Review: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day #1

Release Date: January 8th, 2013

Number of Pages: 368

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Source: Bought

GR – Amazon – BD – Chapters

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. Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem’s story—Just One Year—is coming soon! 

Wow. It’s been a while since the last time I read a book that left me really speechless. I have to say, Just One Day did just that. I find it hard to put words on the amazingness that is this novel, the beauty of the story. It took me only a few chapters to fall in love with the characters, but not in a swoony “that guy is totally hot” kind of way. I fell in love with the characters because their story, the truth behind who they were charmed me.

I found myself recognizing myself in some aspect of Allyson, but I also found myself understanding the differences, and this made it so easy to understand and believe the choice she makes. Maybe I’ll sound weird for saying this, but I did not feel like she was falling for Willem per say, but I say a young woman falling for the idea he represent, the freedom he has that she does not. I saw her wish for more than her little life back in the U.S., with her parents’ dream to live up to. That’s what made me like Allyson, and that’s what made me fall for her story.

I didn’t see Wilem as a bad boy, maybe because I had heard he was.  I found him to be a character that simply lived for today, no thinking about tomorrow, and I liked that. The world was his to take, and it was easy to see the skeletons hiding in the back of his mind, easy to know that there was much more we did not know about him. That’s what made me like him. What I saw in him was someone chasing the unknown.

Gayle Forman doesn’t fail to impress. Once again, she has charmed me from book, making me fall for the story and the characters, leaving me begging for more. The sequel comes out in less than a year, but it feels like torture to have to wait. As the ending leaves you needing to know, in a good way. This book will please fan of Gayle Forman, that is a given. If you still haven’t read any of her work, it is absolutely worth it. This is the kind of books that leaves speechless by the end of it.

About the Author

(from NetGalley)

Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in such publications as Jane, Seventeen, Glamour, Elle, and The New York Times Magazine, to name just a few. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Her Website

Her Twitter

Waiting on Wednesday: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly Meme hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine. It is an opportunity for us to show books we can't wait to get our hands on.

This week, my pick is:

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day #1

Dutton Juvenile

January 2013

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.

Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem’s story—Just One Year—is coming soon!

I absolutely LOVED If I Stay and Where She Went, and I've been dying to read more from Gayle Forman ever since. How could I not be waiting for this book!

Review: Where She Went

Title: Where She Went

Author: Gayle Forman

Release Date: April 5^th 2011

Series: If I Stay #2

Number of Pages: 260

Publisher: Dutton

Source: Bought

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It's been three years since the devastating accident ... three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.

Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.

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I’m speechless again this week. I just adored this book.

The plot is beautiful. No, there is not an awful lot of action, but it doesn’t matter. The beauty of this book is the emotional part for me. I love all the flashbacks Adam has, so we can understand what happened. I was smiling all the way through the book, unable to put it down. The ending made me happy, and it made me smile. I just loved it, and I really want to re-read it, but it will have to wait.

What can I say about the characters? I loved Adam. Yes, he became a stereotype of rock star, the unhappy and angry rock star that has millions of fan. Still, it’s all the emotional part of this book, which helps us understand him that makes me fall in love with him. He never really moved on. Mia changed, that’s for sure. She isn’t the same girl that faced death. She is so strong, yet she can’t seem to completely take control of her life. After all, not all the choices she made were the one she really wanted in a way.

Gayle Forman writes beautifully. I love how she can play with her characters’ emotion so easily, and still make it believable. She is a master at what she does. I raise my cup of hot chocolate for you, and I’m waiting for more!

This book deserves it 5/5. I don’t know if Mia and Adam’s story will continue, but I’m waiting for more books from Forman!

Now, I must go to bed, before my brain goes even crazier!

Review 25: If I Stay

Title: If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman

Number of Pages: 234

Publisher: Speak

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In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

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I picked this book on an impulse. I saw it on the shelf, and I just said to myself “Why not?” The cover made me wonder, what it was about. When I read the summary, I had to read it. I read it for the first time last summer. I was at my father’s house, and I spent my day reading it. I couldn’t put it down.

The story was more than captivating to me. I felt as if I knew her. I felt like her pain was mine, and I started thinking about what I would do in her place. The ending made me almost cried. I wasn’t sure at that time If Forman would write a sequel, but I was hoping.

Mia made me feel so vulnerable. You read her story, as she lives it. In the end, you ask yourself what would have been your choice. I think her character was so well written. I think you can’t help but connect with her. The supporting characters were also really well written.

I love the way Gayle Forman writes. I have nothing to say. I found this book so hard to review; because I think what matters here is the emotions that Forman shares through her words. And honestly, she does a beautiful job for that.

I love this book. 9.5/10.