If You're Not The One

by Jemma Forte

[Leah]

Jemma Forte is a Chick Lit author who burst onto the scene in 2009 with her fantastic debut novel Me and Miss M. I loved the book so much! Jemma then went on to release a second novel From London With Love, which I’ve got on my shelf to read, so when her third novel If You’re Not The One was announced, I was really, really interested in reading the novel. I was super happy to receive a proof copy and after reading the Prologue, I was really quite intrigued to read more. But, I have to admit that, while the premise was really intriguing, and I very much enjoyed diving into Jennifer’s past relationships and seeing the what-ifs, I finished the book feeling slightly disappointed.

If You’re Not The One opens with Jennifer Drew storming out of her house, after a row with her husband Max. Jennifer’s been wondering for a while if this is all her life has to offer; a part-time job in a real estate agent’s, a stale marriage that’s lacking any bedroom action and taking care of her two kids, Polly and Eadie. After the fight with her husband, Jennifer is heading to her friend Karen’s house when she doesn’t look where she’s going, and gets knocked over by a car and is subsequently in a coma. Whilst in the coma, Jennifer is given the opportunity to see what her life would have been like if she’d stayed with her previous ex-boyfriends: Aidan, Tim and Steve. But what she finds out isn’t necessarily helping make her decisions any clearer, because her futures are all vastly different, but does that mean they’re in any way better? Jennifer’s got some big decisions to make, but will seeing her potential paths with her exes help her come to the decision that’s best for her?

I have to say that the premise of If You’re Not The One is spot-on. It’s clever, it’s innovative, and I really enjoyed it. The book flits from past to present, and it’s all cleverly marked out so that you know at any one time where you are in Jennifer’s life. Not only do we learn all about Jennifer’s ex-boyfriends Aidan, Steve, and Tim, but we also learn about her relationship with Max, we see how her future could have panned out if she’d stayed with any one of Aidan, Steve and Tim, and we also see the week leading up to Jennifer’s accident. I have to admit, I didn’t find ANY of Jennifer’s relationships to be that appealing. They all seemed to have something going for them that just put me right off. Aidan was a beach bum, Tim was a bit of an internet weirdo and Steve just seemed too perfect. Even Max didn’t seem all that interested, spending more time talking about his colleague Judith. So I never really had anybody to root for, I had no idea who I think Jennifer should have ended up with because they were all losers, really. Max, as far as I was concerned, seemed to be the best of a bad bunch.

What disappointed me most of all was the ending. If You’re Not The One doesn’t actually end with any kind of definitive answer, and I hate endings that aren’t endings. The whole point of the end of a book is it should all be neatly tied up in a bow, or it should at least have some kind of conclusion, but If You’re Not The One left me hanging, and I didn’t like it. If the whole point of the novel was for Jennifer to see how her life could have been had she chosen to spend it with any of her exes, then surely we should have got an answer? Surely there should have been some kind of resolution. Overall, I sort of finished the novel feeling confused, and a bit bereft. I do not like to read 450 pages of a novel to be left feeling confused and bereft, I have to be honest. The novel had a very clever concept, and I did enjoying reading about Jennifer’s potential other lives, but it was let down by the male characters and by the ending, which was super disappointing.