Review: Just One Day

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Publisher: Dutton
Published: January 8th 2013
Pages: 368
Source: Bought
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Self-Discovery
Goodreads

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.

I head so many great things about this book when it first came out and I just had to have it. I ordered it and began it immediately. Though I do agree that this book is better than some, I didn't really think it was as awesome as some people made it sound, several aspects of the book that people though were really good I didn't think were all that exceptional, though I do see the appeal.

Allyson (Lulu) was the main character in this book. I liked her, she wasn't spectacular. I often questioned her motives on some things, or what was going on with her in some situations where she reacted quite strangely. I felt like I never really knew who she was, which is a main aspect of the story, but it also makes her quite a hard person to figure out.

One of the major aspects of this book was the romance. The book works with the idea of love at first sight, and toys with the question of weather or not someone can fall in love in a day. I was really worried that the story would involve insta-love and it wasn't too bad. I do think that the relationship was a little too short to involve love, but it wasn't the worst case I've read. I wish that there had been more interaction in the short relationship than there was, it seemed like the day that the characters spent together went by really quickly, and I thought more could have been packed in.

The guy. Everyone was super obsessed about the Dutch boy, Willem. I liked Willem, he was nice, he was a good travel companion, but I could really see the shady parts about him from the beginning. He did have his cute moments, and then he would do something that would completely turn me off if I was with him. I also thought it was pretty obvious that he was a player, it really wasn't that hard to see.

My favorite part about this book was that it was the two amazing settings. The book starts out in Europe, which I think it pretty awesome seeing as I have never been on that side of the 'pond'. I love reading about diverse areas, cultures, and countries, and I though there was some great culture in this story. I also really loved the college setting in which part of the story took place. I loved reading about everything that went on, and overall just loved the atmosphere.

I'm really interested what might happen in Just One Year. I want to know what happened to Willem, and how everything worked out in the end.