Book Review: The One That Got Away by Lucy Dawson

Molly Greene loves being married to her husband Dan, and thinks that the pair of them have a pretty perfect life. They both have good jobs, a nice house, and are both still very much in love. However, when Molly finds one of her ex-boyfriends on Facebook, she can't resist sending him a little message to say hi. She doesn't realise though that it is going to set off a chain of events which just might ruin everything Molly has ever worked for, and might push her beloved Dan away for good. Molly knows she has made a huge mistake contacting him again, but she can't take it back, so what is she going to do? Hide it from Dan and hope it never gets out, or tell him the truth and face up to the fact he might leave her forever? And what happens when Molly can't shake him off? How far will he go to get Molly back for good?

This is author Lucy Dawson's 3rd novel, and luckily for me, she seems to be getting better and better with each book. I didn't like her first novel at all, but thought her second, What My Best Friend Did, was fantastic. It was a gripping sort-of thriller and really kept me guessing until the very last page which was great. Dawson seems to enjoy doing these edgy chick lit novels, not something you would usually expect in the genre but it really fits in well and seems to be popular too - after all, no one else seems to write books like these at the moment, and that is where I think Dawson has got her edge. When I first saw the cover of this book, I was really disappointed because it looked a bit bland, and after reading the book, I think it definitely deserves a much better cover than it has been given!


The book begins introducing us to Molly, the lead character of the book who we follow throughout. Her and husband Dan are very much in love, and this is what makes Molly's actions even worse if you like. However, how many of us can say we haven't looked up an ex on Facebook or other social networking sites to see what they are up to, and perhaps even sent them a message just to say hi? Dawson brings social networking sites to the front of this book by making this the tool which starts everything off between Molly and Leo. Molly just can't resist looking up her ex-boyfriend after her friend mentions seeing him on there, and then she does something which she will regret forever - she messages him.But Molly isn't aware of the chain of events her message is going to set off, and that is what makes this book such a great read.

The level of suspense is really kept up through the whole book because we are constantly wondering if Molly is going to trip up and reveal her dirty secret to husband Dan, or if Leo is going to keep his promise to Molly and reveal all to her husband for her. I was actually feeling nervous in parts that something awful was going to happen because of the way Dawson builds up a scene, and I found the way she wrote Molly with her nervousness and paranoia makes it all the more nerve-racking to read because you start to feel just like Molly does, only without the guilty secret of course! Even up until the final scene, I wasn't sure how it was going to work out for Molly, whether she would get happy ending or not and I enjoyed how this was left in limbo because it really kept up the suspense.

The writing in this book is really fantastic. The story moves along at a good pace that keeps your attention all the way through, and by the time the exciting part of the story comes around, you are already hooked because you want to see what is going to happen - it's a bit like car crash TV - you don't want to watch anymore but can't quite bring yourself to stop, and that's what this book is like. The characters are all really well written, Molly in particular is so well written that I was feeling her nerves and angst along with her. I did feel extremely sorry for Dan in this book, he is madly in love with his wife and seems to have no idea what is going on behind his back, and I felt sorry for that. Leo is utterly, utterly hate-able, one of the worst and most awful male characters I have read in a long time in chick lit  but that is what makes the book so utterly compelling! It is a fantastic read that I really couldn't put down, and would actually read again - not something I say about many books. Fantastic, you must read this book!

Rating: 5/5