3.5 
 In a world where Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice sees a myriad of retellings, the thing that first caught my attention about The One That Got Away is the fact that it's a retelling of Persuasion. Immediately I thought it was nice to see a different Jane Austen book receive some love. However, in the case of full disclosure, while being supremely knowledgeable about the premise of Persuasion, I have never read the book (I know! For Shame! I will rectify this as soon as humanly possible). Regardless, this fact in no way diminishes my enjoyment of The One That Got Away. What it boils down to it this: 
 Ruby and Ethan met one summer after Ruby graduated college when she was home, just before she was slated to start a new job in New York City. They decided to do the long-distance thing once Ruby left. Everything seemed perfect. That is, until it wasn't anymore. 
 Now, flash-forward ten years later and Ruby and Ethan are brought together again at the wedding of her sister, Piper, to Ethan's best friend Charlie. The first encounter proves to be a bit awkward between them, but as the week plays out leading up to the wedding, Ruby admits, to herself at least, that she still has feelings for Ethan, but does Ethan still have feelings for Ruby? If so, will they be able to work out what happened between them in the past, so they can have a future? 
 The One That Got Away was completely readable for me. Meaning, I didn't have to force myself to pick it back up after setting it down. And I was genuinely looking forward to seeing how everything played out in the end. There's a lot that was left unsaid between Ruby and Ethan from so many years ago, and Melissa Pimentel offers readers glimpses of the "Then" mixed in with the "Now". I enjoyed the back-and-forth, seeing how things progressed leading up to Ruby and Ethan breaking up interposed with what is happening with them now, seeing if they can get back together again. 
 However, most of the time, I found it difficult to actually like Ruby. She's closed off to the point where she comes across a little snippy and judgmental, and sometimes just plain mean to those around her. We see this as she deals with other people in the wedding party. There's a reason for this (all linking back, of course, to the events that lead up to the break-up), but I felt like the quirks about her personality were almost taken too far. When she does show that she is an actual nice, compassionate person, I liked her a lot more. I think we could have still understood how / why Ruby somewhat shut down without so much snark about her. But this may also be because we only get her point of view in the "Now" portions of the book. There's no one else to soften her character for us by taking the spotlight. 
 While Ruby was a bit of a hit-or-miss for me, I really loved Ethan throughout the whole book. This again, is probably because we only get his perspectives in the "Then" sections of the book, plus in some well-place email correspondence sections. We don't get in his headspace too much, like with Ruby, but we clearly see how much he loved Ruby back then. Part of the anticipation of waiting to see if Ethan and Ruby can be together again is the fact that Ruby (and therefore readers as well) don't know what Ethan is thinking in the present. He's kept somewhat of a mystery while we piece together all the information. 
 Overall, I found The One That Got Away to be a pleasantly sweet read. A good, quick read that doesn't take itself too seriously.