Buddy Read: Just One Day (entire book spoilers)

SRodi811 · January 2014

So, it took me a little while to get into the book, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. I loved the easy relationship between Willem and LuLu. I felt that I was often smiling when Willem would make cute and funny remarks to LuLu.

One of my favorite things about this book is that it really shows that people can have different versions of themselves. Allyson was one way all her life and she clearly felt like she was missing something, so she took a chance and her whole life changed. I don't think that anyone has to be the person people think they are. People need to stay true to themselves and live life for themselves. “Sometimes the best way to find out what you’re supposed to do is by doing the thing you’re not supposed to do.”

I loved that this book was full of emotions. Rich emotions. I felt like I was feeling the emotions as the characters were feeling them. That is GOOD writing!

And Willem... need I say more? He definitely left a "stain" on me!
“And that's when I understand that I have been stained. Whether I'm still in love with him, whether he was ever in love with me, and no matter who he's in love with now, Willem changed my life. He showed me how to get lost, and then I showed myself how to get found.”

I enjoyed the mix of Shakespeare, though was a little turned off by some of the different languages that were put in. I found that I had to have my phone by me at all times so that I could Google what certain words/phrases meant. I'm not against doing that in writing, it just slows me down a little. I also hate not knowing how to pronounce names of characters. Once I Googled those, it made the story much easier to read.

One of my favorite quotes that will stick with me: “We are born in one day. We die in one day. We can change in one day. And we can fall in love in one day. Anything can happen in just one day.”

jjr1214 · January 2014

I also enjoyed this book! It took me awhile to get into too, partially because I had such a hard time believing the whole "run away to Paris" thing. I kept finding myself thinking "this girl is going to get murdered!" and then I would have to remind myself what kind of book I was reading, so that was kind of distracting. It took me awhile to get into Willem's character too, I identified with Allyson/Lulu's character a lot and found myself wanting to protect her from this (seemingly) obvious sleazeball. I think all of that may have been the author's intention though, that people are not what they seem at first glance and it is worth taking risks. Still though, I would die if any of my friends tried to run off to a different country with a stranger and have me cover for them. Maybe I'm just getting too old for that stuff.

Once they got to Paris I got over my reservations and started really getting into it. This was my first Gayle Forman book and I love the way she writes, I can still picture the scenes from Paris in my head. I loved the dialogue between Willem and Lulu and found it very natural.

I think my favorite thing about this book was that Allyson's real transformation as a person didn't happen with Willem, though her experience with him definitely was the catalyst for her change. She moped around at college for awhile, and then she picked herself up and figured it out. I loved Dee and the people in the restaurant. I loved that by the time she made it back to Paris, it almost didn't matter whether she found Willem or not, because she had come to terms with what happened and embraced the change it brought to her. I loved that it kind of left us hanging at the end, and I usually HATE that, but I thought it really fit the story here. What did you think of the end?

You are reading Just One Year, right? How are you liking it?

jjr1214 · January 2014

Sorry for the grammar…yikes. I have not had coffee yet.

SRodi811 · January 2014

I, too, loved Dee's character! And also the fact that yes, she went back to Paris to try and find Willem, but in the end it didn't matter if she found him or not. Yes, it would have been nice, but finding her self ended up being much more important.

Yes, I'm reading Just One Year and about 150 pages into it. I haven't had a ton of time to read (I whipped through the first one because my kids were sick so I was at home), so it's definitely going slower, but I'm enjoying it. I'm enjoying reading about what Willem went through during the year.

Buddy Read: Just One Day (entire book spoilers)

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