Well hello to you my reader chums! I love the author Taylor Jenkins Reid; both of her books Malibu Rising and Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, I absolutely adored in every way. She has a beautiful way with words and can tell stories like a dream. I picked up One True Loves as it intrigued me and honestly, it's a book, I couldn't put down.

If you're looking for a new and obsessive read, here is my full review of One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Plotline

The book follows the tale of high school sweethearts, Emma and Jesse who fall in love with the travel way of life, move away from home and build a life and chase every single adventure in their path. Three-hundred and sixty-four days after their wedding, Jesse heads to a job and his helicopter goes missing and suddenly, he is gone. Years later, Emma is back in her hometown after experiencing grief and learning to live again, and she falls in love. However, at one family dinner, she receives a call and it's from Jesse, he's alive.

With both a fiance and husband, it's a heartbreaking decision for Emma to make. But, does one true love exist?

Characters and relationships

The most iconic relationship to talk about is Emma and Jesse. Their bond encapsulates everything a first love is all about. It's innocent, adventurous and special. All they know is each other and how to express what love can be, it's exceptionally special. Emma's fiance Sam is another bond which warmed my heart. Theirs is a mature kind of love, one where you know truly who each other are and you celebrate their small quirks of them. 

Another bond I loved to see grow was Emma and Marie. The sisters didn't have a strong bond growing up, however, when Marie moved home, they came together. They build a sister and homely relationship, one their parents wanted for them all their life. 

Overall thoughts

Overall, I loved every part of this book. It was a beautiful novel describing every part of what true love feels like. The romance, the adventure, the small moments and the weird quirks we all come to adore. I love how it shows different types of true love, from young love to falling for someone you've known your whole life and how that love can grow. It's a special book full of twists, turns, wholesome characters and a true narrative about it. It's fast-paced but also paced slow enough to feel every emotion and moment love offers you.

Ending

I'm not going to lie, I thought the ending was going to be completely different than it actually was. Although, how it ended warmed my heart, it felt right and made sense to the journey Emma has been on. I'm still not sure if we experience more than one true love, but, I do think there are many types of love we experience in life.

I hope you enjoyed this post. What's your current read?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! I'm a big fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid, I adored her book Malibu Rising so when I received this book for Christmas, I couldn't wait to dive in after it being on my wishlist for ages. It's a book that had a bit of everything including a killer plotline, characters you can't help but love, and that thrilling element too.

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If you're looking for a new exciting read with a plot that'll keep you hooked, here is my full review of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

Plotline

The plotline follows the life of Evelyn Hugo, an esteemed famous actress in Hollywood that was known for living a glamourous and scandalous life. Evelyn is finally ready, to tell the truth about her life and chooses an unknown writer, Monique Grant to write her life story - and nobody is more shocked than Monique herself. Evelyn's career is stretched over 3 successful decades and in order to reach the success she had, she made sacrifices nobody could ever dream of. As Everlyn finishes telling her tale, it begins to be clear that her life intersects with Monique's in a tragic way. 

Characters and relationships

Every good book has even better characters and this is one of the reason's I adored this book. Evelyn is a protagonist like no other and it felt a pleasure getting to learn all about her life and really discover who she truly was, and what she had to go through to reach her title. She was strong, powerful, and determined, with the ambition to achieve the life she wanted. As you can tell by the title, Evelyn has 7 marriages and I loved being able to learn the reasons behind the marriages, why they got together and split up, and how fame really gets in the way or changes things about your personal life, a lot of time for the worst.

My favorite relationship has to be between her and Harry, her manager. They were best friends the whole of Evelyn's career and I loved how they called each other family, even before they got married for platonic reasons. Their friendship blossomed over the years and I could tell how much they meant to each other and what true friendship is all about. I also adored her relationship with Celia St. James, which to me showed the definition of true, unforbidden love, in a time when it wasn't accepted to love who you wanted. Their love story warmed my heart and showed true love can be found and that we all deserve to love who we love.

There were many other characters I liked, but one of the interesting relationships was Monique and Evelyn. Monique is an aspiring writer working at a big New York magazine and her innocence and realism are what make her so likable. She's an ambitious girl like a lot of us, who has experienced the sad times of life including losing her father and going through her divorce. Her realism really made me gravitate to her and also show the contrast between her and Evelyn. I enjoyed their connection and the way she asked the questions about Evelyn's life, and how over time, Evelyn became a person to her, not a famous icon.

Overall thoughts

Overall, I loved this book for many reasons. The first is because of many of the lessons it taught. The book showed the price you paid for fame, success, and living a high life. It showed how people will use you to get to the top and how, what really matters is family, friends, and those who truly love you for who you are.

I also enjoyed the breakdown of how the book was written. Each section described the 7 different marriages and how really, the book was kind of like an interview-style biography. It was Evelyn telling her story honestly and clearly, and I could feel myself latch onto her emotions and each chapter of her life - and connecting with that. I found it to be a quick and natural flip between the telling of the story back to the modern-day. The book flowed well and it had a way of pulling me in page after page with more intrigue about Evelyn's life.

Ending

I'm not going to give the ending away, however, I can say that the ending was a bit of a shock. It brought the whole plotline together and was so cleverly written, I couldn't help but sit with an opened mouth as I turned over the pages. I also loved how the book ended on a note that Evelyn would have wanted and she something she had to do.

Love the sound of this book? You can pick up your copy here.

I hope you enjoyed this review. Is this book on your to-be-read pile?

Thank you for reading <3

 Well hello to you my reader chums! I'm back with another book review, a book which I devoured in only a few sittings and absolutely adored. Malibu Rising has been hyped for a while now and I'm so glad I got the chance to read it as I absolutely fell in love with the book.

If you're looking for a book to hit you in all the feels, are a deeper thinker, and love a fast-paced plot, Malibu Rising is worth picking up next.

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Plotline

Malibu Rising is set all around the famous end-of-summer-party of Nina Riva and everyone is filled with anticipation before the exciting event. Everyone who knows about the party is invited and many want to grab a glimpse of the famous Riva Siblings. There's Nina, the talented supermodel and surfers, Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer and the other a famous photographer and the youngest, the adoring Kit. The siblings are a fascination by many in Malibu with the known news of legendary singer, Mick Riva as their father. 

When midnight hits, the party is out of control, and by the morning, the mansion will be up in flames. But, the plot follows the family throughout the series of the night, the loves, the secrets, and the events that shaped this family.

Characters and relationships

The key of this plot that makes it so wonderful is the characters and their relationships, and how they have developed. Nina is the main focus of the plot and I really related to her character in a lot of ways because she is a giver and does a lot for everyone else, and often forgets to think about herself. She is the oldest of the siblings and you can see that in how the plot unfolds, and how she takes care of them all, their entire life. Jay and Hud are a similar age and Kit is the youngest and their bond between the four of them is what makes the plot so special.

Nina, Jay, Hud, and Kit really show the true meaning of what it is to be a sibling and how looking after each other is the most important thing in life and that premise is kept throughout the writing of this tale. Their mother June is an icon in my eyes as she experiences so much hardship but offers all the kids' needs which is love and support even when she had nothing to give. Their father is a character I don't like, and you can see that map out throughout the story in his actions, and what he does to their mum, and how he acts towards his kids.

But it isn't just the main family characters that make this book special, what's great is how the author really dives into the many party guests. She gives many characters a voice and pages about who they are, their lives, and how they end up at Riva's party, and I loved that. I love how she painted a picture of people as a whole and how lives intertwine and why - it added a lot of layers to the book.

Overall thoughts

Overall, this book was a heartbreaking, refreshing, and personal read and I adored every page. The structure of the book was actually one of my favourite elements because it was broken up into the hours of the party and what went on during each hour, as well as going back in time to Riva's parents' past and how they ended up to where they are now. The switch between past and present is something I adore in a book and that's why I loved this one so much. 

The characters, I fell in love with and I could really connect with them, not only with the events of the party but what went on in their entire lives. The author has a way of moving the reader with her words and describing the story in a way that you really feel for them all. It's a book of complete emotion that explores the horrors of fame, family connection, broken families, sibling bonds, the sacrifices you make in life, all intertwined within the setting of sunny Malibu.

I love how Malibu was the location of the entire book as it brought everything together in terms of plot, how the characters lives mapped out, and added the escapism feel to the read. 

It's one of those books I didn't want to end with a purely character-driven plot. 100% would recommend.

Ending

The ending came together in a wholesome way, obviously, I'm not going to give it away with what happened. But, what I will say is that the characters received an ending that they deserved and the book ended on a beautifully metaphorical note.

I hope you enjoyed this review. You can pick up your copy here. Have you read this book?

Thank you for reading <3