One Day by David Nicholls

Now a major Netflix series; 448 pages; Published by Hodder - 04/02/10; Dimensions: 13.8 x 2.9 x 19.7 cm

A re-read for me ahead of indulging in the Netflix series. I first read this book back in 2010 when I was going through a very traumatic time. 2010 was an extremely poignant year for me. I was kind of free from a bad situation, and also I met my best friend, whom I married two years later, and whom I have two amazing and beautiful children with.

This story stuck with me and emotionally ruined me for a while and that wound with time started to heal until I scratched open again by binging the Netflix series in one day (no pun intended). For a book to affect me in that way and stay with me means the author has got something and done something amazing. Please watch for space for a review on the Netflix series.

I simply fell in love with two main characters and I was rooting for both of them, and also screaming at them in my head too at times. I did have inklings of what was to come of them. Of course, I didn’t see a sucker punch.

I always thought the cover was unusual for its time, 14 years ago, as back then there were very few bright orange book covers and that seems to still be the case today. Also the cover with the two faces facing each other always reminded me of those ambiguous images optical illusions, the type psychologists ask you what do you see, and this one of course reminds me of the one of the vase you see in the space between the two faces. 

From the cover picture and colour choice I could not work out all those years ago whether this was a serious book more light-hearted or even its genre, is it YA or adult? I feel now having read and re-read that it wouldn’t really be suitable for YA of 12 to 18 years, perhaps 16 years plus given a subjects covered.

It is very rare I read a book again as I feel life is too short and I was just so much I want to read. I have many titles patiently waiting and have been on my to be read bookcases for many years and reading 150 to 200 books a year still doesn’t get through the backlog as I’m a sucker for new releases. To try and help with this I have tasked myself with each month, trying to read one older title from those piles of books.

The reason I have such a backlog is that unfortunately for 20 years I had health conditions that made it difficult for me to read more then 5 or 6 books a year so naturally being such a book lover that depressed me and the backlog built up. That is why you will see some more reviews featuring the odd older title. Also, as I’m quite new to blogging and Substack, you’ll see my book reviews going up that I wrote over the last few years as I reviewed all the books I read from the past few years in a notebook to which I am now up to getting out there.

I kept One Day as I felt at some point it would be great for my kids to eventually read. In 2010 my eldest child was only five then three and a baby so this book most definitely had an impact on me to want to keep for my kids for the future. My youngest at the moment is five and it seems strange to think I’ll hold onto books for her for a good 14 years or so. Also the fact that my copy of One Day has survived six house moves and not many books have been kept and moved with me that many times. It is also surprising that after all that moving about this book cover isn’t too bad.

This cover has a soft feel to it very paper like feel it could easily damage should you spill anything or a drop of water or anything like that would certainly mark this book. I do try and look after my books as best as possible, but sometimes it can’t be helped and they do get bashed about a bit, especially if you’re on a book for a long time. 

The text in this book does seem quite small and takes up most of the page which can seem daunting. However the way it’s written, I found once reading it does flow quite easily. I like the page breaks where it states the years covered and the ages of the characters it covers. I also like on this page too it has quotes from famous authors that seem to fit in what is to come.

I do strongly recommend if you are going to watch Netflix series you give yourself just one day (excuse that pun again) to read the book first if you can and please do let me know how you get on.

Much love, Holly.