Review - Just One Year (Just One Day #2) by Gayle Forman

Title: Just One Year

Author: Gayle Forman

Series: 2nd (Just One Day)

Pages: 323

Published: October 10th 2013 by Dutton Juvenile 

ISBN: 9780525425922

Source: Publisher for honest review

 

Description: After spending an amazing day and night together in Paris, Just One Year is Willem’s story, picking up where Just One Day ended. His story of their year of quiet longing and near misses is a perfect counterpoint to Allyson’s own as Willem undergoes a transformative journey, questioning his path, finding love, and ultimately, redefining himself. 

I Give This ...

I'm sure I'm not the only one who had this book on the highly anticipated list.  Gayle Forman has left her thumbprint on contemporary young adult fiction.  But, somewhere along the way, I felt this point of view lost it's way.  It almost hurt to write that down.

I think the romantic in me wanted Willem to be this lovestruck guy.  I wanted to him to be as devastated by the events as Alyson was.  I desperately needed him to be the good guy that was searching high and low for his "Lulu" as she was searching for him.  But, I honestly felt I didn't get any of that.  I got a lost little boy who could never get a full grasp on what he really felt for Alyson.  Before he could find Alyson, he needed to recognize his own faults and failings over the last couple years.  

I think the truest emotion we get from Willem is in the opening chapters.  He's been beaten severely and has suffered memory loss along with a concussion.  He is desperately trying to find (and remember) this person that he may have lost.  He has an image of her and that's about it.   But, as it becomes clear that he has very little to go on, Willem becomes a little lost.  Almost the rest of the book is a story of his wanderings with snippets of his desire to find Alyson.  The most determined thing he does in this regard is a trip to Mexico because he remembers a sliver of a conversation about her Christmas holiday's there.

It's not that I didn't mind Willem's journey to find his way in life.  I think it's more the fact that it didn't paint a very good picture of him.  Especially after learning one significant detail about that fateful morning.  Granted I knew from the first book that he was a wanderer who "collected" girls as he went along.  But, I expected more from his character.  I also don't doubt that he truly felt something for Alyson.  But, I wondered that after a year of wondering and building this up in his mind, how much of it was really real.

In the end, I just didn't feel the same about Willem and that was disheartening.   I'm still glad I read it because the story would have felt incomplete without knowing his side of the story.  And I won't give up on Gayle Forman.  I just think this side of this story didn't work for me. 

Early Review - Just One Day (Just One Day #1) by Gayle Forman

Title: Just One Day

Author: Gayle Forman

Series: 1st

Pages: 368

Published: January 8th 2013 by Dutton Juvenile 

ISBN: 9780525425915

Source: Around The World Tours

 

Description: 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. 

I Give This ...

 

Well she's done it again!  Gayle Forman has a gift for contemporary teen fiction.  She has the uncanny ability to write stories that people across generations can identify with.  

I was immediately drawn to Allyson.  She's the good girl who never gets in trouble, gets good grades, and generally seems to have life planned out.  But, she's the product of obsessive parenting and feels like she's never gotten a say in anything she has ever done.  A spur of the moment trip to Paris and the events that happen in one day leave her questioning her own desires.  And I understood so much of what she was going through.  I loved watching her see the joy in doing something so impromptu.  I lived through those beginning moments of falling in love, even when you don't believe in love at first sight.  I was heartbroken right along with her when she realized he was gone.  And I seriously understood every moment of her depression and soul searching over the next year.  

I was completely unsure of Willem.  We see him through Allyson's eyes, and as much as she's falling for him, she's also expecting the worst.  But, he kept doing these little gestures that seemed so real and heartfelt.  The connection was there, I was sure of it.  When he was gone the next morning, I thought I knew what had happened.  I can't wait to get Willem's story to see it for myself!

The added touch of Shakespeare was really just a bonus for me.  I'm a Shakespeare fan and thought it was perfect backdrop for this story.  The author did a fantastic job of weaving it in. 

I can't say enough good things about it.  It wasn't quite what I was expecting, and didn't carry the same punch for me as If I Stay.  But, it was beautifully told.  And as I said before....I can't wait for Just One Year!

Where She Went (If I Stay #2) by Gayle Forman

Title: Where She Went

Author: Gayle Forman

Series: Sequel to If I Stay

Pages: 258

Published: Available April 5, 2011 by Dutton

ISBN: 9780525422945

Source: Star Book Tours

Description: Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other.Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance. It's been three years since the devastating accident ... three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

I Give This ...

 

I thought the ending was perfect for If I Stay.  I wasn't itching for a sequel, in fact the thought never crossed my mind.  But, I learned that there would be one shortly after finishing it, and told from Adam's point of view no less!

I was sucked in to the story right from the start.  I really enjoyed Adam's voice and the style of the story is no different from If I Stay.  I love catching up with characters you've come to really enjoy.  But, its not long before we learn that the 3 years since the events in If I Stay have not been kind to Adam.  He's on edge and having a hard time coping with all the events that have left a superstar.  You can really feel his struggle and I completely understood how he ended up at Mia's concert.  I really loved his internal dialogue the entire evening he spends with Mia.  I felt him come to terms with everything that happened since the accident.

I was actually most surprised by Mia herself.  I didn't expect her character to put so much distance between herself and her past.  She hasn't even been back to Oregon once since she left for Julliard.  I was afraid that she had completely cut everyone out of her life, but we learn that's not the case.  It's just Adam that she left.   It turns out that Mia had to come to terms with a lot of things that concerned Adam.  

The heartbreaking part of the story was watching both of the emotions come to head.  They both feel so much.  While Adam wears it on his sleeve (and the music gives it to everyone), you can tell Mia has been bottling it up for 3 years.  I really loved watching them both hash it all and realize that they still really do love each other.  There was a particularly touching moment involving Adam's guitar!  

I ended up loving this book way more than I thought possible.  Almost a 5 butterfly, but there were times that Adam's character was a little too whiny for me.  Not being able to let go and move on is a  trait you tend to see in girls after devastating breakups, and it was a bit much at times to have it be the guy instead.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Title: If I Stay

Author: Gayle Forman

Series: Stand alone but has a planned sequel

Published: April 2009 by Dutton Juvenille

Pages: 199

ISBN: 9780525421030
Source: Purchased Copy

Description:  What if you had everything: A gorgeous boyfriend who was madly in love with you?
Quirky hip parents who totally got you? A musical talent that could take you anywhere?
What if your biggest problem in life was choosing which path to take? Follow your first love--music-- to New York City? Or stay with your boyfriend, friends, and family? What if one day, you went out for a drive...  and in a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...What if suddenly all the other choices were gone? Except for one--the only one that truly mattered? What would you do?
A sophisticated, layered, and heart achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands. 

I Give This

 In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon roa ...more

The intitial blurb I read about this book gave no real indication what it was about, not like the one above.  But, even with this new information, I don't think you can be fully prepared for what this book entails.  I wasn't sure I was going to like it at first.  I'm not sure if it was the time that I read it (not far from were I live, an entire family was killed in a head-on collision a couple days before I read this) or if I was having a hard time with the story format.  It skips back and forth between the present and the past and the writing is different than what I normally read. 

In the present, Mia watches her body struggle to stay alive.  She has to deal with learning the outcome of the rest of her immediate family.  Plus, she has to watch her grandparents, aunts and uncles, her best friend, and her boyfriend come into to her hospital room.  They're each willing her to live or in some cases telling her it's ok to let go.  It's very heartbreaking, but wonderful at the same time.

The flashbacks to the past all detail the connections she has with these people.  It shows how wonderful her family is.  Which makes it understandable why it would be hard for her to live without them.   But, it also shows how much those who are still alive care for her.  So she must make the ultimate decision, should she stay or should she go.  It's one she discovers, only she can make.  

In the end, I was completely moved by this story.  I cried, I laughed, and I fell in love with the characters and there story.  I was excited to learn days after reading it that the author has written a sequel.  From the sound of it, it's going to be just as heartbreakingly beautiful as this one

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