-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
Summary | Discuss | Reviews | More Information | Read-Alikes
by John Marrs
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.
BookBrowsers ask Donna Everhart, author of Women of a Promiscuous Nature
What's really strange is if my company had not gone bankrupt in late 2008, I'd probably still be there (or retired) working in Information Tech. (I think I saw this is your background too - so I know you know how intense that environment can be) I worked in IT from 1977 until 2012. I'd made a dec...
-Donna_Everhart
Annie and Emily’s close relationship deteriorates throughout the book as they are pulled in different directions. How did you respond to the breakdown of their connection? Why do you think Annie still chose Emily as Dorothy’s guardian?
I thought it was a shame that the sisters grew apart. Annie married for security when it seemed like the man she loved would never return. I disagree with her continuing the affair after she was married. I think she made her choice, and she should have either given up Stregone or divorced John. B...
-Celia_A
What surprising details did you learn? What family stories of war and survival have been passed down to you? How do those lives and stories compare with the ones in the novel? In what ways can fiction sometimes reveal the truth more fully than nonfiction?
I learned more about John Brown, in particular. Before reading the book I had heard the old song, of course, and knew of the incident & his fate, but Bohjalian provided more context. I shared in response to the previous question about my mother telling us a lot about her experiences during World ...
-Janie-Hickok-Siess
"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.
If you liked The One, try these:
by Roxana Robinson
Published 2025
What risks would you be willing to take to fall in love again?
by Joan Silber
Published 2022
When a man discovers his father in New York has long had another, secret, family - a wife and two kids - the interlocking fates of both families lead to surprise loyalties, love triangles, and a reservoir of inner strength.
by Sarah Lotz
Published 2022
In this funny and poignant novel, two strangers learn that their soul mate might be both as close as breath and as distant as a star, from British Fantasy Award recipient Sarah Lotz.
The fact of knowing how to read is nothing, the whole point is knowing what to read.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Can you name the title?
Test your book knowledge with our daily trivia challenge!
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.
