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One Plus One
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One Plus One / Jojo Moyes - 3***
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I'm trying to decide if I want to try other books of Moyes since I loved Me Before You. But, I'm wondering if that was just an anomaly because this book doesn't sound all that interesting to me. But, I could be totally wrong. I thought the same thing about Me Before You.
Sometimes brain candy is just what the doctor ordered!
One Plus One – Jojo Moyes
Book on CD read by Nicola Stanton, Elizabeth Bower, Steven France and Ben Elliot.
3***
From the book jacket: One single mother. One chaotic family. One quirky stranger – and a comic road trip … One irresistible love story.
My reactions
I don’t know about “irresistible” but it’s an enjoyable “brain candy” sort of contemporary novel.
Jess’s life is a bit of a mess, but it’s understandable. She dropped out of school as a teenager, when she got pregnant. Her husband went to his mother’s house when the going got too rough, leaving Jess with two children and a mountain of debt. But Jess has always looked forward, putting one foot in front of the other, and maintaining a positive attitude and a hope that “things will work out.”
Ed has always been a geek, developed a software company with his best friend, and took it public a few years back. He’s got multiple houses, luxury cars, and an ex-wife. When he runs afoul of the securities exchange commission, he takes a leave from his London office and retreats to his beach-front holiday home, which Jess cleans.
Four different characters tell the story: Jess, Ed, Tanzie (Jess’s daughter) and Nicky (Marty’s son and Jess’s stepson). This resulted in a slow start, while all the characters were introduced and the central conflict developed. The road trip from hell was a series of improbable disasters, but served the plot. As I said, it’s brain candy … but tasty, even if not nutritious.
The audio was voiced by four performers. I don’t know who voiced which character, but they each did a marvelous job of bringing them to life. I particularly liked the way the women interpreted Jess and Tanzie.
LINK to my review