Just One Day | Gayle Forman

☆☆☆☆

This was such a 'weird' book for me. At one point I loved it and then I have no idea what happened and then I loved it again. What? This book did make my heart melt at times and crumble into a million tiny pieces as well. It's like a brilliant contrast between travelling and romance. 

I want to say I read this in JUST ONE DAY but its more like ONE and a HALF. Just One Day isn't Happy Happy, I bloody cried! Why am I reading emotional-baggage-y/a-contemporary's these days? I have no idea. 

Just One Day is about Allyson Healey-who is described as 'just like her suitcase'-who has taken up a post graduation European tour and on the last day she meets a boy: (of course) Willem, who is the total opposite of Allyson-very free spirited; a great actor and when she invites her to ditch her plans and go to Paris for Just One Day, how could she resist? 

The first third of the book and the last were my favourite parts,  just felt more happened there than in the middle. I loved and I mean LOVED this main character in the beginning, the key word here being the beginning. I related to her in more than one way and I sometimes appreciate when this happens in a book, not always though. However Allyson got so irritating after the first third it was unbelievable. I mean she gets to travel around all these beautiful, fantastic places and she feels bad for herself because these cities weren't like they were portrayed in the movies or what she would hoped and thought up to be. Allyson views every single female character in this book that isn't her with disdain, I swear. Uhh and she is also like the most annoying female heroine I have every read, she is up there with America Singer, there is just so much stupid whining. She goes on about all these girls who are prettier than her but everyone seems to find her smoking hot anyways, like in what mindset was this okay, like it's so messed up. This is my first book that I've read by Gayle Forman. Not exactly sure if this is how she writes/portrays her characters 'normally' but if it is I don't like it at all. 

The middle half or second third was ehh for me, only because there is a sense of depression which I'm not personally fond of reading so that was very slow and hard to get through. But no matter how hard I tried to relate in whatever way with this main character after the first third was impossible. I don't 'read' to relate to the characters but the fact that I did in this particular book in the first third I thought I would like it very much, only cause it's like you but written. 

I absolutely adored that this was very much a realistic contemporary and the Shakespeare parallels were fantastic. Once I got close to end of this book, oh my god the anticipation and let me just tell you I really loved Willem he is wonderful and I do plan on reading Just One Year the sequel because I want to know what happens. I may not like the book entirely but I do like the journey and I want to know what happens. 

~fi

  x