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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Just One Day I went to the library this past Friday to pick up two very specific graphic novels. But when I saw Just One Day on the shelf, I knew I had to read it. There’s been a lot of hype surrounding the book, and I thought it was high time I found out why.
And now I completely understand.
Note: This will be one of my more spoilery reviews, though I don’t give away anything from the main part of the story. I am re-telling a portion of the beginning only.
Allyson Healey has always set out on the path that was laid in front of her. And when that path was chosen at a young age, it can be very hard to distinguish who set the course of the path. Are these Allyson’s hopes, dreams, and goals? Or are they her parents? Allyson has never questioned these things before – until a single day in Paris changes her life.
After she graduates high school, her parents send her on a tour of Europe with her best friend. Everything is planned and chaperoned, but Allyson never strays from the itinerary to join her friend Melanie and the others in the evenings while they party where the legal drinking age is only 18. Allyson is too reliable for that.
Then she meets Willem.Willem is an actor in a traveling troupe called Guerrilla Will – a group that performs Shakespeare on the streets (without permits) so that anyone and everyone can see them. And something about Willem – his voice or his eyes – causes Allyson to make her first adventurous decision on the trip. She and Melanie ditch the pre-planned showing of Hamlet with the group and watch Willem’s troupe perform Twelfth Night. It is unlike anything Allyson has seen before. She knows she caught his attention – he tossed a prop coin to her during the show – but afterwards, he disappeared.
Allyson and Melanie are scheduled to leave for London the next morning to spend their last few days in Europe with Mel’s family. But Allyson finds Willem on the train.
And Lulu is born (Willem thinks Allyson looks like Louise Brooks, so rather than ask her for her name, he calls her Lulu, short for Louise).
Willem discovers that Lulu didn’t get a chance to go to Paris on her trip, and he offers to take her for a single day. Something about being given a different persona causes Allyson to jump at the chance, something she would ordinarily never do. She begs Melanie to cover for her for the day and she goes with Willem.
For Just One Day.
I won’t tell you what happened that day. Or the year that followed it. But I will tell you that a single day altered the trajectory of Allyson’s life. It made her find herself – her true self.
It’s an emotional journey many of us find ourselves on. Which path do we take? Is this course mine or am I just trying to please someone else?It’s not easy. But it is definitely worth it.
Allyson’s journey was heartbreaking and beautiful and honestly, I didn’t want it to end. I could see myself in her.
"But still, that whole day, being with Willem, being Lulu, it made me realize that all my life I’ve been living in a small, square room, with no windows and no doors. And I was fine. I was happy, even. I thought. Then someone came along and showed me there was a door in the room. One that I’d never even seen before. Then he opened it for me. Held my hand as I walked through it. And for one perfect day, I was on the other side. I was somewhere else. Someone else."
That’s a revelation that everyone should have at some point. And then they need to find a way to keep that door open.
Just One Day by Gayle Forman has skyrocketed to the top of my favorites list. I can’t wait to read the sequel, Just One Year.
And now I completely understand.
Note: This will be one of my more spoilery reviews, though I don’t give away anything from the main part of the story. I am re-telling a portion of the beginning only.
Allyson Healey has always set out on the path that was laid in front of her. And when that path was chosen at a young age, it can be very hard to distinguish who set the course of the path. Are these Allyson’s hopes, dreams, and goals? Or are they her parents? Allyson has never questioned these things before – until a single day in Paris changes her life.
After she graduates high school, her parents send her on a tour of Europe with her best friend. Everything is planned and chaperoned, but Allyson never strays from the itinerary to join her friend Melanie and the others in the evenings while they party where the legal drinking age is only 18. Allyson is too reliable for that.
Then she meets Willem.Willem is an actor in a traveling troupe called Guerrilla Will – a group that performs Shakespeare on the streets (without permits) so that anyone and everyone can see them. And something about Willem – his voice or his eyes – causes Allyson to make her first adventurous decision on the trip. She and Melanie ditch the pre-planned showing of Hamlet with the group and watch Willem’s troupe perform Twelfth Night. It is unlike anything Allyson has seen before. She knows she caught his attention – he tossed a prop coin to her during the show – but afterwards, he disappeared.
Allyson and Melanie are scheduled to leave for London the next morning to spend their last few days in Europe with Mel’s family. But Allyson finds Willem on the train.
And Lulu is born (Willem thinks Allyson looks like Louise Brooks, so rather than ask her for her name, he calls her Lulu, short for Louise).
Willem discovers that Lulu didn’t get a chance to go to Paris on her trip, and he offers to take her for a single day. Something about being given a different persona causes Allyson to jump at the chance, something she would ordinarily never do. She begs Melanie to cover for her for the day and she goes with Willem.
For Just One Day.
I won’t tell you what happened that day. Or the year that followed it. But I will tell you that a single day altered the trajectory of Allyson’s life. It made her find herself – her true self.
It’s an emotional journey many of us find ourselves on. Which path do we take? Is this course mine or am I just trying to please someone else?It’s not easy. But it is definitely worth it.
Allyson’s journey was heartbreaking and beautiful and honestly, I didn’t want it to end. I could see myself in her.
"But still, that whole day, being with Willem, being Lulu, it made me realize that all my life I’ve been living in a small, square room, with no windows and no doors. And I was fine. I was happy, even. I thought. Then someone came along and showed me there was a door in the room. One that I’d never even seen before. Then he opened it for me. Held my hand as I walked through it. And for one perfect day, I was on the other side. I was somewhere else. Someone else."
That’s a revelation that everyone should have at some point. And then they need to find a way to keep that door open.
Just One Day by Gayle Forman has skyrocketed to the top of my favorites list. I can’t wait to read the sequel, Just One Year.
Omg this book was soooooooo good
I need the second book now.
I need the second book now.
3.5. An easy to read story to help escape this world and enter into one of a young woman growing.
Why did I wait 8 years to read this!? I really enjoyed this book, especially the character growth!!!
Now I neeeeed Just One Year bc whaaatttttt!
Now I neeeeed Just One Year bc whaaatttttt!
I'm really unsure about this book! I was going to give it 3 stars but then it really improved as I read on and in the end in really enjoyed the end! So basically the first part in Paris I thought was okay. I really did not see her attraction to Willem. I found him really arrogant and frankly I hated the way he kept laughing at her. I get that he had issues but she just accepted that he gave no explanation for all the various encounters with girls... Anyway I just didn't get it. Then he disappeared and I understood all her feelings, but it went on for A YEAR! I'm sorry but she is 18 and starting college and she can't get over a one night encounter with a cute boy? It just didn't ring true. Right up until she started getting her act together I honestly thought this was a 3 star book but then those last few chapters were really good... So will I read the next part? I don't know.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Great book. In a way, it doesn't have quite the emotional "pow" of If I Stay, since that involved love of parents and family and loss and death. But the writing is just as good. It's kind of a crazy story, but even though it's unusual, it's still believable because the characters and particularly the arc of the main character are so great. But the ending? Argggggh! There's going to be a companion book told from the point of view of the love interest, and it just needs to be out NOW. Come ON.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/just-one-day-young-adult-book-review/
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/just-one-day-young-adult-book-review/
Allyson is someone to whom any OCD, anxiety-ridden teen with too much pressure from parents can relate, and that is what makes this book so special.
Allyson is in England with Teen Tours! on a trip her parents booked for her to celebrate her graduation from high school before she goes to med-school. Always dependable, Allyson is bored on the trip but can't seem to figure out why until she does something completely unexpected: she ditches her scheduled trip to see the Royal Shakespeare Company's presentation of Hamlet with her friend Melanie to see a street performance of Twelfth Night. Before she knows it, she has met a boy named Willem, an actor in the show, who renames her LuLu after a silent movie star and invites her to Paris. In a complete roll reversal, she agrees and finds herself on a train to Paris before she even stops to think that he could be a serial killer. Luckily for her, he isn't, and he helps her find the side of herself she didn't think existed. Unfortunately, he isn't there when she wakes up the next morning and she is alone in Paris. Will she make it home? Will she recover from her heartbreak? Will she be able to fit LuLu into her pre-med life? Will she ever find out what happened to Willem?
I loved the evolution of Allyson's character in this book, probably because I have wrestled with some of the same questions about myself. I loved that she took a chance, and it didn't work out like she thought, but she went with it anyway. The middle of the book is a bit hard to get through, if only because Allyson's life seems to have stalled, and so does the plot, but it is entirely necessary.
As a Shakespeare nut, I also appreciated the references to some of his less famous works that teens come into contact, like Twelfth Night and As You Like It. Forman picked her plays well, and they almost function as separate characters.
Allyson is in England with Teen Tours! on a trip her parents booked for her to celebrate her graduation from high school before she goes to med-school. Always dependable, Allyson is bored on the trip but can't seem to figure out why until she does something completely unexpected: she ditches her scheduled trip to see the Royal Shakespeare Company's presentation of Hamlet with her friend Melanie to see a street performance of Twelfth Night. Before she knows it, she has met a boy named Willem, an actor in the show, who renames her LuLu after a silent movie star and invites her to Paris. In a complete roll reversal, she agrees and finds herself on a train to Paris before she even stops to think that he could be a serial killer. Luckily for her, he isn't, and he helps her find the side of herself she didn't think existed. Unfortunately, he isn't there when she wakes up the next morning and she is alone in Paris. Will she make it home? Will she recover from her heartbreak? Will she be able to fit LuLu into her pre-med life? Will she ever find out what happened to Willem?
I loved the evolution of Allyson's character in this book, probably because I have wrestled with some of the same questions about myself. I loved that she took a chance, and it didn't work out like she thought, but she went with it anyway. The middle of the book is a bit hard to get through, if only because Allyson's life seems to have stalled, and so does the plot, but it is entirely necessary.
As a Shakespeare nut, I also appreciated the references to some of his less famous works that teens come into contact, like Twelfth Night and As You Like It. Forman picked her plays well, and they almost function as separate characters.
I loved Gayle Forman's writing, but the story line was iffy for me. She built up so much for me, anticipated the "great" ending, but I was disappointed in the end. There was too many questions unanswered.