Just One Day - Gayle Forman

Just One Day - Gayle Forman

What a great book.

I fell completely in love with Forman's other series If I Stay, so I was completely eager to devour this book. Her characters are phenomenally realistic and do wonderful job at drawing you into their magical worlds. Also, just the way that she describes these foreign (to me) places was well done and made me want to travel there more so then I've already wanted. Truly, it was just so enticing, and now I want so badly to read the companion novel set in Willem's POV. In fact, I think that I need it. Now. 

Allyson didn't hardly want to travel abroad. In fact, if it weren't for her parents' prodding and generous gift, and the fact that her best friend would be there with her, then she would never have gone in the first place. Risky things like throwing herself into foreign countries and situations is not something that Allyson Healey does. She prefers to play things safe and maintain her boring 'good girl' status. However, a sudden whim and slight desire to challenge herself result in her meeting of a Dutch actor named Willem. He convinces her to accompany him to Paris, where they then spend a wonderfully memorable day together. Sparks seem to fly between them, and Allyson or as deemed by Willem; Lulu, truly starts to believe in love at first sight. However, when she wakes up the next day, expecting him to be still at her side, he's gone. Confused and upset, she makes her way back home to begin her first year of college. A year passes and Allyson tries her best to come to terms with her life and who she wants to be. She seeks answers to difficult questions and begins to follow her heart, rather then what her parents tell her to do.

Wow. Just wow. What a powerful book. The writing was beautiful and honest. Her characters were realistic and developed well, but my absolute favorite part of her writing is that of developing a magical setting. I think that she could make any place sound appealing. The way that she described Paris and the other places was well done and made it extremely easy to visualize. Also, she writes romance in a light yet heartrending way that makes it easy to care for her characters and their situations. In fact, it's so easy to get swept up in her stories that it becomes increasingly difficult to put them down after so long.

The pacing was fine and dandy. Things progressed smoothly and I don't recall having any problems with anything. I didn't come across any exceedingly slow parts either.

Character-wise, you're not going to be disappointed. Just like in If I Stay, we have two main characters to fall absolutely in love with. Allyson was real and what I would expect a person might be to come from two assertive and pressuring parents. I was really pleased with her growth throughout the book. She went from a meek, submissive good girl to someone who finally sought out and did things that she actually enjoyed. While there were some aspects about her that I severely questioned, I did love her overall character.

Then we have Willem the mysterious yet lovable Dutch actor. He captured my heart just as he did Ally's and then seemingly broke it when he did hers. He was charming and delightful, which I believe made up for not knowing too much about him. Willem had his own thoughts on everything, especially the difference between falling in love and being in love. This was one of the things that I really enjoyed about his character. Besides the fact that he was a wanderer, he had his own thoughts about things and how truly wonderful accidents were. Truly he intrigued me very much, and I am extremely eager to read his POV in Just One Year. 

Not only were there endearing main characters, but there were also some minor characters with interesting personalities to fawn over. First, we have Ally's best friend Melanie. She seems to be Ally's polar opposite and is always up for doing the fun and exciting things in life. She also grows into her own person by the end of this book, even though she doesn't appear as often. She knows what she wants and goes for it, which is something that I can admire in any character.

Then, we have the friend that Ally meets in her Shakespeare class; Dee. He's fun and intriguing and just what Ally needs in her life. He knew exactly what to say and how to say it. 

Overall, Just One Day was a delightful read. The characters were endearing, the setting was enchanting and the overall premise was interesting. Gayle Forman is slowly turning into one of my top contemporary writers for all of these reasons. That being said, I wish that it were October so that I could read the companion novel and figure out what happens next. I believe that you'd feel the same way after having read it.

☆☆☆☆☆/5

Recommend?: If endearing characters and fun settings are something you dig.

If you like to read about characters who come into themselves.

Other thoughts:

* My one semi-issue with this story: SPOILER! ->

[Just the fact that she had sex with him after she'd only know him for a day. As she surmises later, she didn't even know his last name or his favorite color. Sure, he was plenty charming and endearing, and getting all caught up in the moment happens and everything, but I don't think that that elicited sex. 

Oh well. It didn't both me too badly, I still just wonder why. 

Love at first sight? Okay. (hide spoiler)] End of spoiler.