One by One by Freida McFadden is the nineth book I've read by her. While I enjoyed One by One, it wasn't my favorite read by Freida. The twist at the end wasn't as spectacular as some of the others have been. The paperback version is hitting stores April 2, 2024, so look for that in your favorite retailer (not sponsored)! From this point on, the One by One review will contain spoilers. So if you haven't read it yet and you want to, come back later, or scroll to the bottom to read my thoughts.
One by One Summary
One by One starts out with Claire and Noah, who have been married since college. They have two kids, Aidan and Emma, and they seem to have a decent life. But Claire hates him. He isn't what she expected all these years, and Noah never helps out at home. Claire and Noah are meeting up with their four friends, Jack, Michelle, Lindsay, and Warner. Jack and Michelle are married, and Lindsay and Warner are dating. Emma doesn't want her parents to leave, claiming they will get eating by a monster. It is revealed that Jack and Claire are having an affair, behind their spouses backs. Early on, we also learn that Lindsay has an hidden agenda, but we don't know what it is. The group leaves anyway, but when their van breaks down in the middle of nowhere, things get difficult. Everyone begins to get picked off one by one, until all of the secrets are revealed.
A good portion of the book is told from an anonymous perspective, but we don't find out who it is until the end. Anonymous has a difficult life. Their mother hates them, and is constantly abusing them. She leaves them in a hot car, tried to kill them with berries, and left them out in the cold as punishment. One time, they were out with their dad learning how to shoot, and they almost shot their mom. Their dad was constantly leaving for work, leaving them to deal with their mom alone. But after accusing their dad of cheating on her with her sister, her mom decides to take too many pills. Instead of trying to save her life, they just let her die. Later on in college, they find out their dad really was cheating on her. So they push him down the stairs. But not before their reveals they've killed before (Snowball, the family cat) and hurt someone at school.
Back to the woods, their transportation down, the group decide to hike and try to find the hotel they were going to stay in. Lindsay is the first to go down, after she eats some berries that were poisonous. Next Michelle goes missing, and all they can find is blood. At this point the men all suspect there's something wrong with Warner's map and Jack's compass. Jack has also packed a gun, which has brought some contention. Shortly after, Warner goes missing too.
Despite this, they manage to find an abandoned cabin. They find a half-eaten sandwich and water on the table, but they're too thirsty, hungry, and exhausted to care. Jack finds the body of the cabin owner in his truck with a stab wound. The three of them are terrified, but they decide to try and sleep anyway. Throughout all of this, Noah and Claire reconnect, and Noah tells her he knew that she was sleeping with Jack. She is seemingly forgiven very easily, and Noah tells her he also kissed someone, but doesn't share who. Claire also finds a pocket knife in Noah's pocket, but she puts in the drawer and although she is beginning to suspect her husband, she doesn't think much about it.
The next morning, Noah and Claire wake up to Jack missing. Claire goes to look for him, and find him in the cab next to the dead cabin owner, with a gunshot would. As she finds Jack, Warner shows up with Jack's rifle. He leads Claire back to the cabin where Lindsay is clearly alive, and is aiming a gun at Noah. Although I assumed Anonymous was Noah. But it turns out, Anonymous is Lindsay! And she's actually insane. She's killed many people in her lifetime, including one of Claire's ex-boyfriend's for cheating on her. She met Warner (actually named Donald Regis) on a forum a long time ago, and they came up with this plan of punishing Noah and Claire. Oh, and the girl Noah kissed was Lindsay. Lindsay turns on Warner and murders him too. Fortunately, Noah is able to use the knife to maim her. She drops the gun, and Noah shoots her. In the epilogue, Claire finds the magnet in Noah's sweatshirt, and it makes her wonder if Noah was part of it. In Lindsay's part, it's revealed she put it there and knows Claire will never be able to let it go.
Alycia's Thoughts
I've already shared that One by One wasn't my favorite Freida McFadden novel. I didn't like the ending, and honestly, it took me a few days to get through it. This is lowest I've ever rated a Freida McFadden book, but One by One gets three stars from me. I think this was one her earlier published novels, and maybe that's why it feels so different. Have you read One by One? Did you like it? Let me know in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe for more Freida McFadden content.
-xx Alycia
P.S.
If you're interested in Cultivate What Matters products, use my link for 10% off with discount code ALYCIAPLANS
Check out one of my favorite planners here (Ashley Shelly): https://ashleyshelly.com/ref/103/
And here (Silk + Sonder): https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1461423&u=3765598&m=93424&urllink=&afftrack=
And here (Laurel Denise): https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=1858024&u=3765598&m=115887&urllink=&afftrack=
*I earn commissions from my sponsored links*
