Soon to be a major Netflix Original seriesA Wall Street Journal Best Science Fiction Book of 2018“Just try to put this gripping thriller down once you pick it up.” —AARP“A shock on every other page.” —Wall Street JournalHow far would you go to find The One?A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner—the one you’re genetically … would you go to find The One?
A simple DNA test is all it takes. Just a quick mouth swab and soon you’ll be matched with your perfect partner—the one you’re genetically made for.
That’s the promise made by Match Your DNA. A decade ago, the company announced that they had found the gene that pairs each of us with our soul mate. Since then, millions of people around the world have been matched. But the discovery has its downsides: test results have led to the breakup of countless relationships and upended the traditional ideas of dating, romance and love.
Now five very different people have received the notification that they’ve been “Matched.” They’re each about to meet their one true love. But “happily ever after” isn’t guaranteed for everyone. Because even soul mates have secrets. And some are more shocking than others…
A word-of-mouth hit in the United Kingdom, The One is a fascinating novel that shows how even the simplest discoveries can have complicated consequences.
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The book is an easy read, but it’s too predictable. The author tries to let readers follow several couples, where DNA testing – shows them to be their “one and only” perfect match. Not very realistic. Some characters are believable, but others “drag” for too long.
In the end, I absolutely love the line that John Marrs toed with ethical dilemmas and questions about morality in this novel. I don’t think I would believe in a business that claims you can only love one person because it’s simply not true. The person who you choose, who you decide to cultivate a relationship with, who you choose to work with on that relationship is the person who you’ll love. Relationships take time, energy, and most of all, patience. They don’t just work out because you’re supposedly “made for each other.” If you don’t put effort into a relationship, it simply just won’t work.
Favorite quote: “‘In my spare time, I question how the Galactic Empire built the Death Star without the rest of the universe noticing. Meanwhile, you’re out there finding genes nobody knew existed.’”
This book! First John Marrs book I’ve read, but I can promise all his others will be on my “to be read” list now. I was a little worried it might be hard to follow because the story is told from several different viewpoints, but the characters were so rich and well developed it was not a problem at all. If you are in a “reading rut”, this one will fix that. It is thought provoking and makes you stop and consider what we may not know yet about our DNA and how it binds us to others. It also makes you think about nature versus nurture with more than one of the characters. If you like the interwoven details of a physiological thriller, dive in in to this book now!
What a fascinating idea for a story, and so well written!
A wickedly fun page turning thriller! I really enjoyed following the character’s lives and relationships.
The dark ironic humor made me laugh, the suspense and twists shocked me. And by the end, I was rethinking the entire premise of the book. It was a fantastic spin on relationships, and the lengths people will go in order to find and be with “the one”. A very entertaining and unusual book.
I hope the upcoming screen adaptation can effectively capture the storyline’s substance and essence!
The One is an interesting book with a twist on match making. This book got me at page one and I couldn’t put it down. I highly recommend.
A very unique book to read!
This book hits the ground running and doesn’t stop. The chapters are short which always makes me happy. The characters experiences will have your emotions all over the place! My only question is when will it release on Netflix?!?!
I enjoyed it! It’s a little scary to think about, which is the point. Unprrdictable ending!
Excellent work with so many curveballs. Makes you really think about the possibilities. Great characters.
I really liked this book, it was different and scary. This may be the next new thing. I hope not!
Better than the TV show based on the book (Soul Mates on AMC). Such original situations I didn’t see coming.
This was a great read! I loved the way the author wove together 5 or so different stories of people having a similar experience, but with VERY different results. It was a page-turner right up until the end.
Very interesting!
The gene has been discovered that allows you to find the one perfect match in the whole world. The book has five storylines. I found the book thought-provoking and very engaging.
This is not an action-adventure type of book. Yes, I was surprised there was a serial killer in the book, and there was some action, but to me, the appeal of the book was the storylines. Since the storylines alternate, you are left with cliffhangers and you have to wait for a few chapters to see where it picks up again. That made it very suspenseful.
Don’t expect a big finish with all the storylines coming together, but they do intersect and each of the endings to me was satisfying.
It takes place in England and a little in Australia.
I really liked this book because it was different. It made me think!
Mike Slavin
Author of award-winning thriller Kill Crime
“The One” by John Marrs, Hanover Square Press, London, 2018
I highly recommend this book. I’ve never been so completely enthralled by a psychological thriller before. In the story, a company guarantees they can identify your one true soulmate with a DNA test. Millions of people apply and proclaim wonderful results, but the book follows the results for only five couples. True to form, people can and do mess up what seems like the simplest proposition.
The science behind the story isn’t bad. It’s known that people and animals are more sexually aroused by mates that have dissimilar genes for major histocompatibility factors (MHC, proteins important in matching people for transplants), apparently through the pheromones we produce. Most people also avoid sex with people they were raised with. Both tendencies help to avoid inbreeding (it would be great if it also avoided political arguments at Thanksgiving, but that’s too much to ask.)
In the story, it’s asserted that for each person there is only one other person in the world who has a compatible copy of the mating gene. They may not be of a suitable age, live in the same country, or even be the preferred sex, but each person has only one soulmate. You can imagine the problems this would cause. It’s a situation ripe for lies and cheating to interfere.
I literally couldn’t put this down. Devoured the entire thing in one afternoon. I can only praise Marrs for his writing. Every one of his characters felt real and refreshing and distinct from the other. Too often I have read novels with lots of characters and found that they all mix into this narrative sludge and the reader loses track of who’s who and what makes them an individual. This was never a problem with Marrs and, though I’ll admit I did have my favourites, I did enjoy every one of the storylines, both rooting for and against them.
Marrs introduces us to a world where scientists have isolated the gene that matches you with your soul mate. Millions of people have sent their DNA off to this company and eagerly await a notification that lets them know the person they are genetically predisposed to spend the rest of their life with. Marrs gives us a snapshot of several individuals that have done just this and found out that they have been matched, in various different positions in their lives and relationships, Marrs shows both the wonder and the problem of being told who you are supposed to be with. Marrs makes you question what love truly is and whether we can convince ourselves that something is meant to be simply because it seems better than how our life has been.
I loved some of the commentaries that Marrs made in this about what it truly means to love and how not all the glittery things in the world are for the best or have our best intentions at heart. I have got to say there were moments where I was shocked at the path some of the story’s ended up taking, things get dark really quick.
I would totally recommend this read, the chapters are all really nice and short and this just makes the book feel all that more urgent, leaving loose strands of a story dangling for you to pick up later on. Marrs is a phenomenal writer and I would read his work again in a heartbeat
One of the most interesting premises I’ve come across yet. Using a DNA test to Match everyone to the perfect love of their life. Littered with emotional and ethical dilemmas. Short chapters that keep you hanging out for more and reading way into the wee hours of the night. It follows five different people on their journey to find their Match. If you were happily married and believed you’d met your soul mate, would you take the test to find out if you were actually Matched? I don’t know if I could answer that question. It’s being made into a Netflix series, can’t wait for that one.
Fascinating idea.
If it were not for the unsolved and unfinished ending, I would have given this book a definite five stars. Match Your DNA has been around for over ten years, and millions of people have found their perfect, DNA love match. Your match is The One you are genetically made for. The successes of Match Your DNA have been outstanding, and it is all due to one woman’s discovery of the gene that pairs all of us with our perfect soul mate. The One follows five people who have received notifications they have been “matched”. For a nominal fee, each person finds out who their match is. On the surface, the idea sounds full proof for ensuring everyone has the best relationship. But what happens if you take the test and you find you are not matched with the one you are married to? These are the vengeful people who may just disrupt this perfect “match”. I enjoyed this book all the way through, until the unfinished ending. Quick read too because you don’t want to put it down!
This book was amazing! Sucked me right in. Very interesting premise. I found it particularly intriguing as DNA testing is all the rage. I didn’t think of it as “science fiction” but I suppose it might actually be.
Seeing the varied reactions of characters was crazy. They took science as gospel and the results are intense. Read this book! Also I read that it is going into screen production! Can’t wait