I enjoyed this book, It is not what I usually read but I enjoyed it. It is quite a topical subject in the news, it was an interesting and sometimes fearful read.

Every now and then you find an author who bowls you over and with each of John Marrs' books I've been knocked off my feet - but this one #TheOne threw me down, spun me round and sent my brain straight into orbit! From page one I was hooked and read this in less than a day!

We follow five people who have all been DNA matched with their perfect partner and each short, sharp but powerful chapter is evidence of the brilliance that is John Marrs mind! A taut and compelling pace will keep you gripped from the start to finish!

I found myself drawn to each character as they unfolded, keen to know what secrets they were hiding and what steps they would take to ensure they were with their perfect match. The short chapters meant it was easy to keep up with the characters and remember who was who (so don't be panicking at the beginning if you feel that a whole cast has just been flung at you!). It had my mind whirling as I went from empathy to anger back to empathy with each of them throughout the story. Each individual has strengths and flaws and the dilemma's and conflicts they face will have your mind working overdrive as you work out what you would do if it was you!

Genetic matching is the main theme explored throughout #TheOne and John Marrs has done this so cleverly - as a reader I quickly became caught up in each character's dilemma as I pondered how I'd react. You'd think with all this DNA matching that #TheOne would be full of perfect people - well don't be fooled - we all have our little secrets to hide and some more than others!

A tense psychological thriller that will give you food for thought - with advances in science it is not beyond the realm of possibility that genetic matching could become a reality and in fact it's already been talked about out there - just google DNA dating sites! It really did have my brain ticking over - would I do it - possibly? Did this book scare the living daylights out of me at the thought of it - definitely - would I recommend this book to you to read....ABSOLUTELY!

This is what I love about reviewing books, it takes you out of your comfort zone and you get to experience author's that perhaps might never cross your radar and what a shame that would be as, The One by John Marrs was one of those gems that I may have passed by, an utterly brilliant captivating phycological thriller which kept me entranced till the final pages.

How to adequately convey this story and do it justice, as it truly is a unique concept. I have read an abundance of fiction over the years and the subject expressed in The One, A Gene that matches you with another individual romantically, a soul mate. is truly a unique idea.

In The One, we have what seems like five different stories all wrapped up in a shared Tale, Five Love matches all separate but also intertwined in a bigger picture. The unique writing style of John Marrs makes this very addictive reading, each chapter focusing on a gene match playing in an enthralling loop that makes you want to keep reading.

we have,

Mandy & Richard
Christopher & Amy
Jade & Kevin
Nick & Sally
Ellie & Tim

Finding the love of your life, the other half of you may seem an amazing and wonderous thing. But in reality, the obstacles this can throw at you if you think on this logically are truly shocking, What if your match is married or old, dead or disabled. He or she could be a criminal when you ponder deeper on this matter all sorts of shockingly crazy scenarios spring to mind.The one explores these situations giving us an insight into what could happen when we ask the question WHAT IF?

In conclusion, this book is a breathtaking phycological thriller that keeps you gripped throughout. I've tried to convey a sense of what The one gives you without giving too much away as this is one of those stories you really need to go in blind to truly appreciate the sheer brilliance of its storyline. Love doesn't always run smoothly, in fact in this tale don't expect the ordinary it abounds with twists and turns that keep you guessing throughout.

I Received a free copy of this e-book from NetGalley in return for a review and this is my own honest opinion.

The One by John Marrs

I was intrigued by the concept of finding the perfect partner by just submitting your DNA for testing and then paying a fee of £9.99 to get the contact details of your match. The premise is that the perfect partner is the one that causes butterflies in your stomach, instant attraction and supposedly life-long happiness - bliss. Firstly, what a bargain, no wonder millions signed up for it with the result that those who hadn’t been MATCHED were considered a second-class relationship.

Marrs then proceeds to present five different characters that had been MATCHED. Each successive chapter was devoted to one character and thus their story-lines evolved. At first I found it hard to keep track of the individuals (or more accurately their partners) but as the novel evolved that was resolved.

My favourite character was Nick and I was more interested in his storyline than any of the others. They were fairly interesting but I was not engaged enough to care what happened; for the most part, I felt it was a bit predictable (perhaps not Ellie’s story).

Clearly this is a unique concept and it is the questions about the ‘perfect partner’ rather than the characters that have left me ruminating – would one feel obligated to continue with this matching even if the lily lost its gilding. What is perfect anyway; what if you had the whole physical, chemical reaction but you didn’t like his family, her culture, his accent, what if they just plain irritated you?

In reality, for my own taste, this was not a page-turning, totally engrossing book but it certainly has merit, the writing and the originality alone provides that.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

This was a very different read for me and yet I thoroughly enjoyed it, it is an intriguing read and each chapter dedicated to the characters concerned., Ellie, Amy ,Christopher, Nick , Mandy and Jade . Match Your DNA is the now popular way to meet your perfect match. Or is it? There is a great story involving each characters DNA match. Things are not all they seem and this makes for a great page turning read.!
After reading this book would you take the test?

Wow! What a concept! A DNA test can match you to your soul mate - what happens if you are already in a relationship? What if you are matched to the same sex? What if the other person is across the other side of the world? What if you are matched to a serial killer? This book tells you. It follows five character, alternating character each chapter - which I know some people won't like - but it worked. You were given snapshots in to each of their lives as their own personal story unfolds. I liked four out of the five (even the serial killer!) - I didn't like Ellie but there again I am not sure you are meant to - I did sorta feel sorry for her at a point but you know, some characters you like some not so much! I loved Nick's story - I wanted more! I had a soft spot for sweet gullible Mandy too, again another chapter on her would have been great. Jade redeemed herself and wasn't such a brat as you first think. I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down - wanting to get on and see what happened as there were certainly a lot of twists and turns along the way.

One of the best books I have read in a long time. Would you take the test? I wouldn't, but that's just me

What an amazing and thrilling book! I could not put it down. The short chapters and the twists and turn should of the story made this the perfect quick read. I loved it! Highly recommended.

It isn’t often that I want to give a book more than 5 stars, but this book is one of them! I just loved reading this book, from the very start to finish it was enjoyable to read and interesting and thought provoking.

The story is told from the point of view of a decent number of characters, alternating with each chapter. At first, I found it difficult as I’m not very good at remembering character names when there are so many being introduced but I soon got into it and sucked into the story.

The premise is great, a quick and simple DNA test that will tell you, assuming that they have also been tested, The One, your soulmate and the person that sparks will fly when you meet. It sounds good, doesn’t it? But of course nothing is that simple.

Often when a book follows different people like this some of the stories are better than others, but in this case I found every character and storyline enjoyable, interesting and intriguing. Sure, I had my favourite, but they were all good and well told.

The author has done a great job weaving the story together and it really was a joy to read. I started off pretty sure that I would take the DNA test, but now I’m not so sure! And who knows, maybe one day such a test will exist. Actually, that is really quite a scary thought.

I received a copy of The One by John Marrs from Netgalley but was under no obligation to provide a review. All thoughts are my own.

Loved this book, didn't know what to expect from it but was gripped from the first page. I liked the way that each chapter was directed at one character and the fact that they were so short meant I didn't feel guilty saying "just one more chapter" before sleeping 😀. The story was unlike any i have read before and am definitely going to look into the authors other works. Well worth a read.

Loved this one. Flew through it. Original, engaging and thoroughly satisfying.

The premise of the book is that it has been discovered that everybody shares a gene with one person in the world and this person is your perfect match. The woman who discovered this sets up a company which is more or less the worlds biggest dating agency. With a simple swab of the mouth you can be entered into the database and if and when your genetic match is found you will be notified and you can pay a fee to find out the details of your match and pursue it yourself.

The story is five stories in one as we follow five different relationships as a result of the match, all unrelated, told in short chapter form, jumping from one to the other on chapter to chapter. At first I found this quite confusing as I was(what felt like)bombarded with characters in the first few chapters. As said they are unrelated so I did find it confusing at the start(I'm hopeless with remembering a lot of characters) but it was short lived. After a couple of chapters of each character,I could easily remember who is who. The characters were very clearly written and well rounded and it made it easy to slip from one story to another in each and every chapter. In fact I loved the format. Th book zipped along. The short chapters were great and suited the format of five concurrent stories perfectly.

The book is brilliant. It's a mix of thriller, sci fi, romance, drama! It poses some pertinent questions while never being anything but entertaining. Of course the perfect match is never as straight forward as we think and even here with what should be a copperfast "happy ever after" tool, the genetic match, nothing is straight forward.

An absolute pleasure to read, I haven't read a novel quite like it. I kept thinking this has a movie or tv show written all over it. It would be perfect. All the characters are still vivid in my head hours after finishing the book. I would really recommend grabbing a copy of this and going on the five journeys the author brings you on and enjoy every one of them.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Penguin Random House UK and John Marrs for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I accidentally stumbled onto this book when it was advertised on NetGalley. I loved the premise, so I decided to give it a try - needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. Using a variety of characters and POVs, Marrs brought to light the types of issues and struggles that would arise in the situation of being able to find your soulmate with a simple DNA test. The book starts off with a steady pace, but slowly accelerates towards a pretty climactic end. Marrs was especially clever with the way he weaved the plot of a serial killer into the fold - it was one of my favourite parts. If you're looking for a book that is thrilling and thought provoking, you've come to the right place.

The One surprised me a lot. The plot sounded intriguing, but having never read anything from Marrs before, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I LOVED this book. The plot, the narrative and the way each persons story flawlessly seemed to just fit all added to the reason why this book is one of my favourites from 2017.

The basic premise of the story is that there's a new dating site that has taken the world by storm - it finds your genetic Match by analysing your DNA and pairing you with the only other person in the world who shares the specific type of DNA. The format of the story is a multi-perspective narrative, as we learn about five peoples journey as they take the DNA test, are given their Match and the subsequent stories following on from this.

As with all multi-perspective stories, I enjoyed some more than others, but they each reached a point where they shocked me and I was intrigued to find out what was going to happen. Marrs ended each chapter with a single sentence that kept us gripped and eagerly reading on four more chapters until we could find out what was going on in that particular characters life again. Each character had their stories and their personalities built up so well that I felt them come alive each time I reached their story. I often struggle with multi-perspective stories as I lose track of who is who, but these characters were so well developed, I could easily follow the multiple characters and enjoyed reading each and every one.

With so much going on, none of the stories were predictable, which is my favourite part about psychological thrillers. I would highly recommend reading this book. It wasn't cliched or far-fetched, it was simply an excellent read from an author I'm now a big fan of.

I am clearly in the minority, but I just did not like this book and had to give up half way through. The writing was clunky and the story just too unbelieveable for me.. I didn't see how the science could work and this was glossed over - it was something to do with DNA, but we're not told what and for the most part much of it sounded more like pheramones., I thought the relationships were cliched too - I won't include spoilers but each pairing was so 'what's the chances?' that it did make me roll my eyes slightly. I'm definitely not the target audience for this book.

Yet another great book by John Marrs. All his books have such unique storylines and interesting characters.

"The One," follows five individuals who have been Matched with their perfect partner via a DNA analysis website. The chapters alternate between the five stories and the beauty of this novel is that each of the narratives have an intriguing plot and have characters that you really connect with. There are lots of cliff-hangers throughout the novel and I found myself reading several chapters longer than I anticipated as I wanted to find out what happened next. Although I guessed some of the twists along the way, it didn't really matter as there were so many of them and throughout it felt entirely believable. I would highly recommend this novel.

So how do you know when you've found "The One" then? Well according to John Marrs' imaginative and addictive thriller, its all in your DNA. One little test and BOOM love at first sight.

Excellent you would think. Well no not really. You might already be married or with who you thought was the love of your life. Maybe your perfect partner is thousands of miles away. Maybe he or she is a psychopathic murderer (hey, it could happen!) Maybe they are not even still among the living...

All these scenario's are explored in what is basically a series of short stories all mixed up together following various characters as they take the test and find their match. It is HIGHLY entertaining speculative storytelling, with a few twists in the tale, characters to love and hate and randomly funny yet sweet nods to the idea of romance.

I think you'll find a favourite in there - the thread I enjoyed the most belonged to Nick, but there are several other people on this journey of love (??!!??) for you to engage with and it is fast, addictive and very cleverly done.

I really really enjoyed it. One of those books you just gulp down in an afternoon. Pure unadulterated reading mayhem.

Recommended.

*Review also available on Goodreads and Amazon.

4.5 *s. Imagine a simple DNA test that allows you to find your perfect match partner. Next start imagining all of the implications on society of such a system. This novel covers 5 of these "perfect matches". Each story gets equal time. The chapters are short making this a hard to put down read. I absolutely loved the very unique premise of this novel. It has a little bit of everything in it; romance, psychological thriller, sci-fi, and suspense. I was surprised at how dark and sinister this story was. It's thought provoking for sure. Would you want to find your "perfect match"?

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me a copy to review.

This is an excellent read. I was expecting a thriller though it really isn't one, more a romantic suspense crime drama with a little bit of sci-fi, and there are some dark, gruesome bits to balance the romantic stuff. While there is some (often dark) humour it is certainly not a comedy, as there is a fair bit of sadness too.

A gene has been discovered that links people to their one any only true match (the little bit of sci-fi), but is it really that easy to meet 'The One' and live happily ever after?

There are lots of little twists and turns along the way, many of which I saw coming, but this is a totally brilliant and highly entertaining book.