Double Review: Just One Day & Just One Year by Gayle Forman

Titles: Just One Day & Just One Year
Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton
Series: Just One Day

I don't even know where to begin. These books were amazing. I read Just One Day last Saturday in a few short hours. I then waited almost a week for Just One Year to be ready at my local library. I finally got it Friday evening and read it in three hours flat. And they're not small books either. I was shaking and on the verge of jumping up and down while reading these books, the tension was so high. Just as the reader thinks it couldn't get more insane, it does.

The first book is told from Allysons' POV and book two from Willems'. Book one is Allyson's journey, first during the course of one day where she falls in love with Willem, and then the year it take to find him again. Book two is the same period of time, except from Willems' POV. Allyson is awesome. She's a tad

gullible, but she's pretty cool! Her and Willem have chemistry that is off the charts. They fall in love over the course of one day, but don't fully realize it. My one big problem is that neither of their backstories are fully explained. It's obvious that bad things have happened in Allyson's past, but they're never fully explained. Willems' story is never fully explained and what happened the night after they met is left in the dark, despite it basically being the whole reason for the story. I was more sympathetic to Allyson, but I'm still a big fan of Willem!

The plot was fast paced and get me on the edge of my seat. My emotions were off the charts and I felt everything that the characters did. The heartbreak and betrayal were everywhere. The story wasn't super realistic. Generally, you don't fall in love in a day, but it can happen. Parts are more cheesy than others, but I love it nonetheless. All the characters grow and change over the course of the story. But there's one thing I'm curious about . . . SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER!!!!!! The ending of the books left out one very important detail. What exactly happened. At the end of Just One Day, Allyson walks into Willems' room. At the end of Just One Year, it's the same scene, but it goes a couple lines farther where Willem kisses her. That's it. Allyson had a friend who started acting like a meanie poo poo head. Do they reconcile, do they not? I'm okay either way, I just need to know! Do Allyson and Willem even end up together? What about their parents? Does Allyson introduce Willem to her parents? Does he introduce her to his? What happens next?!?!?! You do not end a book with "I kiss Allyson. I complete the history that came before us, and in doing so, begin one all of our own. Double happiness: I get it now." What does that mean?!?!?! I need more! If nothing else, a short little novella explaining what the heck happened next! Ranting Over!

All in all, I give these two books five stars! They were a spectacular, fun, and quick read. Now excuse me while I go try to take care of my book hangover.

Author Bio:

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, I was a journalist who specialized in reporting on young people and social-justice issues. Which is a fancy way of saying I reported on all the ways that young people get treated like crap—and overcome! I started out working for Seventeen magazine, writing the kinds of articles that people (i.e. adults) never believe that Seventeen ran (on everything from child soldiers in Sierra Leone to migrant teen farm workers in the U.S.). Later on, I became a freelance journalist, writing for magazines like Details, Jane, Glamour, The Nation, Elle, Budget Travel, and Cosmopolitan.

My first young-adult novel, Sisters in Sanity, was based on another one of those social justice articles I wrote when for Seventeen and you can click here to read the article. Sisters was published in 2007. My next book, If I Stay, was published in April of 2009 by Dutton. It is also being published in 30 countries around the world, which is surreal. The sequel/companion book to If I Stay, Where She Went, comes out in April 2011. I am currently working on a new YA novel, that is, when my kids (plural, after Willa we adopted Denbele from Ethiopia) allow me to. And after that book is finished, I’ll write another, and another….

You Can Find Her At:

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Synopsis:

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.

You Can Find it At:

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Just One Year

When he opens his eyes, Willem doesn’t know where in the world he is—Prague or Dubrovnik or home in Amsterdam. All he knows is that he is once again alone, and that he needs to find a girl named Lulu. They shared one magical day in Paris, and something about that day—that girl—makes Willem wonder if they aren’t fated to be together. He travels all over the world, from Mexico to India, hoping to reconnect with her. But as months go by and Lulu remains elusive, Willem starts to question if the hand of fate is as strong as he’d thought. . . .

The romantic, emotional companion to Just One Day, this is a story of the choices we make and the accidents that happen—and the happiness we can find when the two intersect.

You Can Find it At:

Amazon
Powell’s
Barnes & Noble

Goodreads