Book Review: One Day

I was pooped Friday evening after staying up until 1:30am cooking and talking it up at my friends the previous night so I hit the sack no later than 8pm (wild child, right?) when I just could not keep my eyes open any longer. One thing about me is that no matter how late I go to sleep, I will always wake up naturally in the 7-8 o' clock hour if not earlier so the only way to monitor the amount of sleep I get is to be strict about when I go to sleep. I managed to get a few pages of One Day in before I drifted off. 

I woke up at ~6am today, listened to a few podcasts in bed, but got up about 45 min later because I was so hungry. Gosh, does anyone else feel absolutely famished in the morning? Another reason why breakfast is the best meal of the day. The few pages

After appeasing my tummy, I snuggled back under the covers in bed and determinedly polished off the last few hundred pages of the novel in one sitting. My review: 

One Day by David Nicholls

People probably know this story from the movie with Anne Hathaway and that other dude. I caught snippets of the film on an airplane, but was not compelled to keep my eyes open to watch. Side question: does anyone else get incredibly sleepy and hungry on planes?

Anyways, for those who don’t know, the story tracks Emma and Dexter, or “Em and Dex” on July 15 of every year from when they meet in I believe 1989 until 2007. So, the reader gets a glimpse into their lives, together or apart, one day every year. Nicholls’ unique story format is a cute way to trace a romance. Obviously, the two are meant for each other, but they are both highly independent, strong-willed, and different in upbringing. Emma struggles to find a career path despite having graduate with honors, etc., working odd jobs here and there, while Dexter lives the high life due to his privileged upbringing and parents’ wealth. The characters’ wittiness is at once amusing and a little annoying in its understated British humor way. 

I ended up liking this book a lot more than I expected. I began to appreciate the reality of Em and Dex's rocky--to say the least--relationship. Throughout the novel, it seems like when one is content, the other is in a nasty downwards spiral and needs the emotional support of a best friend, so they are never quite okay with being apart for long despite arguments and "breakups" here and there.

I audibly gasped and covered my mouth in the shocker moment at the end of the novel (that climactic p. 385...) and I usually don't laugh out loud of react in real life when reading/watching stuff, so I must have really become invested in these characters lives. As for romance, I don't believe in soulmates but I do relate to the sentiment that there is a "one" that you can be happy with for the rest of your life, even if you have to wait for that special person to come around.