Books and Needlepoint: The One and Only

Monday, May 12, 2014

BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge: The One and Only by Emily Giffin

Shared by Kristi

I am very excited to be a part of BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge and am kicking it off with my reivew of The One and Only by Emily Giffin! To see a full list of the review books, continue reading to the bottom of the post.

The One and Only

by Emily Giffin

Thirty-three-year-old Shea Rigsby has spent her entire life in Walker, Texas—a small college town that lives and dies by football, a passion she unabashedly shares. Raised alongside her best friend, Lucy, the daughter of Walker’s legendary head coach, Clive Carr, Shea was too devoted to her hometown team to leave. Instead she stayed in Walker for college, even taking a job in the university athletic department after graduation, where she has remained for more than a decade.

But when an unexpected tragedy strikes the tight-knit Walker community, Shea’s comfortable world is upended, and she begins to wonder if the life she’s chosen is really enough for her. As she finally gives up her safety net to set out on an unexpected path, Shea discovers unsettling truths about the people and things she has always trusted most—and is forced to confront her deepest desires, fears, and secrets.

Thoughtful, funny, and brilliantly observed, The One & Only is a luminous novel about finding your passion, following your heart, and, most of all, believing in something bigger than yourself . . . the one and only thing that truly makes life worth living.

My thoughts: This book started out slow for me, but I was interested enough in Shea that I kept reading. I soon became invested in Shea's life, wanting to know who she would end up with as well as what career path she would take.

Shea was raised by her mother, but considers her best friend Lucy's family as her own as well. When Lucy's mother Connie dies, it leaves a hole in all of their lives, including Coach Carr, her husband, who is also the winning coach of Walker football and has been for years. Shea's relationship with Coach Carr has changed over the years, from him being her best friend's dad, to mentor, to friend. She understands and is involved in football in a way that Lucy is not, so is closer to coach than his own daughter. He has most recently given her a lead on a job that would finally get her out of the Walker atmosphere and start a life of her own.

The relationships in this book were complex and messy. And that is what I liked best. The author does not back away from the uncomfortable, but meets it head on. She explores unlikely attractions as well as unhealthy ones. She shows us that what might appear perfect on the outside sometimes hides ugly secrets and the things that make us uncomfortable might really be what's worth fighting for.

I will definitely pick up another book by Emily Giffin!

~I received a complimentary ecopy of The One and Only from BookSparks and Net Galley in exchange for my unbiased review as part of the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge.~

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