I really wanted to like this book because I've enjoyed Emily Giffin's books in the past. But it was terrible. At first I thought maybe it was just because I'm not a football fan, but the characters are all horrible and poorly developed and (spoiler) I just rolled my eyes every time Shea talked about dreamy Coach Carr. Ick.

Too much football and a slightly incestuous-like relationship ruin this book. The characters are great on their own, but their relationships and the story in general don't feel authentic. It is actually a bit disturbing, if you really think about the true dynamics/power structure of it all.

3.75 StarsOne of my best (real life, gasp!) friends loves this book and loaned it to me while we were on vacation not too long ago...I personally enjoyed this one, although I know a lot of people won't and haven't; however, there was just a lot about it that spoke to my own personal nostalgia.Football...the college sports atmosphere...weird family dynamics and grief...Plus, I always love a May December romance, even the icky ones. Because I'm just standard-less that way...But I digress. This was...

Make this "The One & Only" Emily Giffin book you never read.

I really wish the story hadn't gone there.

I was expecting a beach read, definitely not. Had a looming sense of dread / discomfort through most of the book, and only finished it to find out what happened. Blech.

On the surface, Emily Giffin's The One and Only is a bit outside my usual reading comfort zone. My wife lovingly teased that I was reading "romance" and "chick lit" as I read the book over the course of a couple of days, neglecting several other more "manly" novels like a Michael Connelly mystery and the latest installment from the Dresden Files.As I've stated before, I find it frustrating when we (readers, authors, marketers, book stores, libraries, etc) have to create such a niche for reading

I am a female sportswriter like Emily Giffin's main character, Shea. Even if I enjoyed the characters and plot development in this book (which I didn't -- a surprise considering how much I loved those in Giffin's other books), I would have still despised the way Giffin portrayed my profession. Actually, the way she portrayed female sports fans in general was insulting. Not all women who know and like football want to date star athletes/coaches. Female sportswriters are professionals, too, and ha...

Emily Giffin's talent is writing books with characters I absolutely hate and have no respect for, and make me feel like I need a shower to wash the disgust I have for them away. I honestly don't get the popularity of her books. I thought Something Borrowed was shallow and had selfish protagonists but this one beats that hands down. This book was boring, the main character completely unlikeable and self-centered, and I couldn't wait to finish it hoping that it wasn't going down the way it was hin...

Just remember, ladies, if a man has a really important football game to win, nobody cares if he raped you! That's just one of the many things I learned from this terrible book.

Ugh. Is Emily Giffin a misogynist? This book was awful. The storyline itself could have been salvaged, perhaps, if Giffin had ever decided to delve into the puzzle she created about Walker University's misconduct investigation by the NCAA. But she left that thread hanging with absolutely no resolution. Instead she decided to reward Walker with a NCAA football championship and excuse its' pretty awful behavior. Giffin sabotaged it the most by having the protagonist decide it was okay to let her s...

I'll be honest, I was prepared to hate this book. Emily Giffin's work and I have a relationship in which I go in expecting absolute drivel and she either, a.) surprises the poop out of me and I enjoy the book (Hello, "Something Blue," "Where We Belong" and "Love the One You're With"), or b.) I curse myself for spending the money on exactly what I knew I'd be getting (everything else she's written). It's this sort of question mark that keeps me buying her books. I don't know why. And I read them

What the friggidy frack did I just read?? It was like a really bad episode of Friday Night Lights... Wait, no. That's insulting to Friday Night Lights. I was so looking forward to the release of this book, but it was terrible. A main character that I couldn't connect with, a completely underdeveloped supporting cast, and a bizarre plot with too much random (and sometimes disturbing) stuff crammed in. Overall, 2 giant thumbs-down - and I have a feeling many fans are going to be just as disappoint...

Ugh. No.For the sake of spoilers, I'll just say that this book was definitely a page turner. I couldn't wait to see what happened next, but that's because I was waiting for it to get better. There was a glimmer of hope at page 400 out of 413, but it reverted back to it's crappy self. I'm disappointed, I generally enjoy Emily Giffin books, but this definitely left something to be desired. It wasn't well written, the character development was sub par, the author seemed to be flippant about serious...

I love Emily Giffin, but WOW this was a complete misfire. The main character was dull/barely changed over the course of the book, the romance was shockingly more bothersome than her previous love stories of stealing your bff's fiance, and the central mystery of the novel was never resolved. (view spoiler)[Why is the NCAA investigating Walker? Now that Shea knows about Ryan's past, she really would rather REMAIN QUIET IN ORDER TO SAVE WALKER'S REP than use her journalistic integrity and expose hi...

Here is what I learned from reading this book:1. Emily Giffin's favorite word is "smirk." Her characters do a *lot* of smirking. If Emily had been allotted a certain number of uses of the word "smirk" (or "smirked" or "smirking") for the duration of her life, she would have used them all up in the 413 pages of this book.2. Fictional Texans who treat football as a religion are almost as annoying as Texans who treat football as a religion IRL.3. Ms. Giffin needs to learn that the phrase has to do

I was UBER disappointed in The One and Only. I am a huge Emily Giffin fan. Have read all her books and have even met her twice. I also happen to LOVE football. LOVE. Even went to the NFL Draft in early May. You'd think combining two things I thoroughly enjoy would be a good thing. Nope, I was very, very wrong. While, I did enjoy the name dropping of Jon Gruden (hee!) and that Coach Carr happened to be a closet GB Packers Fan (Go Pack Go!) AND that my Aaron Rodgers was named the best QB in the le...

GAH. I ended up staying awake until 3AM finishing this book last night (a terrible habit I have when it comes to my favorite authors) and am still at a loss of how to rate it. Being a gigantic fan of Emily Giffin’s first three books, and not omgloving her last three – I thought this was one of her best (if not thee best) written books. That being said, I am a football fan but the detail and constant football talk was even a bit too much for me. I couldn’t put it down, but more so because it was

Disappointing. Weird relationship storyline-could not get over that age difference and fatherly role.

Thoroughly disappointing. I eagerly looked forward to it showing up on my doorstop this week, as I've loved and own most of Giffin's previous books - not to mention I was in serious need of a feel-good read. But this one felt completely different from her others. I felt like I was reading a diluted book version of the TV series Friday Night Lights, except Tami was dead and Lyla fell in love with Coach Taylor, then acted indignant when Julie thought it was weird. Beyond that, though, the characte...