Review (Randi): JUST ONE DAY

Title: Just One Day
Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: January 8th, 2013
Page Count: 368 (a.k.a. not long enough!)
Genre: contemporary romance
Audience: young adult
Source: bought
Rating: 5 I'd elope with this book and spend my life traveling the world with it by my side

Goodreads Summary: 
A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay
When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem’s story—Just One Year—is coming soon!

My thoughts:  This book. This book blew my mind. I was psyched to read it of course, because, if you’ve been around the blog for any length of time, you probably know that I love YA contemporary romance. And I love YA books that involve travel (see my review of MEANT TO BE, which I also adored). This has both. I pre-ordered it, and then my friend Amanda (of Letters Inside Out) told me I absolutely had to read it because she thought I would positively love it. And she was right! At this moment, having just finished Just One Day, I’d sell my (hypothetical) firstborn child for a copy of Just One Year, Willem's story. But I have to wait. ARGHHH, the HORROR! Sidenote: finally a YA cover that fits the book! The cover model looks as Allyson is described, the watch is in the book, and the scenery is spot-on.

Anyway, the writing is brilliant – the characterization, the literary (Shakespeare) references, the description of the various settings (though I did find more than a couple grammar errors, which bugged me to no end!). It's more complex than I thought it would be for a YA contemp romance, and I thoroughly enjoyed that fact! Anyway, it took me awhile to warm up to Allyson, our protagonist, but I could not stop flipping the pages. I read this in about 14 hours (counting sleeping). I planned to stay up all night to finish, but to my extreme disappointment could not keep my eyes open. Anyway, Allyson grew on me and I totally fell for Willem right alongside her, though I also questioned his motives right alongside her as well, which just goes to show you how well-written he and Allyson’s characters are. There are several secondary characters of note who are particularly well-drawn: most noticeably is Dee, whom Allyson meets at college & is superb; the people Allyson meets the summer after freshman year (I don’t want to give anything away here!); Allyson’s mom whose characterization is quite deep, I thought (though her father much less so). 

I just can’t explain my love for this book. It made me homesick for travel, especially the descriptions of England since I lived in the UK for a semester, and drudged up all these old memories from my semester abroad – wandering off and finding a church with saint relics in Rome, bicycles everywhere, spotting the American tourists with their white tennis shoes. Warning: this WILL make your heart ache to travel!! But it’s a new favorite. So if you’re like me and enjoy any of the things I’ve mentioned (travel, great characters, an epic romance OR WAS IT?) you have GOT to get yourself a copy of this ASAP. Oh, and warning, there is a sex scene, but it's not graphic. Just a warning for younger readers!

And for any of the powers that be who, in the tiniest probabilities in the universe, may someday stumble across this…I was kidding about offering my firstborn, but I would totally love you forever if I could get an ARC of Just One Year when they become available. J Along with the rest of the reading world…Bahaha! Hey, it's worth a try, right? ;)

FTC Disclaimer: All reviews are solely the opinions of Becky and/or Randi. We are not paid in any way for our reviews, and all opinions are 100% honest.