I'm going to have a two for one special today on review. Let's take a look at the Just One Day series!
Reviewer: Kelsey
Author: Gayle Forman
Format: Paperback
Pages: 369 and 336
Ratings for each
(Just One Day): 8 out of 10
(Just One Year): 8 out of 10
Summary (For Just One Day): Allyson Healey's life is exactly like her suitcase—packed, planned, ordered. Then on the last day of her three-week post-graduation European tour, she meets Willem. A free-spirited, roving actor, Willem is everything she’s not, and when he invites her to abandon her plans and come to Paris with him, Allyson says yes. This uncharacteristic decision leads to a day of risk and romance, liberation and intimacy: 24 hours that will transform Allyson’s life.
A book about love, heartbreak, travel, identity, and the “accidents” of fate, Just One Day shows us how sometimes in order to get found, you first have to get lost. . . and how often the people we are seeking are much closer than we know.
The first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem’s story—Just One Year—is coming soon!
My Thoughts: I absolutely loved this series. I loved being able to travel (in my mind sadly) back to places that I had been in real life (that Europe trip was totally worth it). It was incredible to see those places again but through somebody else's eyes. I was interested in the idea that a girl who never did anything could strike out on her own and do something wild. I was fascinated by Allyson and the interesting people she met along the way.
I was very passionate about Allyson's mother...as in, I really hated Allyson's mother. I didn't think that a book would be able to make my hate anybody or anything as much as this book did. I didn't think that she had any right to treat her daughter the way she did. I actually swore at her out loud (of course, this drew a lot of attention so I really worked hard to repress the desire). My mom, while reading this series, felt the same way. She used it as a reason why she was a good mother, if that convinces you to read this at all...
I enjoyed the strange characters in the diner and at the school. I think the variety of people in the world was really captured in this story. It made for many interesting scenarios. Also, her grandmother is hilarious.
I think that I might have enjoyed Just One Year a little bit more. I was already in love with the characters and I was dying to know what happened to Willem. Even when my mom was reading Just One Day she kept asking about him. The audience really needed the second in order to understand how we felt about him. It may have changed your perspective a little bit. It was a great book too. If you read or have read Just One Day, you really need to read Just One Year. It's important to get the whole picture.
Both Just One Day and Just One Year are full of wild adventures and moments that capture your heart. The characters are funny and hold nothing back. You will be happy with Allyson and you will be sad with her too. You will find yourself wanting to do something crazy, to travel the world, to try something new. I already suffered from all of these sad conditions and these books just made it all worse...but a good idea of worse. I mean, if Allyson can do all that she did, you can sign up for that race or say hi to someone new or apply for that job, whatever it was. Maybe I'm making up inspiration where it doesn't exist but I guess you will just have to read the series and find out if I'm crazy or not.
So, basically, I think that if you like love stories, adventure stories, or stories that you can relate to than you should read this series. You will cheer on the characters and groan at their embarrassing moments but you will want to be right there in the action with them. I related to this series, especially Just One Day, too much. I already want to reread them.
