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One Plus One: A Novel
Summary
One single mom. One chaotic family. One quirky stranger. One irresistible love story from the New York Times best-selling author of Me Before You.
American audiences have fallen in love with Jojo Moyes. Ever since she debuted stateside, she has captivated fans and reviewers alike, and hit the New York Times best-seller list with the word-of-mouth sensation, Me Before You. Now, with One Plus One, she's written another contemporary opposites-attract love story that reads like a modern-day Two for the Road.
Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied, and your math-whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can't afford to pay for. That's Jess' life in a nutshell - until an unexpected knight-in-shining-armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess' knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages...maybe ever.
One Plus One is Jojo Moyes at her astounding best. You'll laugh, you'll weep, and when you hear the last page, you'll want to start all over again.
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Reviews
A quick read that was enjoyable, but too predictable. 3.5 stars.
I really enjoyed this book. This is the type of story I really like. First of all it's set in England. Anything set in England starts at five star and then goes backwards from there, and it's very rare I give five stars out. Jojo does a great job of giving substance to her characters. Jess is struggling after her husband Marty leaves and even though she works hard at trying to pay her bills, she stays positive. Tanzie is a 10-year-old math wiz. She is quirky and everything she sees, she sees in numbers. She can't help it. Nicky is Marty's son with his ex-wife and neither of them can take care of Nicky so he ends up with Jess who raises him like her own. Nicky is 15, a gamer and dresses Goth so he gets picked on by the local bullies, the Fisher brothers. Then there is Ed. A software programmer who just sold his company and to get rid of a woman tells her to buy stock when it goes public, which of course is insider trading. Jess cleans Ed's vacation house.
A few chance encounters and next thing you know Ed is driving Jess, the kids and their huge dog Norman to Scotland for a Math competition so that Tanzie can win money to go to a private school. That's when the craziness begins. Jess doesn't want to spend money, Ed wishes he had driving right by their house, Nicky is healing from being beaten up, Tanzie is stressing about math and Norman is making such a stink with his farts. Soon Ed starts to realize what he is missing in his life.
Very enjoyable book that will make you root for all of the people in the car and wish you could help them. I recommend this book.
A few chance encounters and next thing you know Ed is driving Jess, the kids and their huge dog Norman to Scotland for a Math competition so that Tanzie can win money to go to a private school. That's when the craziness begins. Jess doesn't want to spend money, Ed wishes he had driving right by their house, Nicky is healing from being beaten up, Tanzie is stressing about math and Norman is making such a stink with his farts. Soon Ed starts to realize what he is missing in his life.
Very enjoyable book that will make you root for all of the people in the car and wish you could help them. I recommend this book.
For more reviews, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.I’m calling it: I officially love Jojo Moyes’ books. One Plus One is my second one. Once again, it’s not a book that I feel like I would normally have liked; it’s not a subject that calls to me particularly. In fact, if I’m objective, this book is rather ridiculous. I probably shouldn’t like it. But, you know what? It just works somehow and I totally love it, the same way I did Me Before You. Basically, Jojo Moyes is a skilled puppeteer of my emotions.Jojo Moyes excels at characterization. That’s been the case in both One Plus One and Me Before You. She makes me feel for them so much that I totally don’t care if things are melodramatic because I am having all the feels and I need everything to turn out okay. Actually, I may love her books the same way I love kdrama. Do I know my emotions are being manipulated in, often in very tropey ways? Indeed I do. Do I care? NOT ONE IOTA.I experimented with another Moyes novel on audiobook (The Ship of Brides), but I didn’t dig the narrator, so I quickly shuffled that back into the to-try-in-print-someday pile. One Plus One however was immediately perfection on audiobook. For each of the four third person limited POVs, there is a narrator, and the narrators all fit their characters perfectly. I’m kind of in love with the narrator who voiced Nicky, because he totally sounds like James McAvoy. This is definitely one of the times where the audiobook enhanced my emotions, rather than distancing them. It takes a third person story and makes it feel like it’s in first person, because the characters are real and talking to me.The plot revolves around the family unit of mother Jess Thomas and her two kids, Tanzie and Nicky. They’re a “modern family,” the father having left to live with his mom due to emotional problems. Nicky’s not actually Jess’ kid, but the father’s with another woman. From the way Jess treats Nicky, though, you would never guess he wasn’t her biological child. One Plus One is the sort of story which is all about family being what you make and not what you’re born to necessarily. I have a total weakness for this sort of story.Jess, Tanzie and Nicky have crap lives. Nicky’s bullied because he wears mascara and doesn’t fit in, bullied so badly he had to go to the hospital. Tanzie also doesn’t fit in, mostly because she’s a math genius. Things are looking up when she gets a scholarship to a prestigious local school, but even the 90% scholarship leaves more for Jess to pay for than the family can afford. Thus, the road trip to Scotland with a stranger, Ed, so Tanzie can compete in a maths competition.So the riding with a stranger bit? Ed happens along at the right time and offers to help against his best judgment. In the end, though, spending time with Jess’ family is just what he needs to get over his first world problems. His life is fucked up, but it’s still cake compared to what Jess is going through. He’s able to get out of his own head a bit and realize that. Also, I love the way the ship was done and Moyes is a genius for getting me to ship a couple that’s known each other so briefly but thinks they’re in love.As I said, it’s melodramatic, a term I break out only for the stuff that’s reaching One Tree Hill levels of scandal and bad things happening. Seriously, everything bad that can possibly happen occurs to Jess. It’s over the top. Then it all resolves into an HEA like magic. Literally like magic, View Spoiler ». So I do judge the plot a bit, but I also totally bought into all of it emotionally.There you have it. One Plus One is an emotional, adorable, British read. My head has some concerns, but my heart loves it wholeheartedly. Also, the audio is perfection.
I loved Jojo Moyes’ Silver Bay and The Girl You Left Behind, but I think One Plus One is my favorite book of hers yet. Across books, the diverse characters she brings convincingly to life is astonishing. In this book in particular, the characters had the potential to be stereotypes–the math geek girl, the goth misfit guy, the single mom, the business man–but I finished thinking that they were each incredibly unique. The characters personalities were so fleshed out they felt like really people, completely unique from any other characters I’ve read about.
The plot was also very believable. Sure, the initial situation was bit contrived, but I loved the end result. It was one of those books which felt as though the author created the situation and then just let the characters go. I think this was the case because the characters were so well rounded and acted in a way consistent with their personalities. Although Jojo is an author I count on to leave me with warm, fuzzy feelings, I didn’t feel as though a happy ending was foregone conclusion. . Lately I’ve enjoyed books such as this one which make me worry for the characters. The characters dealt with a variety of tough issues and all were overcome in believable ways. This may seem like a funny thing to say about fiction (perhaps this is my love of nonfiction showing), but my favorite thing about this book was how real it seemed.
This review first published at Doing Dewey.
The plot was also very believable. Sure, the initial situation was bit contrived, but I loved the end result. It was one of those books which felt as though the author created the situation and then just let the characters go. I think this was the case because the characters were so well rounded and acted in a way consistent with their personalities. Although Jojo is an author I count on to leave me with warm, fuzzy feelings, I didn’t feel as though a happy ending was foregone conclusion. . Lately I’ve enjoyed books such as this one which make me worry for the characters. The characters dealt with a variety of tough issues and all were overcome in believable ways. This may seem like a funny thing to say about fiction (perhaps this is my love of nonfiction showing), but my favorite thing about this book was how real it seemed.
This review first published at Doing Dewey.
Single mother and eternal optimist, Jess always tries to do the right thing. But Tanzie, her math genius daughter, needs $$ to get into a private school, step-son Nicky lives with her instead of his dead-beat Dad, but is always getting beat up at school. And she's barely scraping by with a cleaning business and waiting tables evenings.Tanzie has the opportunity to go to Scotland for a math competition....only, how do they get there with no money? Ed, one of Jess' clients, and also on forced holiday for a insider trading allegation, picks the family (including the large dog, Norman) at the side of the road and agrees to drive them to Scotland...only Tanzie gets carsick if they drive above 40 MPH, so it takes days to get there...with a hilarious road trip, and one obstacle after another.Character development good, although it does have the typical happy ending, but you're rooting for that at the end anyway.
I loved Jojo Moyes' Me Before You and have tried one of her other books, but it didn't grab me at the time. One Plus One, however, had me hooked from the beginning because every character had so much at stake. It was a little hard to follow at the start because so many character names were thrown in, but by the second chapter it was all sorted out and you knew who was who and who mattered. Jess is a single mom who works multiple jobs trying to provide for her children while her husband recovers from a nervous breakdown at his mother's. To get her pay, she has to tell off a client she cleans for, then later runs into him at her other job. Then runs into him again. And hates him, because he's so rich he doesn't even notice when $500 falls out of his pocket. But she notices. After reading this, I'm ready to give the other Moyes books a try again.
only recently picked up one of British author JoJo Moyes's titles - Me Before You. I chose to listen to it on the way back and forth to work. I absolutely loved it and found myself taking backroads so listen a little longer! My library hold for the audio version of her latest book, One Plus One, came in at the beginning of last week - and I again started taking the slower road home! Jess has been a single mom to her goth stepson Nicky and her math prodigy daughter Tanzie for two years - since her husband had to 'get away for a bit' and went to live with his mother. Jess and the kids live on a council estate along with Norman the dog. Jess does what she can to make ends meet - barmaid and cleaning, scrimping and saving. Ed is a computer whiz, under investigation for insider training. And their lives collide in the most chaotic, wonderful way. Moyes is such a wonderful writer - her characters are flawed and lovable - and the listener can't help but wish for a happy ending. The story is engaging, funny, sad, romantic, real and oh so incredibly addicting and entertaining. And for those thinking to lable it 'chick lit', I think it's much more than that. Moyes explores real situations such as bullying, poverty, parenting and more. After listening to the first book in audio, I knew I wanted to listen to all of Moyes's titles. The publisher has chosen excellent readers for One Plus One - their voices all suited the mental images I had for the characters, their voices were incredibly expressive and I immediately felt like I was part of the story. Highly, highly recommended as both a read and a listen!
Single mom Jess meets rich man they end up in a road trip to Scotland The trip is to be an awakening for them both. Assortment of characters, from Jess' two troubled kids to the rich man's ex, and his financial problems. Too contrived with many problems that magically solve themselves.
Messy, funny, touching, romantic. Moyes keeps throwing curve balls at this hodgepodge of a family which keeps the plot moving while she develops her complex characters into a heartwarming group that discovers one plus one is a sum greater than its individual parts.
Jess Thomas is a single mother who has two jobs and works really hard to make ends meet. Her husband left her 2 years ago with 2 children, who are being harassed by the neighbourhood's bullies. Tanzie, her daughter, is a maths wizz kid and the only way to afford her private school fees is by winning a Maths Olympiad in Aberdeen. On the way up to Scotland Jess meets Ed Nicholls, who is trying to lay low after a financial mistake which may send him to jail. Ed, Jess, her kids and her dog Norman will go on a road trip to Aberdeen which will change their lives and will teach them to take a chance on strangers.I was given and advance copy of the book by Real Readers and I was intrigued. This is the first Jojo Moyes book I have read so I cannot compare it to her previous work but I can say I enjoyed it. The story is light and entertaining. It has a few surprises but it is overall a bit predictable. It follows similar patterns to other Chick Lit and romance novels so if you enjoy that genre you will love this. The characters are lovable and you warm up to them, especially the children and Norman the dog. The story is believable and you are constantly wanting to know what happens next, although you kind of know which way things are going to go.This book is for fans of romance and Chick Lit and would make a very good holiday read. If you are looking for a light hearted story with a happy ending this is for you. I am sure fans of Jojo Moyes will enjoy very much.
I found it very difficult to pick this book back up to read. I never found myself reading it for any other reason than to get it finished. It wasn't horrible, but I thought the plot was a little silly. I did like Nicky and Tanzie and Norman though, so I give it 3 stars. Jess and Ed were complete duds for me. She drove me nuts with her inability to accept help from others even going so far as to track people down to pay them back after they made donations to save her dog. Sometimes you just need to say "thank you", be grateful, and be done with it. I downright hated Ed for his stupidity a few chapters in. The final chapter, written by Tanzie in the guise of a blog post, was very sweet though and left me smiling. I will try another of this author's previous books since the writing is enjoyable, but I guess I'll have to be in the mood for some lighter reading to enjoy it.
This is a delightful story of a single mother struggling to get by with her two children who are distinct personalities. The girl is a math genius, and the goth boy is being badly bullied, and they're just not getting by financially. Enter a wealthy guy who's being investigated for inside trading, who ends up rescuing them en route to a math Olympiad in Scotland. The story may be predictable, but it's certainly satisfying, and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny.
I think I spent a good 70% of this book grinning inanely and I read it whenever I snatched a minute or two. Lovely reading and somehow perfect for this delightful spring!
My favorite Jojo Moyes book! I love Cinderella stories. I love stories where the protagonists overcome obstacle after obstacle and they live happily ever after. I love to escape into these books. Single mom raising her child and a step-child live in a terrible British neighborhood complete with bullies. Her daughter loves math and her skills would meet MENSA standards. When a wealthy software entrepreneur finds himself hauling mom, the two kids, and a huge dog to Scotland for a math completion, a lot of hilarious adventure is about to begin. Realistic, I think not, but fun escapism, you bet. And they live happily ever after…..
A charming contemporary romance. This is a heart-warming story with a feel good ending that I relished reading. However, as much as I enjoyed it, I predict that it will be like Chinese food -- quickly digested and leaving me craving something more substantial.
a bit like eating too much toffee - nice but sticky and ultimately a bit sickening
Jess Thomas is a feisty single mother, struggling to pay bills and deal with various problems in her life. But she always puts her kids first and does her best for them. She meets Ed Nicholls, a man who has his own problems and somehow they end up going on a bit of a road trip together, with her kids and their massive dog, Norman. This book is such a lovely read. It’s really easy and I loved all the characters. It made me smile a lot, and whilst with books like these you always expect that things will turn out ok in the end, it was nice to see how it unfolded as the story went on. The chaos in the car for the most part of the story was just brilliant to read, and quite an unusual focus for a book.The One Plus One is another great Jojo Moyes book. She writes human stories with a hint of humour and there’s always a nice love story thrown in, one that isn’t too cheesy but that is heart-warming.
Loved it! Very different from Me Before You. I love Moyes character development. Her characters truly do grow before the readers eyes.
In this story of Jess Thomas, who is soley responsible for her young daughter and step-son. Her husband has gone back to live with his mother while he heals from an emotional break down. Ed is a computer nerd who falls victim to an accusation of insider trading. While he is hiding from the public and nursing his wounds, wondering how he got to where he is, Jess enters his life in a big way, along with her two kids and large, smelly dog. A road trip ensues, and all lives are changed because of their adventures. Jess has some owning up to do, and Ed has a guard to let down. Sweet, not perfect, but a really good read.
In this story of Jess Thomas, who is soley responsible for her young daughter and step-son. Her husband has gone back to live with his mother while he heals from an emotional break down. Ed is a computer nerd who falls victim to an accusation of insider trading. While he is hiding from the public and nursing his wounds, wondering how he got to where he is, Jess enters his life in a big way, along with her two kids and large, smelly dog. A road trip ensues, and all lives are changed because of their adventures. Jess has some owning up to do, and Ed has a guard to let down. Sweet, not perfect, but a really good read.
Jess is a struggling single mom, trying to make due by cleaning houses, bartending, and caring for two children. Despite her frantic efforts to keep their lives together, everything begins to fall apart as they can't pay their bills, her stepson Nikki is bullied and beat up repeatedly, and her brilliant math-whiz daughter, Tanzie, is offered a place in a private school they simply cannot afford. Just as everything is falling apart and the family is literally stranded on the side of the road, Ed, a wealthy man also in the middle of a major personal crisis, happens upon Jess and her kids and offers them a ride. From there, the four (and their dog, their very big, smelly, and slobbery dog) ride off into the Irish countryside, with the goal to transport Tanzie to a high-stakes math competition, which is her only hope to pay for private school. With constant setbacks along the way, their adventure takes them beyond the long car ride to examine what family is and what is most important. I have to say this is probably one of my favorite books this year. JoJo Moyes really knows how to develop solid and believable characters and weave in comedy, suspense, and touching moments. This one made me laugh and cry throughout. It was just as good, if not better than "Me Before You". I LOVED IT!!!
One of my favorite books that I read in 2014. It’s sort of silly and outlandish in plot, but you don’t care, because you’re just riveted, wanting to read it as quickly as possible. Jess is a down-on-her-luck mom of two (her daughter, Tanzie, plus stepson Nicky), whose husband has abandoned her so she has to work two jobs to make ends meet. She meets Ed, a millionaire who is also a bit down-on-his-luck (oh just some investment fraud charges and such) while cleaning his vacation home. Eventually Ed comes to their rescue (literally, as the family is sitting on the side of the road) and helps drive them to a math competition for young Tanzie, who is a maths expert. Along the way, a lot happens. You’d think the novel would be pat and predictable, but it’s really just… lovely. And one of the few books I’ve really loved that I actually think would make a good movie, provided I can approve all casting choices, of course.
I was expecting more from the book as I really enjoyed You Before Me by the same author. While I enjoyed the characters and their quirkiness, I found the story to be a little light. It was nice to see a single mother with two children receive help from an unlikely stranger. However the book didn't really grab me. I thought their travels and experiences were fun and certainly full of twists and turns but it seemed unrealistic that they would all come full circle in how they look at life over such a short period of time. Kind of reminds me of the movie Little Miss Sunshine.
I liked this but didn't love it.
Can One Plus One be greater than two? Read this delightful novel and find out. Jess is a single mom who is the mother of a Math Whiz daughter and a different son. They endure no end of trials and tribulations but Jess never loses her optimism. Will the burdens never cease? Enter Ed Nicholls who too is a victim. This enchanting book describes Jess's adventures with her family and Ed. Will it all turn out right? Nothing like reading the book to find out.
This is Romantic Comedy at its best. A perfect book to bring you out of a bad mood or to read on the beach. Nothing better than Jojo Moyes!
Loved this book! Norman is amazing :)
This is the first book by Jojo Moyes that I have read and I loved it. It's about a different family and their hellish struggles and being saved by a geek who needs some saving himself. Basic, written so well, not all fun and games. I couldn't put it down and now have to add another author to my must read list.
Penguin audio book-the volume of the different voices varied, making it difficult to catch all the words. This might have been better as a print book, where I could have easily skimmed & skipped ahead. I liked the premise, & really wanted to find out what happened to Tansy, the math genius girl. But I did not finish this. Ed's enticement by an old acquaintance, near the start was boring. Later, the cascade of consequences of poor decisions and of poverty, and Jess's stress were just too overwhelming. I was reading for escapism, not to have more reminders of how stressful life is.
In ONE PLUS ONE, Jojo Moyes departs from serious questions, like care and understanding for the handicapped, which she deftly explored in ME BEFORE YOU, for the silly and contrived situation comedy formula prevalent on TV today. Put a group of misfits together, throw in some modern social challenges, add a laugh track and voila, you have another commercial gold mine. In this case, the misfits include Jess Thomas, a divorced mother of two who is unfailingly optimistic while struggling to make ends meet at low-wage jobs; Tanzie, her 10-year-old daughter who is freakishly good at math; Nicky, a teenage outsider, who has identity problems and is bullied by his peers; and Ed Nicholls, a self-absorbed software millionaire, who is on the verge of being charged with insider trading. The group even has a flatulent dog, named Norman, who becomes a hero before all is said and done.The plot set piece involves a road trip to Scotland where Tanzie will compete in a Maths Olympiad for a monetary prize, which should fund her education at a posh private (“public”-- after all this novel is set in the UK) school. The group faces a host of challenges, which seem contrived but miraculously get resolved by the end of the book. Moyes maintains tension and interest throughout by introducing one challenge after another. Also, she is particularly adept at creating humorous situations. However, her treatment of the many challenges that people commonly face today (e.g., child-rearing, divorce, money, etc) is superficial. The love interest between Jess and Ed seems predictable and lacks the nuance that Ms. Moyes managed to generate between the disabled millionaire and his caregiver in YOU BEFORE ME. This is definitely a light read and a disappointment compared to YOU BEFORE ME.
I totally enjoyed Jojo Moyes’ book ‘One Plus One’ which really toys with the idea that good things can happen to really good people. The story is about Jess Thomas, a financially struggling single mom, and her slightly dysfunctional family…an eight year-old daughter, Tanzie, who is a math genius, a Goth-like step-son, Nicky, who never seems to fit into his social setting, and a farting, slobbering humongous dog named Norman. Tanzie is offered a generous scholarship to St. Annes, a prestigious private school, but Jess has no hopes of paying the remaining tuition costs to attend. When they hear of a math Olympiad in Scotland offering a generous monetary prize, the family embarks on an unforgettable journey that will change their lives forever. As mishaps occur, the family is aided by self-serving, software entrepreneur Ed Nicholls in this rollicking and heart-warming journey. What I loved so much about this novel was that Moyes could have just presented a somewhat simplistic story about a family journeying together toward an outcome that might improve their lives, but within the context of this main plot, Moyes also developed Ed’s character as he wrestled with devastating issues of his own. And Moyes didn’t stop there. She took every opportunity to extend all the characters in her story, from Nicky’s and Tanzie’s acquisition of self, to her ex-husband’s dishonesty and unfulfilled promises, and to even Norman’s heroic protectiveness. I especially loved the way that Moyes developed Jess’ character, as she prevailed throughout each misfortune with optimistic fortitude to do her best for her family. The story is written from four points of view, but it was so seamlessly written, that I never felt disengaged as she moved from character to character. I laughed and cried throughout much of the novel, and although it read much like a Sophie Kinsella story, I later realized that this story was much more thought-provoking and complex than Kinsella’s bumbling romances. For that reason, I decided to award it five stars.
While reading this book on my phone at the gym, I had to pretend to be very interested in daytime television for a moment. The room was very dusty, or maybe the sun was bright. This book is cheap lower middle class wish fulfillment, but it's very well done. I think JoJo Moyes makes up the trinity of the pinnacle of chick lit with Helen Fielding and Liane Moriarty.