Hands up if you have recently sacrificed sleep to finish reading a book! For those of you raising your hands right now, welcome to my sleepless, book hangover club. I have been hearing a lot of buzz about this book called “The One” by John Marrs. I heard it being referred to as a dark thriller and compared to the Netflix series “Black Mirror”. That caught my attention right off the bat. I have been keeping my distance from thrillers these days because I feel like I’m seeing a common pattern amongst them (girl on a train/girl by a window/girl in a cabin/girl always somewhere doing something). I was looking for a unique thriller, and boy did I find the one, literally.

This book was the definition of a thriller. It had nail-biting suspense, twists at the end of almost every chapter, and an exhilarating plot. I’m not exaggerating when I say this was one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time. For that reason, there will not be any spoilers in this review. I really want all of you to read it and experience it the way I did. 

Synopsis

Imagine if there was a DNA test that could determine who you should spend the rest of your life with? Imagine if you could find out with absolute certainty who is genetically made for you. Match Your DNA is a company that promises to help people find their soulmate and since then millions of people have been matched. So what can possibly go wrong? Well, pretty much everything as it turns out. The story follows five people who meet their genetic matches. Some characters are hiding massive secrets while others are being lured into something they did not sign up for.

Themes

The book explores the whole concept of the grass being greener on the other side. What if you were living a great life with the person you love, only to find out you are not genetically matched, and that your soulmate is still out there? What if you are matched with someone who lives across the globe? What if you are matched with someone carrying a dark secret? The author explores what happens when people take a peak behind the curtain of what could be and the consequences that follow. At times, this book did not seem like a far-fetched reality due to the abundance of dating websites and apps in our technologically advanced world.

The idea of perfection is another theme that stood out for me. Humans are always in search for perfection in some form or another. So what happens if a company uses science to prove that one single person is your perfect match? Will the idea of a perfect person cloud their vision and make them see only the things that fit with the illusion of perfection? Do they desperately cling onto the idea that this person is their only shot at happiness? I think the author did a fantastic job in showing how the idea of perfection can lead people to make radical decisions.

The Characters

I will not introduce you to the characters because I feel you need to meet them yourself. You may think it can get tiring to read the perspectives of five different people, but it was so integral to the storyline. It was easy to keep up with the characters while curveball after curveball was thrown their way. The characters are flawed, insecure and carrying some big secrets. Each character is thrown into an unexpected situation, when all they really wanted was to find their perfect half. While some may argue that there was not much character development for all of the characters, I really think the author was trying to give us a look into human behavior through these different perspectives. Some characters do have a lot of growth and others are shown experiencing what happens through a series of bad decisions. I think it worked well considering the context of the story.

Creep Factor:

There were times when I paused and thought, “How did the author come up with this twist?” Some of the surprises were downright creepy sending a chill down my spine. Sometimes the character’s motives left me on edge and new revelations of the characters added that extra creep factor. Almost all of the shocking scenes caught me off guard and had me pull some interesting facial expressions while I was reading on my lunch break and on the bus. I would think the author of a thriller did a great job when you are left gasping at the end of pretty much every chapter.

Overall, The One by John Marrs surprised me. There is no other way to put it. I’m very excited to watch this book come to life on Netflix as I feel the creep factor, the themes and the characters will all translate so well on screen. If you want to read a dark thriller that is a complete page-turner with unexpected twists, this is THE ONE!

Happy Reading!

Shazia.