The One - John Marrs

A twisty, turny roller coaster ride from start to end! The story takes place in the near future where a scientist has discovered a gene that can be used to identify "your perfect match".

 

"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."

 

The story is told from multiple perspectives so be prepared if that isn't something that you typically enjoy. It's not always my favourite way of delivering a story however, in this case, it worked really well for me. I was invested in the stories, trying to guess the twists along the way and that was enough for me. Getting to know the characters any deeper was not really the point of this book.

 

"Five very different people have received the notification that they've been matched". Mandy is a divorced 37 year old desperate for a family of her own, Christopher is a serial killer, Jade is a twenty-something whose perfect match lives on the other side of the world in Australia, Nick is engaged to Sally when he finds out his perfect match is a man, and Ellie is a CEO too busy to invest in her love life.

 

As the stories unfold for each of these people, everything is definitely not as it seems. Each page brings another piece of information, often turning any assumptions you've made upside down. The chapters are short and often end in cliffhangers so it's hard to put down this book. I managed to figure out some of the twists but others really surprised me.

 

What also really interested me is the societal commentary around "the haves" who have been matched and found their perfect partner and "the have nots" who bide their time on dating sites like Match.com and Tinder, waiting for their match to be found. People view relationships that are not "true matches" as less valid or real. The story does a great job of weaving this theme throughout without hitting the reader in the middle of the eyes with it.

While each story gets wrapped up, there is some ambiguity with the ending - don't expect everything to get tied up in a nice, neat package. I really enjoyed the book and recommend if you want a page-turning thriller with a unique premise.