Review: Just One Day

Reviewer: Kristen
Author: Gayle Forman
Format: Paperback
Pages: 368
My Rating: 7 out of 10

Summary (thanks, 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.

My Thoughts: I really, really enjoyed this novel. I could connect to Allyson in some insane way, and she felt like such a real character. When you get down to the bare bones of things, Allyson was someone hugely unsatisfied with life. She doesn't really know where she fits in, she doesn't know what she wants to do with her future, and she's basically following the plan that her parents have set out. The way I'm describing it definitely evokes some yawns, but the way that Forman wrote this ensures thats not the case. I literally couldn't put this down. I just wanted to know what was going to happen and how it was going to happen. She was in Europe, and Europe wasn't as glamorous as she hoped it to be. But then it all changes when she watches this play on the street. She meets some beautiful boy, and when he offers to take her to Paris, could she really say no?

Hello new book boyfriend, how you doing? 

The only thing I couldn't really hop on board with was how whiny Allyson became after she got home. If you thought she was dissatisfied with life before, you're in for a treat. She falls into a depression, and I'm not going to lie, she can get annoying. 

Also, totally not okay with the ending. I wish it would have been just a little longer. It's almost a cliffhanger ending. Almost, not totally.

An epilogue would have done wonders. 

Final Thoughts: Definitely check this one out.