Reviews Without Spoilers is a series in which I review the books I've read without giving away any more than the inside cover plot summary would.
One Day in December by Josie Silver is the book everyone has been posting about for the entire 2018 holiday season. If you missed out, no worries: I'm here for you (says the girl who didn't finish reading it until January). I'm glad I waited, though. A part of Reese's Book Club, this cozy love story is exactly what I needed to start off my year on a happy note.
The premise of the story (as visualized in the cover art) is that girl sees boy while she's on a bus. Boy sees girl. They make romantical eye contact through the window, but boy misses bus. They instantly become obsessed with finding each other, which they do, but under very different circumstances.
As you read, you'll hear from mainly girl's perspective (her name is Laurie), but you'll get some of boy's voice (Jack), too. I will say this: especially at the beginning, I was somewhat disgusted by Jack's narration. He so obviously and regularly objectifies the women he looks at that I found it disconcerting to think how Laurie and the other women in his life would feel if they could get a look inside his head. Apart from Jack's gawking, though, this isn't a sex-driven love story, which I was happy about. I don't like to read those 50 Shades style books or anything along those lines. So, if you read "romance" and hoped that One Day in December would be similarly sexy, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Aside from my annoyance over how locker-room Jack's mind sometimes felt, I was overall pleased with the story. While it was a gushy love story, it didn't feel like a Hallmark story...at least, until the very last scene, which was incredibly Hallmark-y, but also appropriate for the moment it was. On the whole, the struggles and uncertainties that Laurie faces were real. So, while she did seem clingy, she also seemed like someone you'd want to be friends with.
Further, I appreciated how Silver used time. Writing a book that takes place over a decade might start feeling like 100 Years of Solitude, but this novel breezed by. Silver focuses only on the relevant moments, skipping the unnecessary in-betweens. That being said, she still makes room for the nuances that make the story tangible.
If you're familiar with the book/movie One Day, I'd thought this novel would be exactly the same. They're both romances about a can-they-can't-they relationship over the course of several years, taking place in London/Scotland/etc. I mean, even the titles are so similar! But One Day in December was simultaneously more basic and more detailed than One Day. Granted, they are very similar in concept, but there are a few differences. On a technicality, this book doesn't only take place on the same day each year. But, more importantly, this book is much lighter than the darkness that creeps into One Day. If you need a good start to your year, too, I'd recommend you pick up One Day in December, which I'm rating 4/5 stars.
One Day in December by Josie Silver is the book everyone has been posting about for the entire 2018 holiday season. If you missed out, no worries: I'm here for you (says the girl who didn't finish reading it until January). I'm glad I waited, though. A part of Reese's Book Club, this cozy love story is exactly what I needed to start off my year on a happy note.
The premise of the story (as visualized in the cover art) is that girl sees boy while she's on a bus. Boy sees girl. They make romantical eye contact through the window, but boy misses bus. They instantly become obsessed with finding each other, which they do, but under very different circumstances.
As you read, you'll hear from mainly girl's perspective (her name is Laurie), but you'll get some of boy's voice (Jack), too. I will say this: especially at the beginning, I was somewhat disgusted by Jack's narration. He so obviously and regularly objectifies the women he looks at that I found it disconcerting to think how Laurie and the other women in his life would feel if they could get a look inside his head. Apart from Jack's gawking, though, this isn't a sex-driven love story, which I was happy about. I don't like to read those 50 Shades style books or anything along those lines. So, if you read "romance" and hoped that One Day in December would be similarly sexy, you'll have to look elsewhere.
Aside from my annoyance over how locker-room Jack's mind sometimes felt, I was overall pleased with the story. While it was a gushy love story, it didn't feel like a Hallmark story...at least, until the very last scene, which was incredibly Hallmark-y, but also appropriate for the moment it was. On the whole, the struggles and uncertainties that Laurie faces were real. So, while she did seem clingy, she also seemed like someone you'd want to be friends with.
Further, I appreciated how Silver used time. Writing a book that takes place over a decade might start feeling like 100 Years of Solitude, but this novel breezed by. Silver focuses only on the relevant moments, skipping the unnecessary in-betweens. That being said, she still makes room for the nuances that make the story tangible.
If you're familiar with the book/movie One Day, I'd thought this novel would be exactly the same. They're both romances about a can-they-can't-they relationship over the course of several years, taking place in London/Scotland/etc. I mean, even the titles are so similar! But One Day in December was simultaneously more basic and more detailed than One Day. Granted, they are very similar in concept, but there are a few differences. On a technicality, this book doesn't only take place on the same day each year. But, more importantly, this book is much lighter than the darkness that creeps into One Day. If you need a good start to your year, too, I'd recommend you pick up One Day in December, which I'm rating 4/5 stars.
Book: One Day in December
Author: Josie Silver
Publisher: B\D\W\Y
Release Date: August 23, 2018
Genre: Romance
Length: 392 pages, 10 hrs 27 mins in audiobook format
Setting: London, 2008-2017
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