RBCxHS December '18: One Day in December

Do you believe in love at first sight? Can one extraordinary moment of eye contact change your life forever?

Image Source: amazon.com

Image Source: amazon.com

One Day in December by Josie Silver is the Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine pick for December 2018! This book is a rollercoaster of sweetness and heartbreak!

Have you ever glanced at someone from a distance and had an intense connection simply based on eye contact? What causes one person’s eye contact to be different from all the others? What does that mean? Is that electric spark causing a visceral reaction because they’re destined to be in your life? Would you attribute that to a higher power, destiny, or a perfect set of circumstances? Are you tired of all of these rhetorical questions? In the case of the main characters in this lovely novel, a moment of eye contact changes their lives in ways that they could have never predicted.

During this entire book, I kept wondering what I would do if I were in the character’s shoes. It made this story incredibly engaging because I wanted to see if my reactions were on par with how the characters reacted. I had to know what was going to happen next because I felt emotionally invested in following this tale through to the end!

As always, I knew nothing about this book before I read it and I loved how pleasantly surprised I was with it. If you’re looking for an engaging story that is relatable, I would definitely recommend this!

my rating:

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*** spoilers ahead ***

Normally, novels about modern characters with modern problems are not my favorite. When this book started, it seemed like another tale about a boy and girl with regular annoying boy and girl problems. I loathe predictable characters who make stupid non-relatable dramatic choices. If you knew how much I hate reality television, that statement would make a lot more sense.

However, once Jack walks into Laurie’s house for the party, I was very excited to see where this story would go. My interest level went from a two to a ten instantly! I could tell by the set up that the story was going to be leading us to that pivotal point but I was still shocked when he walked in! I could not wait to find out if Laurie and Jack were going to keep the knowledge to themselves and how that would affect their friendships. What would I do if I were in that situation? Would I consider my friend’s feelings and completely forget about my year-long search to find the person that I have been convinced was my soul mate after only one glance on a bus? Is my one moment, one insanely deep moment, greater than my friend’s several weeks of dating? Honestly, I probably would have seen his face and reacted instantly. I would have called him Bus Boy in front of my friend and created a massive dilemma between the three of us - but, I’m an asshole. Laurie wasn’t.

What DID make her an asshole was making the decision to stay silent and suffering with it - but, that makes her feel incredibly real and makes her flawed like a real human. Even though I was screaming that she was going to ruin her friendship with Sarah, I was also screaming when Laurie and Jack finally kissed! I felt bad for everyone because there are consequences to breaking trust. In the real world, those consequences are very real and I had a hard time seeing a way out for any of them. That is why I was really happy when Sarah lost her mind the night before Laurie’s wedding because that is exactly how most people would react. I was feeling really guilty that Laurie and I were keeping this awful secret from her. It was a punishment that was deserved and I would have reacted the exact same way Sarah did.

While the story ended beautifully, it was the build-up that really made it sooo much better me. I’m glad that they went through years of heartache because it felt like atonement for their shitty decision to keep their secret and for their secret kiss. They became better people who were in better places in their lives and learned from their many mistakes. Would they have been perfect for each other if Jack would have made it to the bus in time to meet Laurie? Or, did they become each other’s perfect person because they thought they were destined to be together all along and all of their actions were subconscious decisions to support that? I love books that make me think deeper about human connections!

Side Note: I absolutely loved that the novel started with a reference to Love Actually and that infamous “carolers” scene. My husband and I argue about that scene every year and we are constantly challenging each other with different perspectives about it. Mr. San Diego thinks it is absolute crap and firmly believes that the best friend is a giant piece of shit. I, on the other hand, find it incredibly complicated and am fascinated by the struggle that must have been going on in the best friend’s head. If you fall in love with your best friend’s wife, does that make you the biggest ass in the world or is it absolutely tragic? Is your loyalty to your best friend bigger than the loyalty to your own heart? Wouldn’t you have to be absolutely certain that this person is the THE ONE before completely ruining everyone’s lives?! The possible outcomes are endless because the heart isn’t certain. That uncertainty of the heart is part of why I loved this novel. You get a first hand perspective from both parties involved and you see the back and forth of emotions and decisions. Okay, end of side note.

Did you read this book too? What were your thoughts on it? I would love to see what you took away from it! Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

Happy Reading! xoxo

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