February 08, 2012

Review: The One That I Want by Jennifer Echols

The One That I Want by Jennifer Echols
Paperback, 320 pages
Published December 6, 2011 by Simon Pulse

Gemma can’t believe her luck when the star football player starts flirting with her. Max is totally swoon-worthy, and even gets her quirky sense of humor. So when he asks out her so-called best friend Addison, Gemma’s heartbroken.
Then Addison pressures Gemma to join the date with one of Max’s friends. But the more time they all spend together, the harder Gemma falls for Max. She can’t help thinking that Max likes her back—it’s just too bad he’s already dating Addison. How can Gemma get the guy she wants without going after her best friend’s boyfriend?

The One That I Want solidified Jennifer Echols’ position on my auto-buy list.

I always have love-hate relationships with Echols’ books. I absolutely love the stories she creates, but the characters always make me so angry. It’s so frustrating, but it’s also a blessing because it is part of what gives them so much charm. The characters are raw and so believable, even if I am not their biggest fan, I cannot stop reading about them.

In the case of The One That I Want, it was Gemma’s “best” friend Addison that made me cringe. That girl does not have one redeeming quality (that we get to see), but it’s so well done that I actually wanted to read the scenes that involved her. She infuriated me but I wanted to see what she was going to say next. Gemma put up with far too much from her, and I was glad to see her finally do something about it. But she also had her issues, and her constant need to point out how bad a friend Addison was annoyed me, particularly because I could definitely see that without Gemma going through it in her head, repeatedly.

Max is adorable, and so different from the characters I’m used to. Let’s be honest, we are supposed to fall in love with the love interest, and in most cases they are perfect because we can’t help but fall in love with perfection. Same basic formula over and over again, with some substitutions here and there. That is not the case with Max. He says what’s on his mind, and sometimes it isn’t pleasant, but it’s honest. But he also has a sweet side.

On the surface, The One That I Want is a cute love story that I couldn’t get enough of. Underneath that, it tackles rocky relationships and the effects of poor communication between friends, crushes, and even parents and their children—without seeming preachy. Definitely worth a read.

4 out of 5 Stars!


15 comments:

  1. I actually rather flawed characters over perfect ones. I get tired of Mr. Perfect. He's usually boring anyways! haha. This sounds really cute I have to read it! :D

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  2. I agree with Giselle. Perfect characters are boring and not quite realistic. I have never found Mr. Perfect. Either way I'm glad you enjoy it. I have yet to read one book by her and I own TWO!!! Weird huh?

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    1. Aw you should read them! Which ones do you have?

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    2. One of them is "Love Story" and the other is called "Going too far"

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    3. Oh I haven't read Love Story but I really liked Going Too Far.

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  3. I'm with you on the auto-buy status. Jennifer's books are amazing. Her characters are always amazing and true. There is something completely believable about her writing. I loved Going Too Far. I'll have to pick this one up, too!

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  4. Great review! I'm really looking forward to reading this book! :))

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  5. I recently got this one for review and really can't wait to read it! Just the first line of your review is enough to make anyone want to read it!
    - Jessica @ Book Sake

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  6. I am so for flawed characters, otherwise known as the bad boys only because no one takes the time to understand them. The perfect boy is sweet and I like them but then I meet the other boy and totally fall in love. I definitely need to read this book it sounds perfect to me. I am most curious about Max and why he started dating Addison and not Gemma. I'm very excited for this book.

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  7. I am just going to have to break down and buy this one. In general I love Jennifer Echols books, so I don't know why I am dawdling. It is good that the love interest is flawed, I actually don't mind that at all in books.

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  8. I am dying to read this book!!!
    This has been on my to read list for the longest time :D

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  9. I feel like there have been a couple of stories where the MC has a crush on her best friend's boyfriend and the best friend is oh-so-conveniently a mean girl. And Echols' frequently creates characters that drive me crazy (like Love Story) but I find her writing so compelling that I will still probably read this!

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  10. Perfect characetrs just are not believable. Great Review!

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  11. I want to read this book! YOu have short but very good rewiews and I like them :))

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