The One Plus One

by Jojo Moyes

[jamiereadthis]

It sounds strange to say, but what I liked about this one was the struggles with money. It’s handled in ways I wouldn’t expect from a genre that’s largely about wish-fulfillment. The class struggle is real, and there aren’t easy solutions. Even money, if it does come (here, in the form of a tech millionaire who’s lost it all and is under indictment) doesn’t solve many more problems than it creates.

In the end, I think Moyes pushed a little too hard for the Hallmark-card morals, tying things up in a bow. That part could have been smarter and a bit more subversive, more like the rest of the book, and still been a happy ending. But that’s just personal preference. Somehow, she did desperate poverty without insult; a tech millionaire’s downfall without suspension of all disbelief; off-the-wall characters that felt mostly real instead of a collection of quirks. Basically, all the ingredients that would make me run far away, yet I didn’t find it insufferable. The slow (slow, slow) burn and the food poisoning bits were great. Road trips are my favorite trope for a reason. That alone could earn it four stars.