Book Review: One Day by David Nicholls

One Day

By David Nicholls

Release Date: January 1, 2009

Source: Own Book

Summary: Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY.


Review: I won this book last summer and have wanted to read it for FOREVER, but I never had time to sit down and actually do it. So now that I'm on vacation, I have all the time I want to read whatever I want! So I brought along One Day and was finally able to read it! I have waited to see the movie until I read the book, so I had no idea how this book was going to turn out. And I'm happy to say it was just as good as I was expecting!

Emma and Dex are such dynamic people and this story follows their lives on the same day for 20 years. Emma is an English student who just graduated and has no idea what she wants to do with her life. Dex is a notorious partier and playboy who lives his life traveling around without a care in the world. I loved Emma from the start with her sarcastic attitude and drive. She is such a relatable character because her relationship with Dex is so crazy and unsure that she doesn't really know what to do with it. Dex, on the other hand, may be stupid and crazy at times, but you understand why Emma is so taken by him. 

Emma and Dex grow so much in the twenty years that span in the book (like any other normal human being). They love, they lose, they grow, they fail, but even when they aren't together, they are always on each other's minds. The characters that come in and out of their lives, whether both or just one, are great too and so important in shaping who Dex and Emma become. And there are surprise at every corner! Some things that happen in their lives are so unpredictable that you never know what's going to happen on that same day the next year. 

One of my favorite parts of this book, though, is that it's British! I love their language, mannerisms, and ability to travel all over Europe without it seeming like that big of a deal. Escaping into their lives was so much fun and I was able to experience their entire lives! Normally books span over a couple of days, a week, or a year, but this one managed to span across twenty years without getting boring or drawn out. At some points of the book, I was annoyed with the stupid decisions they made, but nobody's actually perfect, so why should they be? This book was so real and overall a fantastic read! Now I can't wait to see the movie and watch Dex and Emma's life unfold before my eyes. One Day is perfect to lay out under the sun and experience a life so far from your own that you can't help but love it!