Customer reviews
4.5 out of 5 stars
521 customer ratings
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Only One Life: A Novel
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Customer reviews
- Only One Life: A Novel
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- Customer reviews
Top positive review
Family Expectations Can Alter One's Future Path
April 24, 2019
Ashley Farley has written a story filled with many unexpected twists and turns. That, in turn, keeps the reader turning pages until sometimes well into the night. The book starts out with a jarring incident right away. That sets the tone for the balance of the book. The main theme is family expectations and how they affect every member of the family not only immediately but also well into the future. Julia is disowned by her father when she gets pregnant in college and marries, in his opinion, beneath her social standing. However, her mother keeps tabs on her through the years without her husband's knowledge. Through a series of events which are both anticipated and sometimes unexpected, reconciliations take place, secrets are revealed, and a path to healing is undertaken by more than one character in this book.
Meet Julia, Iris, Lily, Gus, and Jackson. The reader is also introduced to Julia's father and sister. The author has masterfully crafted their characters to such a degree that I will not even mention their names..
This is Southern fiction written beautifully by a Southern author.
Meet Julia, Iris, Lily, Gus, and Jackson. The reader is also introduced to Julia's father and sister. The author has masterfully crafted their characters to such a degree that I will not even mention their names..
This is Southern fiction written beautifully by a Southern author.
51 people found this helpful
Top critical review
Script for a soap opera
August 25, 2019
This was a tedious trite book written with such melodrama that it could have been written for a soap opera. Julia loses the self proclaimed "love of her life" when he is killed while driving her to the hospital after having so many miscarriages, complete with a horrendous rainstorm during the drive. Penniless, she is forced to move back to her hometown with her parents.
In the following two or so weeks, which comprises nearly the entirety of the novel, she moves out of her parent's home to live with an innkeeper with whom she falls in love in weeks. When she said that, in such a short time, she missed her dead husband less and less each day, it was incredulous to me. You don't stop missing the love of your life every day, but you do get better at living with that loss. Her new love was the son of her mother's best friend and she finds out that her mother had been in love with his father for years.
In that same few weeks, her father is accused of murder in which he framed her mother, dies, her mother is taken to a psychiatric hospital for several breakdowns. she inherits her mother's flower business, finds an empty warehouse, and expands the business, all with her new love dutifully by her side.
There really was no need for an epilogue as the ending was apparent nearly from the beginning. It just became a technicality of actually finishing the book. I wasn't very hopeful that it would get better and it never did.
In the following two or so weeks, which comprises nearly the entirety of the novel, she moves out of her parent's home to live with an innkeeper with whom she falls in love in weeks. When she said that, in such a short time, she missed her dead husband less and less each day, it was incredulous to me. You don't stop missing the love of your life every day, but you do get better at living with that loss. Her new love was the son of her mother's best friend and she finds out that her mother had been in love with his father for years.
In that same few weeks, her father is accused of murder in which he framed her mother, dies, her mother is taken to a psychiatric hospital for several breakdowns. she inherits her mother's flower business, finds an empty warehouse, and expands the business, all with her new love dutifully by her side.
There really was no need for an epilogue as the ending was apparent nearly from the beginning. It just became a technicality of actually finishing the book. I wasn't very hopeful that it would get better and it never did.
4 people found this helpful
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August 25, 2019
This was a tedious trite book written with such melodrama that it could have been written for a soap opera. Julia loses the self proclaimed "love of her life" when he is killed while driving her to the hospital after having so many miscarriages, complete with a horrendous rainstorm during the drive. Penniless, she is forced to move back to her hometown with her parents.
In the following two or so weeks, which comprises nearly the entirety of the novel, she moves out of her parent's home to live with an innkeeper with whom she falls in love in weeks. When she said that, in such a short time, she missed her dead husband less and less each day, it was incredulous to me. You don't stop missing the love of your life every day, but you do get better at living with that loss. Her new love was the son of her mother's best friend and she finds out that her mother had been in love with his father for years.
In that same few weeks, her father is accused of murder in which he framed her mother, dies, her mother is taken to a psychiatric hospital for several breakdowns. she inherits her mother's flower business, finds an empty warehouse, and expands the business, all with her new love dutifully by her side.
There really was no need for an epilogue as the ending was apparent nearly from the beginning. It just became a technicality of actually finishing the book. I wasn't very hopeful that it would get better and it never did.
In the following two or so weeks, which comprises nearly the entirety of the novel, she moves out of her parent's home to live with an innkeeper with whom she falls in love in weeks. When she said that, in such a short time, she missed her dead husband less and less each day, it was incredulous to me. You don't stop missing the love of your life every day, but you do get better at living with that loss. Her new love was the son of her mother's best friend and she finds out that her mother had been in love with his father for years.
In that same few weeks, her father is accused of murder in which he framed her mother, dies, her mother is taken to a psychiatric hospital for several breakdowns. she inherits her mother's flower business, finds an empty warehouse, and expands the business, all with her new love dutifully by her side.
There really was no need for an epilogue as the ending was apparent nearly from the beginning. It just became a technicality of actually finishing the book. I wasn't very hopeful that it would get better and it never did.
August 6, 2019
The story is underwhelming. The characters are basic and one dimensional to the point of almost being ridiculous. For example the "bad" sister is so mean with no explanation. The mother stays with an abusive criminal with no reason for 41 years. I could go on and on with the bad plot line. And I'm not sure what the editor was doing but he or she was certainly not cutting out pointless details that did nothing to either being depth of description or move the story forward. I wanted to like this book based on the sample with its dramatic start but it was a terrible let down.
June 11, 2019
Boring, predictable, happy ever after rubbish
May 8, 2019
This is an easy, light, beach read. The story is predictable, the emotional depth and character development are basic and obvious. This book is like so many...nothing new or original.
May 9, 2019
Ok. It had an interesting but unbelievable plot. It was an easy read but kind of full of poor psychological profiles. Or not! So much about this story is contrived. When I read a story about family disfunction I want to understand the characters. Even the men. I wanted Julia to work out her losses. Julia runs home despite being independent for 15 years . Everyone loves Lily but who is she? We never really get to fall in love with her even though all the characters do. Iris stays with a totally mean man, who was nice in the beginning ? why? Pretty weird reasons. Women who are abused have complex reasons for staying in the relationship,but rarely because she will be accused of murder. What’s the motive ? Falls in love with her best friend’s husband but doesn’t have sex with him because she loves her best friend too much. Her husband kills her lover, has a gun but somehow forces him to take her sleeping pills and then what? Hits him and dumps him in the river but frames his wife? I could go on but it’s so ridiculous. Nothing makes me love these characters -no redemption for Alex or understanding of her hate for her mother except that she’s like her father. Why was Alex mean? Oh because she was a spoiled alcoholic? Where was her value as a woman? did I mention that both of the main characters had happily ever after men rescue them? Yipes
April 28, 2019
I had a really hard time getting into this one and came really close to putting it down a couple of times. Mostly because, at least for close to the first 1/3 of the book, I really didn’t like any of the characters.
Meeting each of the main characters for the first time, I was left with the feeling that they were pretty shallow and self-absorbed. Julia came across as more of an angry, spiteful teenager that had their plans ruined rather than as someone truly grieving a deep loss, so instead of feeling sympathy for her, I just didn’t like her.
Iris wasn’t much better. The beginning of her relationship with Max wasn’t even remotely intriguing or romantic. It felt like she had zero emotional stake in it, but rather was more interested in what she could get out of that relationship; away from her poor upbringing and marriage into a wealthy family. There was absolutely nothing redeemable at all about Max or Alex. Both were horrible. Granted, they kind of are supposed to be, but that didn’t really make things much better. Lily also fit right into the unlikable, self-absorption character theme.
Once a little deeper into the story, you are FINALLY given a different glimpse of at least Julia and Iris and they became a little bit more human, which allowed me to keep reading. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to overcome such a negative first impression. While they were more humanly flawed, they still weren’t overly likable.
This just wasn’t a very satisfying read. The secrets alluded to in the blurb come out early for the reader and don’t feel much like secrets. When they are revealed to the other characters, it really doesn’t amount to much overall drama. With the difficult start and the lack of any kind of connection to the characters, this ended up being a “meh” kind of read.
Meeting each of the main characters for the first time, I was left with the feeling that they were pretty shallow and self-absorbed. Julia came across as more of an angry, spiteful teenager that had their plans ruined rather than as someone truly grieving a deep loss, so instead of feeling sympathy for her, I just didn’t like her.
Iris wasn’t much better. The beginning of her relationship with Max wasn’t even remotely intriguing or romantic. It felt like she had zero emotional stake in it, but rather was more interested in what she could get out of that relationship; away from her poor upbringing and marriage into a wealthy family. There was absolutely nothing redeemable at all about Max or Alex. Both were horrible. Granted, they kind of are supposed to be, but that didn’t really make things much better. Lily also fit right into the unlikable, self-absorption character theme.
Once a little deeper into the story, you are FINALLY given a different glimpse of at least Julia and Iris and they became a little bit more human, which allowed me to keep reading. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to overcome such a negative first impression. While they were more humanly flawed, they still weren’t overly likable.
This just wasn’t a very satisfying read. The secrets alluded to in the blurb come out early for the reader and don’t feel much like secrets. When they are revealed to the other characters, it really doesn’t amount to much overall drama. With the difficult start and the lack of any kind of connection to the characters, this ended up being a “meh” kind of read.
May 4, 2019
I kept reading hoping at the end that the main female characters would gain a backbone and not have a breakdown every time they needed to stand up for themselves, but was sorely disappointed. Boring, longwinded, and predictable. Would it have hurt to have a female character who wasn't a jerk or a passive victim? One of the daughters would have made for a complex and interesting read if her role was better developed, but instead she was regulated to be story's villain. In the case of stronger female characters, they were mostly sidelined and underdeveloped. So glad I didn't pay for this book as it was part of prime reads.
May 29, 2019
Waaaaayyyy to jesus-y and hokey. If I wanted religion/fairy tales, I’d have read the bible. Entirely predictable, your typical “and they all lived happily ever after” cheesy novel. The writing is amateurish and too many unnecessary details are included, things we simply don’t need or want to know about (“the EMT’s...both with brown hair and brown eyes...” .....I DON’T CARE). I’d like back the hours I spent reading this nonsense.
April 23, 2019
Ashley Farley describes herself as writing books about women, for women, and this description certainly rings true. Not long ago, I may have described this particular type of novel as "chick-lit", but I have more recently come to understand that as a pejorative term. I honestly believe that authors of this genre deserve more respect than that. There is clearly an audience for this type of novel, where serious matters are discussed with a sense of levity that provides comfort and knowledge that ultimately everything will work out just fine. For me, personally, there is a bit too much serendipity in the story line, but sometimes, that's just what readers are looking for: the idea that despite unfortunate events in life, there is always hope for a brighter tomorrow. Ms. Farley has managed to accomplish just that, and I can tell that she cares about her characters and topics. Overall, the novel moved along at a good clip and certainly had enough family dysfunction to keep the reader curious and entertained.
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for gifting me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This title will be released on April 23, 2019.
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for gifting me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This title will be released on April 23, 2019.
June 20, 2019
So we start chater 1 with a women who has had 5, FIVE, miscarriages working in a diner, on her feet, having pains. She finally gets home and dispares to her husband,of making it 2, TWO, more weeks, yet wont take off because of MONEY, from a diner. WHAT?! Sorry, it doesnt get anymoe dumb than that. From other reviews I take it that it does, so....delete
