Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Title: Just One Day
Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: January 8th, 2013
Page Count: 368
Buy The Book: Amazon | Barnes and Noble
Rating: 3.5-4/5

Synopsis

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Favourite Quotes

“Part of me knows one more day won't do anything except postpone the heartbreak. But another part of me believes differently. We are born in one day. We die in one day. We can change in one day. And we can fall in love in one day. Anything can happen in just one day.”  

“Or maybe it's not a miracle. Maybe this is just life. When you open yourself up to it. When you put yourself in the path of it. When you say yes.”

“You have to fall in love to be in love, but falling in love isn't the same as being in love”  

Few Wild Words Quickie

A cute read with awesome characters throughout, a wonderful and thoughtful story about self discovery.

My Thoughts

I've read previous books by Gayle Forman and I've enjoyed them. So I had to pick up 'Just One Day' when I got the chance. I had mixed emotions about this book, it was very much a rollercoaster of thoughts.

The first quarter of the book disappointed me, I was already preparing to give the book 2 or 3 stars. I was completely sure it wouldn't be as good as Forman's other books. The book lacked some sort of connection with me and couldn't really hold my attention. I guess there wasn't enough to engage me and keep me reading. However, it wasn't all that bad at the start, Forman created a beautiful description of all the places Allyson visited with Willem and really captured the mood of the different places.

For me, things got A LOT better after the first quarter of the book. One reason was the new characters introduced when Allyson starts College. The new characters were fun and quirky especially D'Angelo (Dee), and as you keep reading you get to know other characters better who gave off a bad first impression like her roommate Kali. There are so many other characters who I loved and they made the book all the more interesting, including the people at the French classes, the people where Allyson worked to save money, the people she met on her second trip to Europe.

The main character Allyson did change through the course of the book, mainly through self-discovery and experience. Allyson did annoy me at times because I felt like sometimes she was overreacting or being stupid but I guess her flaws made her who she was and by the end of the book I noticed a change. One word to describe Allyson by the end of the book would be: Brave.

The ending of the book took me on a journey, it was beautiful and exhilarating. I was feeling the emotions Allyson was, I was cheering her on to achieve what she wanted. The writing was wonderful and thoughtful, it made me think about change, how there is so much you can take from personal experience. The last few pages of the book nearly killed, did there have to be such a painful cliff-hanger?!?!

Then there was the snippet at the end of 'Just One Year', I wanted to cry, there are so many possibilities running through my head right now. I will probably be reading the next book.

I'd recommend the book if you enjoy reading about different places in the world, romance, and if you like books about self discovery. Or just pick it up and give it a try, I think there is something in this book that you'll probably like, even if it's one small thing.

Have you read this book yet and if yes what did you think?