Book Review: "One True Loves" by Taylor Jenkins Reid

As if I wasn't a huge fan of hers after reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and The Six, reading this book has further convinced me that Taylor Jenkins Reid is a freaking goddess, y'all!

Emma Blair wants nothing more than to get as far away from her small New England town and her parents’ dream of her taking over the family bookstore. When she meets Jesse in high school and they fall in love, she finds the key to her dreams.⁣ They move to California and begin exploring the world after college.

⁣ They marry in their 20s, having experienced so much of what they both dreamed of. One day short of their 1st anniversary, Jesse gets on a helicopter for a job. The helicopter goes down and everyone, including Jesse, is presumed dead. Emma is utterly overwhelmed by her grief. She decides to move back home and take the path her parents wanted. Suddenly it all makes sense to her and as the years pass, this life seems right.⁣

"Do you ever get over loss? Or do you just find a box within yourself, big enough to hold it? Do you just stuff it in there, push it down, and snap the lid on it? Do you just work, every day, to keep the box shut?"

⁣ When she connects again with Sam, a friend from high school, a few years after Jesse's death, she realizes she might have another chance at happiness. She knows she'll never be completely over Jesse, but she can't spend her life mourning him either. Emma and Sam fall in love and get engaged, and look forward to their future together.

And then Jesse is found alive, ready to get back to the life he and Emma had before the helicopter crash. Now she has a husband and a fiancé, and she doesn't know what to do about either of them.

⁣ ⁣ "I don't think that true love means your only love. I think true love means loving truly. Loving purely. Loving wholly."

One True Loves is an amazing book about love, grief, family, and finding your way after setbacks. I read the entire book on a plane and loved every incredibly emotional, well-written page.⁣ Sure, I was able to predict where the plot is going to go, but I loved these characters so much I didn't care. I couldn't get enough of this beautiful love story.

If you've never read anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid, you need to remedy that, stat. Now that I fell in love with this book, I plan to explore more of her backlist, since all of her recent work is so fantastic.