You're the One That I Don't Want

When I was in high school, I just ate up chick lit. I read pretty much any chick lit novel I could get my hands on, and loved most of them. I envied the romance, the sex, the adventures, and liked to pretend I would get to experience such things some day. As I got older, though, I found that I no longer had a taste for such unrealistic plot lines, which just help to feed high expectations and disappointment with the real world.

You're (Not) the One is about as unrealistic as they come, but in the very best way possible. This definitely falls into the category of chick lit novels that rock, even to my older, more critical eye. For one thing, the whole story is delightfully tongue in cheek. Everything is over the top and poking fun at show more itself. Plus, the whole theme is that sometimes you do get it wrong. Love at first sight does happen here, but it turns out to be a different kind of love, not the good kind. It also doesn't hurt that Lucy is British. I just love the lingo.

This novel definitely has a bit of a Sarah Addison Allen type feel to it, as it has some very light, subtle, adorable magical realism woven throughout. I loved the way the Legend of the Bridge of Sighs functioned in the story and how it all played out. The legend chases Nate and Lucy in incredibly hilarious ways, like jukeboxes and facebook. Really the only thing/person I did not like was Nate, which is okay, because the title tells you right from the beginning that he's not going to work out.

Chick lit is not for everyone, but if you're willing to give it a go, this is definitely an excellent one. Recommended to fans of reading about real life, only with a dash of magic thrown in. show less

At age 19, Lucy Hemmingway kissed her first love, Nate, under the Bridge of Sighs in Venice. According to an old legend, any pair of lovers who kiss under that bridge at sunset will be together forever. Unfortunately, Lucy and Nate must part ways at the end of their magical summer together, and their long-distance relationship eventually fizzles out. Ten years later, Lucy has a wonderful roommate and an exciting job with an art gallery in New York, but she’s never been able to forget about Nate. So when she unexpectedly runs into him again, she’s ecstatic – destiny has reunited them! But the dream soon turns into a nightmare as she realizes that she and Nate have both changed, and they’re not suited to one another at all. Yet show more try as she might, Lucy can’t seem to get rid of him. The old Venetian legend seems to have become a curse, and now Lucy is desperate to break it – especially since she’s met a man who just might be “the one,” and this time it’s for real.

I really liked the concept of this book, which turns the idea of destiny and soul mates on its head. The seemingly romantic idea that nothing can ever part two people in love is more like a horror story in this novel. However, while the concept is original, the execution is pretty much standard chick-lit fare. Lucy is a painfully typical heroine: insecure, flighty, clumsy, and secretly dreaming of a creative career. While I don’t normally mind the formula – sometimes it’s nice to know exactly what you’re getting – it does begin to pall after a while. The other problem I had with this novel is that every “twist” in the plot was telegraphed way ahead of time, so that it was never actually a surprise when it was finally revealed. As a result, the paragraphs of buildup just felt like a waste of time. All in all, this is competently written chick lit, but it never rises above average. show less

This was a fun read, I love it when a book can make me laugh AND tell a great story. It's always a treat to find a twisted love story and Alexandra provides plenty of twists. Read it...you will enjoy it...I promise.


I won this book through a goodreads giveaway and I'm very glad that I did.

I loved the concept behind You’re (Not) the One by Alexandra Potter, so I was really happy when I was able to get a digital advance reader’s copy from the publisher. This novel completely lived up to my expectations. It’s a really fun read that I think everyone can identify with to one degree or another. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=2372

The story itself might be quite good but it's still is quite boring sometimes. The funny thing is that I was like: "I'll just end this chapter but then I'll stop because I'm kind of bored." But everytime a chapter ended something incredible happened which kept me reading on..
Still, I was a little disappointed because I expected more.

This was such a cliched rom-com. I wanted to finish it before I returned it to the library. Lucy, the proagonist, fulfills all the cliches of this genre and manages to be flat and immature in the process. If you're looking for a contemporary romance to read, there are better ones out there.

I just could not get into this book. I really liked the premise but it moved so incredibly slow that I just can't keep trying to trudge through. Oh well.