The One
John Marrs, 2016
Mystery, thriller & crime Science fictionContemporary fictionRomance
A DNA test claims to find your perfect partner. The people who take it discover that certainty can wreck a life. The tone is wry and quick, with calm domestic scenes sliding into unease and thoughts of death.
Feels like serenity and unease. About love, death and society.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy speculative stories that mix romance, crime and satire around one clever idea. Be aware that several strands turn bleak and involve violence and death, so it is not a light romance throughout.
Why read it
It takes a simple what-if and follows it through several lives, giving you a wry, unsettling look at certainty and love.
A page from the book
Can a scientist trust the one love story she can’t test?
One day I was thinking about a conversation I’d had with my sister Maggie about why she married her husband, John. She was adamant it was love at first sight, and even though they were only fourteen when they met, they knew they’d end up spending the rest of their lives together. I’m a scientist, so naturally I’m skeptical about that kind of thing, but it did get me thinking—what if she was right? What if love at first sight actually exists? John Marrs.The One was adapted into a Netflix series in 2021, turning its DNA-match premise into a global streaming drama.
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Questions readers ask
- Is The One for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy speculative stories that mix romance, crime and satire around one clever idea. Be aware that several strands turn bleak and involve violence and death, so it is not a light romance throughout.
- What is The One like?
- The tone is wry and quick, with calm domestic scenes sliding into unease and thoughts of death. Feels like serenity and unease. About love, death and society.
- What should I read after The One?
- If you liked The One, try One of Us Is Next (Karen M. McManus), Dear Debbie (Freida McFadden) and The Woman in Cabin 10 (Ruth Ware).
A taste of the feed
A domestic-help column for the wife who has run out of patience.
The next time your husband wakes you up from his snoring, take your pillow off the bed, and hold it over his face. Then with your hands, apply medium to firm pressure over the center of the pillow.
Dear Debbie · Freida McFadden
The moment you decide you refuse to let fear choose who you become.
Was this what it was going to be like? Was I turning into someone who had panic attacks about walking home from the tube or staying the night alone in the house without their boyfriend? No, fuck that. I would not be that person.
The Woman in Cabin 10 · Ruth Ware
The person you meant to be, and the one you settled for.
We are all just ghosts of the people we hoped that we were and counterfeit replicas of the people we wanted to be.
Sometimes I Lie · Alice Feeney
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