Friday, October 10, 2014

One Plus One - Jojo Moyes

I 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! Listen to an excerpt or read an excerpt. You can keep up with Jojo Moyes on Facebook and on Twitter. Me - I'm off to put a hold on The Girl You Left Behind audiobook.

1 comment:

Mary (Bookfan) said...

I loved it too. Different from Me Before You but just as good, I thought.