One Day in December: A Novel

The writing has a cool British "common man" bite to it, making it an interesting read. But some elements of the story are annoyingly unrealistic and unrelatable to me. Not to mention the MMC is questionably unlikable. For the writing and story idea, I'd read the author again.

3.5 -4 stars Time is such a cruel mistress. Chance encounters and near misses happen every day. What if you left the house 1 minute earlier? A minute later? Withheld a truth to spare someone's feelings? Would any of these seemingly insignificant things be enough to alter the trajectory of your entire life? I asked myself many of these questions while reading One Day in December and found myself devouring this book so I could find out what happens when you meet the right person at the wrong time. As much as I enjoyed Laurie and Jack's story, I'm not sure if I truly loved it. It was well written (though a bit long) and poignant, but as much as I sympathized with the characters and their decisions, part of me wasn't sure if I truly wanted them to end up together. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't particularly feel the intense bond they shared or if so much "life" had happened over the span of this book. The story is told from both Jack and Laurie's POV, and illustrates just how different the perspectives of men and women can be. 10 years. 10 years of longing, tears, laughs, joys, ups, downs, distance, stolen moments, lovers, and heartbreaks. One issue I had with the time span was that I often had to check the date at the start of each chapter to determine how much time had passed for our characters. This broke up the flow of the book for me and was a bit distracting. The book actually reminded me a lot of Renee Carlino's Blind Kiss, except One Day in December didn't quite evoke such ragey feelings in me. The book isn't as light and heartwarming as the blurb and cover make it sound though. The author does attempt to keep things lighter at times with references to famous rom coms and the wonderful cast of secondary characters added to the story, but besides Sara, everyone else was just a plot device or passing fancy. I actually liked Oscar a lot and felt more between him and Laurie than her and Jack. Ultimately, the book could be boiled down to one question for me. In life and love, is close enough, enough? Something Sara said about love not being a constant effort and that you shouldn't have to be someone even slightly different to who you really are, truly struck a chord with me. Though I don't agree with all the decisions these characters made over the 10 year span of this book, I did feel most were necessary for their character to truly grow and come into their own. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed (after all that build-up), but I was satisfied as I turned the last page. Overall, One Day in December is a solid read that romantics at heart will adore. *I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book*

It's been a while since I've read a book where I've been so emotionally attached to the characters. They're relatable, complex and beautifully human. It was a fantastic book that I'll come back to time and time again.