I'm not sure why I downloaded another David Nicholls book to listen to when I wasn't too keen on Us, which I had "read" just a few weeks ago, but when you're checking out audio books on line, you don't always have a great selection, so . . .
One Day is the story of Emma and Dex, who find themselves in bed together (though not having sex) the night of their college graduation in 1988. Emma is a serious girl--perhaps too serious--and Dex is a golden boy. However, as Nicholls checks in on their lives and friendship once a year, on the anniversary of that first night spent together, Emma gradually fights through a series of bad jobs and a few bad boyfriends to find success, while Dex, who has some early success as a television presenter, spirals downward into alcoholism and drug abuse.
When the book reaches what seems to be its climax, Nicholls doesn't wrap it up, instead returning to the days following Dex and Emma's first meeting, as well as extending forward a few years in anticlimactic fashion.
While Emma is a fairly likable character, one has to wonder at her loyalty to Dex, who is thoroughly disagreeable. Despite some humor, it's a relationship that offers little reward to the reader (or at least this one). Hmm...a disagreeable main character, humor that fails to redeem--sounds a lot like Us. I think this will be my last David Nicholls.
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