Just One Day

i looooved this book so much, though the end is kind of killing me, it was amazing! i'm so excited to read just one year so i can read what willem's adventures were during that one year.

Allyson, get your shit together.

This book pulled me right in and I couldn't put it down. The only thing about this book I didn't like is that it seems unrealistic with the situation of Allyson and Willem. But I must remember that this is a work of fiction. I am glad this wasn't a romantic story, but one about self-discovery and not letting people make decisions for you. I may end up skipping the second book and just read the novella of Just One Night because Willem's point of view doesn't interest me. Can't wait to read the novella.

I was never able to predict this one. Start to finish it took me places I wouldn't have guessed. The characters were so delightfully fleshed out! The emotions were deep and layered. And the locations were magical. I loved getting to “see” them all with this book.

P.S. Excellent audiobook!

4.5 stars
OH MY GOD
HOW COULD IT END LIKE THAT
I DON'T KNOW HOW TO REACT WHAT TO DO WITH MYSELF RIGHT NOW I JUST
THIS BOOK WAS NOT AT ALL WHAT I EXPECTED AND OH MY FUCKING GOD

I had heard great things about this book but was mostly disappointed. I absolutely love If I Stay and this did not match up at all. Granted this book has way less romance and more Allyson character development which I appreciated. And the cast of characters around Allyson and Willem were great.

Reseña Publicada en: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

(Actualizado: 18-10-2013)

Me tomó mucho tiempo pensar en las palabras adecuadas para empezarles a hablar de este maravilloso libro, aún no las encuentro.

Les puedo hablar de los suspiros que mi gato daba cada vez que lo dejaba caer o lo empujaba cuando terminaba de leer un párrafo y simplemente tenía que pararme a sacar toda la emoción que cada palabra me daba. O como esas mismas emociones me alentaban a leer a mi velocidad máxima y a la vez me pedían disminuir para disfrutarlas más tiempo.

Just One Day, es un libro para vivir, un libro para mancharse. Uno en el cual no debes detenerte a pensar en el tiempo, porque en este momento, mientras leemos, el tiempo no nos pertenece, no existe. Un libro que te llevará a una resaca literaria de las fuertes. Es de los que, al menos a mí, me hizo preguntarme que infiernos he hecho con mi vida, por qué la he dejado estancada, y como hasta ahora sigo esperando el después.

Los pesonajes, Allyson, Dee, Mel... Willem, las mismas situaciones, los paisajes que nunca he visto, absolutamente todo calza a la perfección. Y como mencioné: las emociones. Hay tantas, tan variadas, un gesto, una acción, todo me hizo sentirme parte del libro.

Allyson “Lulu” es grandiosa, no tiene superpoderes, no salvará al mundo, pero se salva a ella misma de algo que ni siquiera sabía. Personalmente me inspira mucho. En los momentos en que quizá en cualquier otro libro un personaje como el de ella podría parecer débil, Gayle (Oh, grandiosa Gayle, ¿Por qué no nos habíamos conocido todavía?) te cuenta su historia de una manera tan “fácil” y con eso me refiero a que conectas con el personaje inmediatamente. Y logra ver a estas maravillosas personas a su alrededor, aquellas de las cuales tenía tanto miedo ver, Dee, amo a Dee, un personaje complejo, demasiado querible.

Y por supuesto Willem. ¿Quién eres? ¿Dónde estás? Y sobre todo ¿Por qué? ¿Qué está mal? ¿Qué escondes? Déjala cuidarte. Es todo lo que puedo decir de él, es lo que sentí en el libro, todo el dolor, la emoción y la incertidumbre.

Si no quedó claro, Just One Day se ha vuelto uno de mis libros favoritos. Un libro que nos enseña como bien lo dice Dee, a no suponer las cosas y saber esperar una respuesta, y sobre todo dejarse llevar por los accidentes. Una completa joya literaria, si no lo has leído, no sé que esperas, este libro te enseñará a amar para luego romperte el corazón.

Reseña Completa: : El Extraño Gato del Cuento

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Primeros pensamientos (18 - 09 - 2013)

Demasiadas emociones, no dormí por leer, me perdí todo un día por leer. Tuve que parar casi en cada párrafo porque simplemente:

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.

Words cannot describe how much I loved this book! I cannot wait for the next one.

The love story between Allyson and Willem is really one for the books a love at first sight kind of story but what I really enjoyed was the journey of self that Allyson took. Her adventures, her struggles and her realizations of herself, her situation and of the people around her.