Excited to delve into the inner workings and behind the scenes of a reality TV dating show, I was sure this would be a fun and quick read. However, I was sorely mistaken. It began with promise. Life was not going the way Emily wanted it to with a boring job she did not feel comfortable in and was recently fired from. She is stopped on the street to come and take part in a screening to become a contestant on the dating show The One. She figures what the heck; she has nothing better to do.

The story is told from Emily and her producer's perspectives. While at first Emily seems confident, her character quickly spirals into not knowing who she is and reliving her past through sections that bog the story down. There was so much more the author could have done with the supporting characters to make this much more interesting. Instead, we get more of the same past remembrances and present life changes that seemingly come out of nowhere. It seems the author wanted to address current social issues more than tell a tale that could have been more exciting and humorous. This just was not what I was expecting.

Thank you to Putnam and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my own.

A razor-sharp and seductively hypnotic debut novel about the very fantasy of falling in love.

I wanted to read this book because it was a take on reality dating shows like the Bachelor, which I love. But it is so much more. It's about a woman who wants to be seen. She decides to "fall in love" with The One to get attention. But what she learns is so much more about herself and what she really wants. She bucks the system and hopefully we can see a fruitful end to her journey.

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinusa for letting me review this ARC.

I gobbled down this book in 24h. It was literally nothing like I expected and I had a good time with it.

Considering I have never watched one of the marriage/dating reality shows, I went as blind as Emily on what could happen. "The One" had layer of depth that I didn’t expect - Emily bringing discussions about being a woman in a man’s world, giving in to her desires or following “the right path”, discovering more of herself when faced with the opportunity to make someone fall in love with her in selected moments. As a character, I could see the change coming from the beginning, but I didn't believe she was going to follow through with it, with her choices, so I was positively surprised by this aspect.

I liked the side characters, even if some of them I couldn't remember for the life of me. This doesn't bother me because I think it was the goal of the book - in a reality show that intends to have people marry by the end of it, no one is expected to remember the names of 30 women. Miranda, the producer, was an interesting character and I would have liked to get more from her, in particular from her work relationship and how work plays a role in her personal life, something that is only hinted on.

This book is not a romance, even if there are romantic scenes and even one scene that tends towards steamy. The romance scenes were written with a sort of clinical look, less feelings and more descriptions, which made the book flat, but in tone with the overall narrative.

I liked it and I think there is a good audience for this book out there.

Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and Netgalley for the e-ARC for this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

The One is a Bachelor-like reality show, and main character Emily is a contestant. She was recruited at a moment when her life seemed adrift (while in reality, Emily has always been a little bit adrift). Through sly writing and a compelling plot, this book integrates big questions about what privacy means in a time of over sharing, and how an individual’s desires can get muddled by societal pressures. It requires you to figure out the molds you’ve unwittingly cast yourself in and asks what the cost would be to break out of them. Highly recommend!

This one fell a little flat for me. I didn't really connect with any of the characters. As a fan of The Bachelor, I thought I would enjoy more.

For me, this book was a waste of my reading time. I only finished it because it was an ARC. I didn't care about any of the characters, and was bored with them throughout. It all fell flat for me. If you want a razor sharp commentary on the machinations of a ultra-produced Bachelor-like show, watch UnREAL.

Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons via Netgalley for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

The whole plot of this book was amazing, I am not being a fan of the Bachelor because its very demeaning towards women, that’s just my opinion, and I have read a ton of bachelor styled books and I loved them. But this book fell a little short for me, the main character Emily just lost her job, and she meets a production manager who will help her out. So pretty much she’s not going into this for love, but for what?? I loved the behind the scene happenings and makes me look at these match making shows differently. But other than that there was so much going on but it went nowhere for me. I know other readers will love this.

Thanks Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Can Emily find love on The One?

Emily Boylan was a last minute addition to the cast of the reality dating show The One after losing her job. She had no idea what The One was like since she didn’t watch reality television but how hard would it be to go on a dates and possible fall in love with someone who wanted to get married.

What Emily doesn’t know is that she has been preselected to be the one that America falls in love with and hopefully the one that the bachelor gives the golden necklace to.

The One is a take on how far people will go to find love even if it is on a reality dating show!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As an avid Bachelor fan, I always appreciate a story that takes place in a similar world, and "The One" was no exception. A more serious take on the reality dating show (and less frivolous than the real show itself), I loved how Argy really dove into the characters and explored what they were feeling, which is so much more than you would expect. All in all, a smart and tumultuous journey exploring the realities of reality television.

Don't worry about some of the implausibility (i.e. that Emily would be recruited off the street for the show "The One" and all that goes with it) and go with the entertaining look at the business of tv romance. Emily didn't expect to find herself being molded by Miranda as the winner of Dylan, the hot bachelor, but the two of them are locked into a competition against other women and well, all's sort of fair. The thing is, Emily's got something she's mulling over and the experience of being on the show brings it into the forefront. There's a twist here (no spoilers). I never watched the Bachelor or any of its progeny but I was a fan of Unreal (highly recommend btw) and this has those vibes. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is sly and clever and a good send up.

I thought this was a fun read. If you like reality tv then you will enjoy this book. I felt like this was a fast paced read. This is a debut book by Julia Argy and I think this was a great start to her writing. I can't wait to read more from this author. I would definitely recommend this book.



Thank you NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Putnam, G.P. Putnam's Sons for allowing me to read this ARC in advance for my honest opinion.

I had a hard time with this one - probably me and not the book, to be honest. The plot seemed great but I had a hard time getting into it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The premise of this book sounded so fun. I thought I would be delving into the book form of the show UnReal (or, you know, The Bachelor!). From the moment Emily stepped out of the limo in her jumpsuit, I thought I was hooked. Until I found out her age and immaturity, her numerous references to The Bible and Christianity, the random gun control debate and the falling for Sam instead of Dylan. It just was not my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley and G. P. Putnam's Sons for the advanced copy for review.

The One is written like a behind the scenes season of The Bachelor. One guy and a ton of girls all vying for his affection. The MC is one of the girls, Emily, who is on the show because she was seen on the street by her producer. She's tapped as being the one to make it to the proposal and beyond. But when her feelings for another contestant start to take over she has to decide what she really wants.

I did really enjoy this book. I liked the story and the premise. I liked the way it was written. The one thing that brought it down for me was that the MC was so boring. Like she had no personality when I read her on the page. The author tried with one scene when she's making some toast, but honestly that scene and her inner monologue/fantasy was just weird to me. It didn't kill the whole vibe of the book, but she was pretty boring and emotionless.

Other than that, like I said, I did enjoy the book. I liked being behind the scenes of the show and seeing how the different personalities interacted. I would bet it's similar to the real thing and how the show manipulates everything to get the show that they know viewers will want to see.

I would recommend this if you like The Bachelor.

This is what I have been wanting from a Bachelor spin-off -- something that is irreverent and that I wasn't expecting. Unlike the feel good romance of others, this was more biting literary fiction but I enjoyed it a lot. I definitely recommend!

The One comes out next week on April 18, 2023, and you can purchase HERE! I really liked this one!

A cameraman tracks a brunette woman with a pale pink dress as she invites Dylan for a private chat. They walk out of the room holding hands. I've never held hands with someone in our fourth minute of conversation, but I guess this is a place for expanding my horizons.

The One by Julia Argy

Published: April 18, 2023
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Literary Fiction
Pages: 301
KKECReads Rating: 4/5
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.

Julia Argy is a writer from Massachusetts. Her debut novel, The One, is forthcoming from Putnam in April, 2023. She graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Statistics, and from the University of Michigan’s Helen Zell Writers’ Program with an MFA in Fiction.

“Are you ready to find The One?”

Emily was fired from her job and then headhunted to be on a reality dating show. She isn’t sure this is for her, but with nothing holding her back, she figures she will give falling in love a chance.

This was a weird but excellent book. It was engaging and entertaining. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes look at filing a reality show. I liked the characters. The women were all so different and dynamic.

I liked Emily. She was a great leading lady. Her journey was both heartwarming and a little heartbreaking. But I loved exploring her coming into herself and realizing who she is.

I found the humor well-placed throughout the novel. I also enjoyed the staunch stand on women supporting women, primarily when people would rather pit women against each other.

I enjoyed the romantic aspects of this book, and I love how they happened subtly. It was like watching someone fall in love. It was charming.

I found the writing style to be conversational and easy to read. The dialogue was well done. The human element was well represented in every aspect. This is a good book.

Emily, a recently fired administrative assistant, is approached on the street to audition for a Bachelor-like show called The One. Easily moldable, Emily agrees to be on the show and is picked ito be this season’s “One”. The only problem is Emily has way more feeling for one of the other contestants than she does for the poor idiot bachelor. Interspersed between Emily telling the story, is Miranda, her producer, who’s devious win-at-any-cost nature, shows a behind-the-scenes look at the ridiculousness of reality television. The ending isn’t even clear. This book just aggravated me.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons for this e-arc.*

Thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for the ARC of this title.

I was underwhelmed by this - there's something very fun about setting something behind-the-scenes of a show that's Not The Bachelor But Not _Not_ The Bachelor, but I think other books in recent years have had more interesting angles on that particular setup. This didn't feel subversive, but also didn't do anything that unexpected with the tropes it was playing with. I blitzed through this, but I don't feel like it'll stick with me.

Emily has just been fired and doesn't know what she's going to do. Then she's approached on the street to be a contestant on the highly popular dating show, The One. Why not? Days later, Emily steps out of a limo, meets Dylan and all the other girls vying for his attention and love. Emily seems to be into it but over the course of the show, she begins to learn more about herself and what she really wants. And that might not be what the shows producers really want.

I went into this book thinking it would be a formulaic love story and realized the true progression of self discovery the author was unspooling. That being said, I did not feel any connection (ha ha...) to the characters in this book and felt they were very one dimensional. There was a lot of description about the sets in the book and it just seemed to be the author filling in the gaps between her story outline. So "A" happens and I need so many words to get to point "B" and then I have to get to point "C" and so on. The journey of self discovery could have been told in half as many pages because it's not a new idea, just a different way of telling it.

This book was fine but I don't think I would make it point to seek it out,

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The premise of this book is what drew me to it in the first place. I've recently developed a love for stories set in the world of reality TV, and hoped that this rendition would provide some interesting social commentary. However, the attempts at this commentary fell far short of my expectations, and I would ultimately give this 2.5/5 stars. There were certain plot elements that felt completely unnecessary, and I also thought the characterization was insufficient (although, without giving too much away, I did really enjoy the representation). Additionally, while I appreciated the religious commentary in the final 25% of the story, I felt that the mentions of Catholicism and Bible verses were excessive before then. Lastly, I found the ending to be lackluster.

Ultimately, I found the overall story to be underwhelming. That being said, I recognize that this is a debut novel, and look forward to picking up the author's future works as she develops her craft.