Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Feb 2018
416 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
How far would you go to find The One?
A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you'll be matched with your perfect partner - the one you're genetically made for.
That's the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.
Now five very different people have received the notification that they've been "Matched." They're each about to meet their one true love. But "happily ever after" isn't guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others…
A word-of-mouth hit in the United Kingdom, The One is a fascinating novel that shows how even the simplest discoveries can have complicated consequences.
"Marrs' engrossing, believable thriller raises intriguing questions about our science-tinged future." - Booklist
"Intriguing...Readers of thrillers and sf will enjoy this book." - Library Journal
"The science might oversimplify, but it's gripping enough to read all in one sitting." - Kirkus
"[M]uddled...After the introductions, many of the individual stories drag. What links the five, who never meet, is a big reveal at the end that will surprise few readers." - Publishers Weekly
"Brilliantly inventive, The One is a must-read for anyone who's ever braved the dating pool." - Good Housekeeping
"Just try to put this gripping thriller down once you pick it up." - AARP
"If a DNA swab could find your soulmate, would you take the test? This smart story ... proves that even with science behind it, the course of true love never runs smooth." - Irish Sunday Mirror
"Unlike any other psychological thriller ... Like a lengthy episode of the dark TV series Black Mirror ... so expertly written it gets you thinking that it could happen in real life." - Peterborough Telegraph
"Fantastic ... I can't remember the last time I was simultaneously this entertained and this disturbed. The One is a clever story with great pacing but it's the characters that make this a standout thriller." - Hollie Overton, author of Baby Doll
"The One is my kind of book ... Gorgeously written, and pulsing with heart." - Louise Beech, author of The Mountain in My Shoe
"Engaging concept, craftily executed." - Adrian J. Walker, author of The End of the World Running Club
"This will have you gripped." - Woman's Own
This information about The One was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
John Marrs is a freelance journalist based in London, England, who has spent the last twenty years interviewing celebrities from the world of television, film and music for national newspapers and magazines. He has written for publications including the Guardian's Guide and Guardian Online, Total Film, Huffington Post, Empire, Q, GT, the Independent, S Magazine and Company.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
