‘One Day’ has had great reviews…..

‘The ultimate zeitgeist love story for anyone who ever wanted someone they couldn’t have’

‘The novel of the year – a brilliantly funny and moving will-they, won’t-they romance’

‘You’d be hard pressed to find a sharper, sweeter romantic comedy this year than the story of Dex and Em’

And here’s Jonathan Coe in The Guardian….. ‘Hard to imagine anyone encountering characters as well drawn as this and not recognizing the extraordinary talent of the writer who has created them.’

Well, here I am! I’m the one. It’s pure sentimental tosh, written in an ‘aren’t I clever?’ style which I’m surprised everyone can’t see through. Did I enjoy it overall? Yes. Could I put it down? No. Do I think David Nicholls is a great writer? No. Is it a classic or an airport read? The latter. Are all the characters convincing? No. Do I think it’s particularly clever to load the story with descriptive details which show that Nicholls is a real whiz in knowing what songs were popular when, which drugs were it, which foods were to the fore, quite frankly NO. I find all this incredibly patronising and insufferably boring.

Book critics aren’t what they were.