Author: Paige Toon
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Publication Date: 19th May 2016
Pages: 416
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
Phoebe is caught between a rock and a hard place. Settle down and get married, or return to the French Alps to pursue her passion?
Eliza is in love with someone who is no longer hers. In fact, he probably never was… And her dream of becoming a successful musician seems to be vanishing before her eyes.
Rose is out of a job and out of a boyfriend. To make matters worse, she’s been forced to move back in with her mother…
But these very different girls have one thing in common. Angus. The one they fell in love with…
I have to start by saying that the Women's Fiction genre is on fire at the minute. I have read so many good books recently in this genre and The One We Fell in Love With is one of the best, I was already a huge fan of Paige Toon and knew that she was capable of shocking and surprising the reader, but this has to be one of her best books yet and it blew me away at times with where Paige took the story. I have been on such an emotional rollercoaster whilst reading this book, I fell in love with its characters, I was sad to leave them behind and I don't think I'll be forgetting this story for a while yet. If it isn't in my Top Reads of 2016 in December, come back and shout at me!
It's incredibly difficult to discuss this book without a couple of mild spoilers, so read on with that in mind. I love anything that makes a book and its story unique, and not just in this genre but in all genres. Where The One We Fell in Love With is unique is that it is told from the point of view of three women. Phoebe, Eliza and Rose. These three girls all fell in love with the same man, Angus. And this is their story. But, these aren't just three random women, they are triplets. Identical triplets, no less. It took me no time at all to settle into this story, each character is given their own, standout personality and it was never confusing flitting back and forth between these three characters. I loved reading about each of them in turn, as they all had such different lives and yet those lives all revolved, at one point or another, around the same man.
I did have a favourite character, and it was Rose. It was her journey that I enjoyed reading about the most, and I loved watching her blossom as the book progressed and it was definitely her happiness that I was rooting for the most. It was weird because even though these three characters are obviously all the same age, their personality traits or the way they behaved at times meant that it came across almost as though they were different in age. Rose was portrayed almost like a younger sister sometimes, and maybe this is why I liked her the most. Also, I changed my mind constantly about how I felt about Eliza and Phoebe (and Angus) but I loved Rose the whole way through and that's another reason she was my favourite character. A Paige Toon book isn't complete without a love triangle and that is present here, but again in a more unique way than you might expect and it does (mostly) involved two of the sisters. Eliza was the character who was my least favourite (in the beginning at least) but as I learnt more about her, I have to say I ended up loving her just as much as the other two. I honestly can say no more about this story other than that it completely consumed me over the course of a couple of days, and I couldn't wait to find out how it was going to end.
I was happily plodding along reading this book when I turned the page, read something and had to do a double take and read it again. It just absolutely knocked me for six and it was one of the best surprises I think I've read in a book. Best seems like the wrong word to use but I can't exactly go into detail about why this particular moment in the book was so good (and so shocking). It just added even more depth to the characters and their story, everything just started to make sense and I completely understood the characters even more. As I started to get closer to the end I developed that feeling of dread I always get when I'm nearly finished with a book that I don't want to end, but which at the same time I can't wait to finish, how annoying is that? I'll say nothing other than it was just perfect. Probably one of the best endings to a book I've read recently (or ever). It made my eyes sting a little bit as tears threatened to fall, but only because it was so good, and because I'd completely fallen for some of these characters and their stories. This is Paige Toon's tenth (adult) novel, and I can say with no hesitation it is one of her best. She is one of the best writers writing in this genre today and all I can say is roll on book number eleven!
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