Book Review: The One That I Want

The One That I Want
by Jennifer Echols
ebook, 256 pages
Published December 6th 2011 by Simon Pulse

Summary:

Gemma can’t believe her luck when the star football player starts flirting with her. Max is totally swoon-worthy, and even gets her quirky sense of humor. So when he asks out her so-called best friend Addison, Gemma’s heartbroken.

Then Addison pressures Gemma to join the date with one of Max’s friends. But the more time they all spend together, the harder Gemma falls for Max. She can’t help thinking that Max likes her back—it’s just too bad he’s already dating Addison. How can Gemma get the guy she wants without going after her best friend’s boyfriend?

Review:

Gemma and Addison have been the best of friends since they were ten. Having lost both their fathers in a divorce, Gemma’s mom thought it would be nice for her daughter to have someone to confide into. So ever since then, they did everything together. Or more like, Gemma did everything Addison wanted her to.

In other young adult books, it’s usually the richer ‘BFF’ who gets to order around the other less richer ‘BFF’. But in Gemma and Addison’s case, it’s the other way around. Partially it’s because Addison has always been the more outgoing and pretty one while Gemma has always been ugly, fat friend although she’s lost so much weight now that they’re older. But more than that, it’s because since Gemma’s father left her family, she’s been afraid of being left alone again, so she puts up with Addison no matter how horrible her attitude is.

Gemma and Addison might call themselves bestfriends but inside, they’re best enemies too. They are very competitive with each other. Like when they were kids, they had baton lessons together. When Addison grew tired from it, she quit. But sometime later, when she found out that Gemma was trying out to become a majorette, she did so as well. Addison is also extremely selfish. She says embarrassing things about Gemma in front of her and other people. There’s also a scene where she purposely hit (though not entirely obvious) Gemma on the nose with her baton to embarrass her in front of two hotties. She later dragged Gemma to the boys and started flirting with the guy Gemma had her eyes on. Addison never apologized for hitting her, or for other horrible things she did. She also appears to be extremely ignorant and mostly, just shrugs off the horrible things she’s done.

I think Addison’s attitude is too extreme to be real. It seems as if she was created for the sole purpose of annoying the readers. Gemma, on the other hand, is an okay character. But she isn’t all that easy to like nor was she a relatable character. Though I appreciate the romance between her and Max. The development was smooth and just at the right time. Max’s family is probably one of the very few likable parts in the book. They are very fun and you’ll just want to read more about them. I think the ending is also very fitting for the book. Oh, and did I mention about that hot and heavy scene between Gemma and Max? Well, it was just that. Hot and heavy. But, I’ve always known Jennifer Echols is awesome at writing sexual tension and hot and heavy scenes.
As always, Echols’s books are easy and quick to read. I love her books even though some of them have struck a nerve. I just wish she would start writing about lovable characters instead of dislikable, annoying ones.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars