Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day
By Gayle Forman

Summary:A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay

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.
Review: The more you enjoy a book the harder it is to review. That's why I put off writing Just One Day for a little while. When I finished it I flipped back to read my favorite parts over again. Gayle Forman created  characters and a story that I wasn't ready to leave yet. Plus, she had one of the meanest cliff hangers I've ever read, even though I understand why she put it in there.

What exactly did I like about Just One Day? It was more then just a romance in Paris, it's a novel about discovering who you are. Which is something, as a college freshmen, I can completely understand. Allyson who will be a college freshman after her summer in Europe, is someone that is easy to relate to. She's someone who follows the rules but dreams of far off places and more exciting adventures like I'm sure many other readers do. Her journey in finding herself incredible to read about.

When I first picked up Just One Day, I thought it was going to take place in just that one particular day. I was surprised to find that it actually spans a whole year after that. This novel was more about the effect of that one spontaneous day then the actual day itself. There was a weird transition into the year. Part one (the one day in Paris) took up almost just as much as the whole year did. There were somethings that I felt could have been elaborated on and played out more then they were in the year.

I'm excited to see where Just One Year takes the story. I'm dying to know what happened to William and his side of the story. I hope it answers all the questions that Gaylee Forman left out in the open, and I hope there's a happy ending for all the characters that I grew to love in Just One Day.

**Anyone else motivated to learn a second language after finishing this novel? Just curious because I was!

--Danielle