Dexter and Emma met during college, bonding over one awkward night the day following graduation. One Day explores their friendship during the course of their growing up, each chapter occurring on July 15th as the years progress. (Hence the title.) It's a really great concept. It rapidly progresses through their twenties and thirties, and before you know it they're middle-aged with no idea what they're doing. Much like everyone else. 
 I really enjoyed part one, during the era of their twenties. It felt real to me; they struggled with jobs and identities and still couldn't quite figure out who they were to one another. Are they in love or not? Should one really be jealous when the other starts seeing someone? And what the heck are they going to do with their lives? 
 After that, though, I lost interest. Dexter starts doing drugs and having orgies, and Emma lives in her pristine little apartment and drinks water from a carafe. (Yes, I remember the carafe most of all. It's mentioned several times.) And it feels like their vast personality differences are deliberate, and they both become really dull. Dexter has issues, Emma wants to be a writer. That about sums up their thirties. 
 A note on Emma: It really feels like I should be able to relate to her. She's a single woman, an aspiring writer, and has all sorts of grand ideas. Sound familiar? But I couldn't connect to her at all, and this bothers me. It's like she was given these characteristics but no accompanying personality. 
 I didn't completely dislike it, and there were moments that made me laugh and felt genuine. But by the time I got to their forties, it was dull. Nothing surprised me, and I felt little emotion when it ended. It tried too hard to be a romantic comedy, or drama, or something. I'm not really sure. Maybe that's my issue.