The One- Storyline and Book Review

A company claims that a simple DNA test can help determine with absolute accuracy who you shall be most compatible with and who your right life partner should be. People could send a sample taken with a swab from the mouth to the company, which would then check its database and send them their match’s details against a payment.

Many people take the test-those who are single and are looking for a partner, those who are happily married but are curious to know if there is someone better than who they have as a life partner, those who are not happy in their marriage and are planning to move out, and many more. This test has made many lives but has also disrupted many. While the company is confident that, in the long run, it would lead to happier lives and lesser separations, what goes without saying is that the price to achieve this has to be paid by many individuals.

The story revolves around five characters who take the test. Among them are – a person who is already happily in a relationship and due to getting married soon, one who has had a failed marriage and multiple miscarriages and is at present alone, one who is bored with her current life and desperately needs a change, one who is a serial killer and one, who is the owner of a large business, who has worked and worked all her life and is now looking to settle with a life partner.

All five stories develop parallelly. Each character does the DNA test, finds their match and goes on to pursue it. Each faces situations they had never anticipated and are forced to deal with circumstances they had not imagined in their wildest dreams. The method of discovering their true love may have been easy, but the path is tricky in more ways than anyone had imagined. After all, deciding to live and spend the rest of your life with a perfect stranger can have some downsides, even if science proves that the two people are made for each other and created by nature to be together.

The author builds the story slowly and takes it cleverly through its twists and turns. Each character is well developed, and although, in the beginning, one may find it hard to remember each character’s name, traits, background story, etc., as the story develops, they become more familiar and relatable.

I found the plot modern and different. Each story is engaging, and despite the ups and downs, the end is happy.