympiad in order for Tanzie to win the big bag of prize money that would enable her to go to the dream school.

The journey is full of learning, emotions, love, arguments, sick and one smelly dog, but it is also the best time the four people ever have. Things go right and things go wrong. They all make mistakes, but in a way they all save each other together.

This book is such a lovely romance about hope, family, optimism and just trying to the right thing. It's unselfish and by no means ordinary.


My rating: 5/5

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