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The One and Only
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Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas--a small college town that lives and dies by football. Raised alongside her best friend Lucy, the daughter of Walker's legendary head coach Clive Carr, Shea was too devoted to her hometown team to leave. Instead she stayed in Walker for college, even taking a job in the university athletic departm
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Hardcover, 416 pages
Published
May 20th 2014
by Ballantine Books
(first published 2014)
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I really wanted to like this book because I've enjoyed Emily Giffin's books in the past. But it was terrible. At first I thought maybe it was just because I'm not a football fan, but the characters are all horrible and poorly developed and (spoiler) I just rolled my eyes every time Shea talked about dreamy Coach Carr. Ick.
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What the friggidy frack did I just read?? It was like a really bad episode of Friday Night Lights... Wait, no. That's insulting to Friday Night Lights. I was so looking forward to the release of this book, but it was terrible. A main character that I couldn't connect with, a completely underdeveloped supporting cast, and a bizarre plot with too much random (and sometimes disturbing) stuff crammed in. Overall, 2 giant thumbs-down - and I have a feeling many fans are going to be just as disappoint
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Ugh. No.
For the sake of spoilers, I'll just say that this book was definitely a page turner. I couldn't wait to see what happened next, but that's because I was waiting for it to get better. There was a glimmer of hope at page 400 out of 413, but it reverted back to it's crappy self. I'm disappointed, I generally enjoy Emily Giffin books, but this definitely left something to be desired. It wasn't well written, the character development was sub par, the author seemed to be flippant about serious ...more
For the sake of spoilers, I'll just say that this book was definitely a page turner. I couldn't wait to see what happened next, but that's because I was waiting for it to get better. There was a glimmer of hope at page 400 out of 413, but it reverted back to it's crappy self. I'm disappointed, I generally enjoy Emily Giffin books, but this definitely left something to be desired. It wasn't well written, the character development was sub par, the author seemed to be flippant about serious ...more
I love Emily Giffin, but WOW this was a complete misfire. The main character was dull/barely changed over the course of the book, the romance was shockingly more bothersome than her previous love stories of stealing your bff's fiance, and the central mystery of the novel was never resolved. (view spoiler)
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Here is what I learned from reading this book:
1. Emily Giffin's favorite word is "smirk." Her characters do a *lot* of smirking. If Emily had been allotted a certain number of uses of the word "smirk" (or "smirked" or "smirking") for the duration of her life, she would have used them all up in the 413 pages of this book.
2. Fictional Texans who treat football as a religion are almost as annoying as Texans who treat football as a religion IRL.
3. Ms. Giffin needs to learn that the phrase has to do ...more
1. Emily Giffin's favorite word is "smirk." Her characters do a *lot* of smirking. If Emily had been allotted a certain number of uses of the word "smirk" (or "smirked" or "smirking") for the duration of her life, she would have used them all up in the 413 pages of this book.
2. Fictional Texans who treat football as a religion are almost as annoying as Texans who treat football as a religion IRL.
3. Ms. Giffin needs to learn that the phrase has to do ...more
3.75 Stars
One of my best (real life, gasp!) friends loves this book and loaned it to me while we were on vacation not too long ago...I personally enjoyed this one, although I know a lot of people won't and haven't; however, there was just a lot about it that spoke to my own personal nostalgia.
Football...the college sports atmosphere...weird family dynamics and grief...
Plus, I always love a May December romance, even the icky ones. Because I'm just standard-less that way...But I digress.
This was ...more
One of my best (real life, gasp!) friends loves this book and loaned it to me while we were on vacation not too long ago...I personally enjoyed this one, although I know a lot of people won't and haven't; however, there was just a lot about it that spoke to my own personal nostalgia.
Football...the college sports atmosphere...weird family dynamics and grief...
Plus, I always love a May December romance, even the icky ones. Because I'm just standard-less that way...But I digress.
This was ...more
Too much football and a slightly incestuous-like relationship ruin this book. The characters are great on their own, but their relationships and the story in general don't feel authentic. It is actually a bit disturbing, if you really think about the true dynamics/power structure of it all.
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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GAH. I ended up staying awake until 3AM finishing this book last night (a terrible habit I have when it comes to my favorite authors) and am still at a loss of how to rate it. Being a gigantic fan of Emily Giffin’s first three books, and not omgloving her last three – I thought this was one of her best (if not thee best) written books. That being said, I am a football fan but the detail and constant football talk was even a bit too much for me.
I couldn’t put it down, but more so because it was ...more
I couldn’t put it down, but more so because it was ...more
Make this "The One & Only" Emily Giffin book you never read.
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I really wish the story hadn't gone there.
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I was expecting a beach read, definitely not. Had a looming sense of dread / discomfort through most of the book, and only finished it to find out what happened. Blech.
Disappointing. Weird relationship storyline-could not get over that age difference and fatherly role.
On the surface, Emily Giffin's The One and Only is a bit outside my usual reading comfort zone.
My wife lovingly teased that I was reading "romance" and "chick lit" as I read the book over the course of a couple of days, neglecting several other more "manly" novels like a Michael Connelly mystery and the latest installment from the Dresden Files.
As I've stated before, I find it frustrating when we (readers, authors, marketers, book stores, libraries, etc) have to create such a niche for reading ...more
My wife lovingly teased that I was reading "romance" and "chick lit" as I read the book over the course of a couple of days, neglecting several other more "manly" novels like a Michael Connelly mystery and the latest installment from the Dresden Files.
As I've stated before, I find it frustrating when we (readers, authors, marketers, book stores, libraries, etc) have to create such a niche for reading ...more
I am a female sportswriter like Emily Giffin's main character, Shea. Even if I enjoyed the characters and plot development in this book (which I didn't -- a surprise considering how much I loved those in Giffin's other books), I would have still despised the way Giffin portrayed my profession. Actually, the way she portrayed female sports fans in general was insulting. Not all women who know and like football want to date star athletes/coaches. Female sportswriters are professionals, too, and ha
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Emily Giffin's talent is writing books with characters I absolutely hate and have no respect for, and make me feel like I need a shower to wash the disgust I have for them away. I honestly don't get the popularity of her books. I thought Something Borrowed was shallow and had selfish protagonists but this one beats that hands down. This book was boring, the main character completely unlikeable and self-centered, and I couldn't wait to finish it hoping that it wasn't going down the way it was hin
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Thoroughly disappointing. I eagerly looked forward to it showing up on my doorstop this week, as I've loved and own most of Giffin's previous books - not to mention I was in serious need of a feel-good read. But this one felt completely different from her others. I felt like I was reading a diluted book version of the TV series Friday Night Lights, except Tami was dead and Lyla fell in love with Coach Taylor, then acted indignant when Julie thought it was weird. Beyond that, though, the characte
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Ugh. Is Emily Giffin a misogynist? This book was awful. The storyline itself could have been salvaged, perhaps, if Giffin had ever decided to delve into the puzzle she created about Walker University's misconduct investigation by the NCAA. But she left that thread hanging with absolutely no resolution. Instead she decided to reward Walker with a NCAA football championship and excuse its' pretty awful behavior. Giffin sabotaged it the most by having the protagonist decide it was okay to let her s
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Rating Clarification: 2.5 Stars
“You know in your heart when you’re doing the right thing and when you’re not. And you just have to do everything you can to stay the course.”
The One and Only is my first novel by Emily Giffin, which I was excited to dive into. Unfortunately, this didn't quite work out for me, so I’m not quite sure how to proceed with this author.
The One and Only shares Shea’s story at a time when a life changing event shifts the town of Walker, Texas – a town that revolves aroun ...more
“You know in your heart when you’re doing the right thing and when you’re not. And you just have to do everything you can to stay the course.”
The One and Only is my first novel by Emily Giffin, which I was excited to dive into. Unfortunately, this didn't quite work out for me, so I’m not quite sure how to proceed with this author.
The One and Only shares Shea’s story at a time when a life changing event shifts the town of Walker, Texas – a town that revolves aroun ...more
1 1/2 stars...it gets the extra star just because I kept reading since I feel like this a book I love to hate. I have read everything by Giffin and usually really enjoy the novels as a fun summer read. This one made me uncomfortable since the main character who was boring and only cared about football falls in love with her father figure. Ew. Not interested in reading a book about a quasi-incestuous relationship. I really enjoy football (although I cannot relate at all to the Texas football cult
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I cannot begin to say how much I despised this book. I am a diehard football fan who lives in a small city that lives and breathes for their one professional sports (football) team so I was so excited to read a fictional book - by a female author for once - that I might be able to relate to. However, by chapter 5 I knew what was going to happen (and maybe even before then) and I pleaded to Emily: "No! Don't go there! Please! Take another route with your plot." But she went there. The entire book
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Emily Giffin's long-awaited seventh novel is FINALLY here. The One & Only explores love in all its forms: loving the wrong person, loving the right person, loving your job, loving your family, loving your friends, and learning to love yourself.
Let me just preface this review by saying that I love Emily Giffin and I whole-heartedly agree with this review about Emily: “A modern day Jane Austen.” — Cincinnati Enquirer.
I loved her books before she was popular and I frequently recommend them to my fr ...more
Let me just preface this review by saying that I love Emily Giffin and I whole-heartedly agree with this review about Emily: “A modern day Jane Austen.” — Cincinnati Enquirer.
I loved her books before she was popular and I frequently recommend them to my fr ...more
All this needs at the beginning is the theme song to Friday Night Lights. I'm sure that since they can do greeting cards that play music, the hardcover book could be engineered to have a music chip in it.
Not quite the tiny town in FNL, not high school football, but the official state religion of Texas is football, and Shea lives and breathes for Coach Carr and his family and his team. This book is for the girl who sleeps in her sweetie's jersey at night and has her girlfriends over for gossip in ...more
Not quite the tiny town in FNL, not high school football, but the official state religion of Texas is football, and Shea lives and breathes for Coach Carr and his family and his team. This book is for the girl who sleeps in her sweetie's jersey at night and has her girlfriends over for gossip in ...more
Well if you're not a die hard football fan maybe give this one a pass (no pun intended). She took a risk here segregating her audience to those who wanna read a whole lot of football lingo. Will make a better movie than book.
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Emily Griffin fans will not be disappointed with this book...after receiving an ARC of the book, I could hardly contain my excitement. This novel definitely contains a love story, along with a deep connection to football...as a fan myself, I could relate to the connection, although others may find this part difficult. The reason for the 4/5 rating is due in part to my belief that parts of this book were a little "far-fetched"...all in all, I would recommend this book!!!
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This book lacked the Giffin WOW factor that most of her books have. Usually with her novels, you’re hooked at page 1 and you have that cannot-put-down feeling. This book didn’t do it for me.
First, the football overload is really too much. I get it’s an important factor in the story, but she wastes too many pages on trophy history and other boring stuff. Also, I don’t speak ESPNglish so a good chunk of the book was lost on me.
Another thing that bothered me, and I admit this probably was a movie I ...more
First, the football overload is really too much. I get it’s an important factor in the story, but she wastes too many pages on trophy history and other boring stuff. Also, I don’t speak ESPNglish so a good chunk of the book was lost on me.
Another thing that bothered me, and I admit this probably was a movie I ...more
I think that I couldn't help but love this because I'm a major football fan (albeit NFL, not college) and I also have a huge soft spot for Emily Giffin - she's one of the only straight chick-lit authors I read on a consistent basis. I found this to be inherently readable and addictive, and I finished it in a day on a plane ride. But it certainly had its flaws, and I considered bumping it down to a 3 for that. The most glaring one was the lack of resolution to the NCAA investigation - what was Wa
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| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Play Book Tag: The One and Only by Emily Griffin 2 stars | 1 | 7 | May 29, 2020 09:55PM | |
| YA Buddy Readers'...: The One & Only By Emily Giffin - Starting May 17th 2017 | 2 | 23 | Apr 21, 2017 09:24AM | |
| Madison Mega-Mara...: #22 The One & Only by Emily Giffin | 1 | 3 | Feb 19, 2017 02:22PM | |
| Play Book Tag: The One & Only - 2 Stars | 1 | 12 | Oct 25, 2016 11:07AM | |
| Bookworm Bitches : November 2015: The One & Only | 11 | 88 | Jul 24, 2016 06:30AM | |
| Spoilers- ugh, the ending? | 10 | 510 | Apr 08, 2015 05:33AM | |
| If at all possible, who was your favorite character? | 3 | 62 | Feb 27, 2015 01:32PM |
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EMILY GIFFIN is a graduate of Wake Forest University and the University of Virginia School of Law. The #1 New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, Baby Proof, Love the One You're With, Heart of the Matter, Where We Belong, The One & Only, First Comes Love, and All We Ever Wanted, she currently lives in Atlanta with her husband, three children, and two d ...more
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