Title by Author: The One that I Want by Allison Winn Scotch
Series (if applicable): none
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
Page Count: 270
Source: GoodReads Book Swap
This is a story of a young lady trying to figure out her personal happiness. She thinks that she has the perfect marriage, married to the perfect man of her dreams and has the perfect job. All she needs is the perfect baby to round out the picture. Tilly Everett Farmer lives in the same small town she grew up in, and has no intention of leaving. Why would she? She is a high school guidance counselor at the school where she was a cheerleader, and is in charge of Prom and the school musical every year!
However, at the local July Fourth carnival, she wanders into a tent to be confronted by a friend she lost touch with back in high school. Ashley Simpson was always a little different, and she saw the perfect opportunity to give her old friend a ‘gift of clarity.’
Suddenly, everything isn’t so rosy! When Tilly looks at a photograph of someone, she blacks out and has a ‘vision.’ The only problem with these visions, like photographs, if you don’t know the whole story that the photo captured, you just might misinterpret what is going on! That’s what happens to Tilly. She sees things in the vision, and worries about them until that specific point in time actually unfolds. And they may not unfold as she thought they would.
This is a story about a woman who thinks she has everything to be happy and is forced to look at her life a little differently as her life changes around her. It was a well-done ‘self discovery’ for Tilly, a story of how a woman’s eyes are opened and how she deals with her new life.
I enjoyed the characters very much. Watching Tilly go from perfect ex-cheerleader, where everything was perfect and happy to a lady whose world was unraveling around her and her language and attitude change because of it. The author had a way of succinctly capturing moments and the reader could picture herself in those scenes very easily. However, it seemed that the language/word choices were off at times. It was almost like the author was trying too hard to make images or emotions stand out.
One thing I truly enjoyed about the story was the bits and pieces of ‘wisdom’ throughout the latter half of the book. There are thoughts about happiness, and how, as Tilly’s world change, so do her attitudes towards happiness. She remains an optimist and she is moving forward with her life.
Note: The title is based on the play ‘Grease,’ the musical that is featured in this story.
4 Stars
Favorite Quotes: There were several quotes that I liked from this book. Here they are:
Pg 114: Because happiness isn’t a goal, isn’t something I strive for. It simply is. My life is happiness; I choose for my life to be happiness, whatever that means, however that is defined.
Pg 210: I have waited for happiness to come to me because I know that it is out there; I know that it is something I have earned! Every cell has wanted to quit, to say, “Well, screw you, happiness, you’ve certainly worked your lot on me,” but I have forced myself not to crumble when faced with bleakness! I have forced myself to believe that happiness isn’t in permanent remission for me!
Pg 219: …I realize that lessons are meant to be learned, honored even, or else you can spend your life running so far from them that you erect a false existence around the very thing you should be embracing.
Pg 253: I would tell her, I think, standing here in the hallway, as I feel the damp spread of tears across my cheeks, that life is limitless, that fear is conquerable, that if you stay concealed in the shadows, you’ll never be seen….I would tell her many things…that the years are long and the road is winding and that dreams float out there to be captured, but only if you’re brave enough to reach up and grasp them.
Pg 270: There is the before. And then there is the after. Happiness is what you choose, what you follow, not what follows you. These are the things I have seen, these are the things I now know, these are the things I will carry with me as I go.
Rating: 4 stars
Tag: discovery, contemporary, magic, family
