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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did enjoy this book, as much as bits of it annoyed me. It felt like 2 different books to me. When I picked it up, I expected the whole book to be one day, with the chapters titled with time codes (like Forman's If I Stay), and that's not what happened. I didn't quite know what to make of Allyson, especially her appearing to be unable to function because she misses Willem. I kind of found myself just wanting to smack her across the head and tell her to "move on with your life!" But I suppose that would defeat the purpose of the plot. Overall, not bad, but not nearly as good as If I Stay and Where She Went.
Wow. When I started this book, I didn't think I would like it nearly this much. It's a beautiful story about a girl who realizes it's good to be spontaneous, and it's okay if our spontaneous decisions leave us stained, because they make us who we are. Definitely a must read!
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Noped out at 20%.
Such a "rich-white-people-things" book. I would have my eyeballs permanently stuck to the back of my head due to all the eyerolls. Allyson's inferiority complex has to be one of the most frustrating thing about the entirety of the story I could bear.
I know that there are people who promise the story gets better in the second half, but I refuse to put myself through the torturous first half.
Such a "rich-white-people-things" book. I would have my eyeballs permanently stuck to the back of my head due to all the eyerolls. Allyson's inferiority complex has to be one of the most frustrating thing about the entirety of the story I could bear.
I know that there are people who promise the story gets better in the second half, but I refuse to put myself through the torturous first half.
It's more of a 2.6 than a 3.0. I was actually rather disappointed.
Wonderful. Never quite knew which turn the plot would take: kept me on my toes. Can’t wait to read the sequel and continue a story I have come to love.
The romantic in me thought this was a really good story. The part of me that specializes in self preservation thought that there are so many dangers in traveling to another country with someone you literally just met and doesn't even know your real name.
For all the faults I found with the book, I still couldn't put it down.
Allyson is in Europe when she meets Willem, and after just one day, she loses him. Literally.
Throughout the book I was frustrated with Allyson. She was miserable through her pre-college Euro trip, and when she got a second to get away she was dizzy over a boy. That doesn't usually bother me. I enjoy love stories, I understand the need for quick love in a book. But for some reason, it bugged me in this book.
After finding him, she follows him, this stranger, all the way to Paris. The entire time she is aware and thinking of sex trafficking situations, but still she goes. No real money, no phone, no friend. They joke about him kidnapping her. While I enjoyed the humor, I couldn't let go of the heaviness of a very real issue being joked about. She seemed foolish to me. Hard to connect with that.
Later, she falls for him. Hard. I love their little story, except he's sort of a mess. There are red flags after red flags, and still she falls.
Then when he's gone, she's a mess. Twilight Saga Bella Swan gone catatonic mess. She's failing classes, losing a friend, making no more, and disappointing family.
The only saving grace for this book was the brutal honesty (but not thoroughly fleshed out) of Allyson knowing she's lost, knowing that she's not just on a journey for a boy. She's on a journey to find herself, realizing she didn't just lose this boy. She lost herself, before she ever knew herself. (Mind you, the connection with her took until chapter 24)
Even in the last chapter, as Allyson is coming into her own, growing and making realizations, she makes the exact same mistake she made the first time around. She assumes things are what they seem, and leaves. No answers.
I love the friendships that she made along the way, and that she came to a point of happiness that didn't rely on Willem. The ending left me hanging. I do hope that Just One Year closes up the gap that this book left (yes, I am going to read it) but after reading the teaser at the end of this book, I'm not hopeful. Then again, I didn't guess a single thing that happened in this book, so who knows?
Allyson is in Europe when she meets Willem, and after just one day, she loses him. Literally.
Throughout the book I was frustrated with Allyson. She was miserable through her pre-college Euro trip, and when she got a second to get away she was dizzy over a boy. That doesn't usually bother me. I enjoy love stories, I understand the need for quick love in a book. But for some reason, it bugged me in this book.
After finding him, she follows him, this stranger, all the way to Paris. The entire time she is aware and thinking of sex trafficking situations, but still she goes. No real money, no phone, no friend. They joke about him kidnapping her. While I enjoyed the humor, I couldn't let go of the heaviness of a very real issue being joked about. She seemed foolish to me. Hard to connect with that.
Later, she falls for him. Hard. I love their little story, except he's sort of a mess. There are red flags after red flags, and still she falls.
Then when he's gone, she's a mess. Twilight Saga Bella Swan gone catatonic mess. She's failing classes, losing a friend, making no more, and disappointing family.
The only saving grace for this book was the brutal honesty (but not thoroughly fleshed out) of Allyson knowing she's lost, knowing that she's not just on a journey for a boy. She's on a journey to find herself, realizing she didn't just lose this boy. She lost herself, before she ever knew herself. (Mind you, the connection with her took until chapter 24)
Even in the last chapter, as Allyson is coming into her own, growing and making realizations, she makes the exact same mistake she made the first time around. She assumes things are what they seem, and leaves. No answers.
I love the friendships that she made along the way, and that she came to a point of happiness that didn't rely on Willem. The ending left me hanging. I do hope that Just One Year closes up the gap that this book left (yes, I am going to read it) but after reading the teaser at the end of this book, I'm not hopeful. Then again, I didn't guess a single thing that happened in this book, so who knows?