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A review by melbsreads
One True Thing by Nicole Hayes
3.0
This is another one of those OzYA books that I've been meaning to read for a thousand years and have only just gotten around to. And having just finished it, I'm left with "this was decent, but not great". Except here's the thing: for me? It probably SHOULD have been great.
Frankie's 16 in this book. I was 18 when I found out that I had a much older half-brother who was given up for adoption when he was born. Like Frankie, I did NOT handle it well. I mean, I didn't scream at my mother and stomp off to my grandmother's house for a week with my younger brother in tow. But that's mostly because my grandmother lived like 45 minutes away and her second husband used to flick his false teeth in and out of his mouth all the time and it was gross.
Anyway. The point is, I've been where Frankie was. I've felt the exact emotions that Frankie goes through in the course of this book (although I didn't meet my half-brother until I was nearly 22 where Frankie meets him almost immediately). I should have been able to relate to this book very, VERY strongly. And yet I couldn't. And I honestly don't know why...
Add in the fact that I can't stand Pearl Jam and the fact that the romantic relationship in here was about as exciting as watching paint dry and this came out to good but not great.
Spoiler
So the big plot point here is that Frankie's mother, who's running for Premier of Victoria, is photographed with a much younger man. The media assumes that she's having an affair. Except that the plot twist is that the much younger man is actually her son, given up for adoption at birth.Frankie's 16 in this book. I was 18 when I found out that I had a much older half-brother who was given up for adoption when he was born. Like Frankie, I did NOT handle it well. I mean, I didn't scream at my mother and stomp off to my grandmother's house for a week with my younger brother in tow. But that's mostly because my grandmother lived like 45 minutes away and her second husband used to flick his false teeth in and out of his mouth all the time and it was gross.
Anyway. The point is, I've been where Frankie was. I've felt the exact emotions that Frankie goes through in the course of this book (although I didn't meet my half-brother until I was nearly 22 where Frankie meets him almost immediately). I should have been able to relate to this book very, VERY strongly. And yet I couldn't. And I honestly don't know why...
Add in the fact that I can't stand Pearl Jam and the fact that the romantic relationship in here was about as exciting as watching paint dry and this came out to good but not great.