Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Review: The One and Only by Emily Giffin

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 432
Received: Received a copy from Random House of Canada in exchange for an honest review

Release Date: May 20, 2014
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Goodreads Synopsis:

In her eagerly awaited new novel, beloved New York Times bestselling author Emily Giffin returns with an extraordinary story of love and loyalty—and an unconventional heroine struggling to reconcile both.

Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas—a small college town that lives and dies by football, a passion she unabashedly shares. 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 department after graduation, where she has remained for more than a decade.

But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she’s chosen is really enough for her. As she finally gives up her safety net to set out on an unexpected path, Shea discovers unsettling truths about the people and things she has always trusted most—and is forced to confront her deepest desires, fears, and secrets.

Thoughtful, funny, and brilliantly observed, The One & Only is a luminous novel about finding your passion, following your heart, and, most of all, believing in something bigger than yourself . . . the one and only thing that truly makes life worth living.

My Review:

Emily Giffin is well known for taking some tough topics and turning them into such awesome books, her newest book is nothing different. I don't think I could find another author that could pull of this kind of story like Giffin, though it is tough to imagine something like this happening, the writing of the story is amazing and really makes you want to keep going and hope that everything works out perfectly.

This book really revolves around football, and I was a little hesitant, but I loved how the main character is a girl living and working in a man's world, and she definitely has a lot of hoops to jump through. Shea Rigsby is stuck in this town she grew up in and has never really changed, after a close family friend passes away, it starts Shea on a new path to see where her life is going. So many people love Shea and want to help her get her life on track so she isn't stuck in this one place forever (despite how much she says she loves it).

I love that Shea is someone who makes mistakes and messes up, she makes for a very real character to follow, the only thing that got me was how she followed her heart. I am still unsure if I am all for how this book ended because it still leaves me wondering why... A part of me thinks that if anyone else had written this story I would not have enjoyed it as much as I did knowing it was Emily Giffin, but her style has a way of captivating me.

The one person I truly loved through this was Shea's best friend, Lucy. Despite these two being complete opposites, they are really there for one another. Lucy is very judgmental when it comes to the guys Shea is dating because she only wants the best for her. These two are basically family and it really shows in how they communicate with one another sometimes.

I did have so much fun with this book (like any Emily Giffin book) and am glad I got the chance to pick up her new one. I find that even though her stories are fun, Emily Giffin really makes you think about things as well with her writing, wondering what you would do in a situation like that. Her books are ones that are great to reflect on once you finish reading. 

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