Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publish Date: January 8th, 2013
Source: Purchased
Goodreads

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. -Goodreads

Thoughts: Whoa, Gayle Forman! How did you DO that?! Just One Day is a simple story about being a person trying to figure out the whos and whats, that somehow manages to be so much more.

Allyson is a character I’m sure a lot of readers can relate to. There’s a little bit of Allyson in everyone, and a little bit of Lulu (her spontaneous alter-ego), which is why this book works so well. Gayle Forman managed to make “finding yourself” seem not at all cheesy or over done. It’s just something we all have to go through, and Allyson does it beautifully/disastrously/just-want-to-hug-that-girl-ly.

While both the character and plot could have carried this book on their own, the surprise treat for me was all the travel. This book brought back a lot of the fantastic feelings that came with my own European travels, and it also brought back the ones that make me facepalm. Also, Paris is amazing.

Here’s the part where I wish I could talk about the ending. I’m not sure I agree with it, but I loved it all the same. And… sequel!! (sort of) Overall, GREAT book, that I’ll be purchasing a second copy of for my reluctant-reader sister.

My only problem with this book is that every time I see it mentioned on Twitter One Day More from Les Mis get stuck in my head for a few hours, but that’s something I can live with.

Purchase Just One Day
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Second Opinions
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