ANNE WNDR READS: JUST ONE DAY (JUST ONE DAY #1)

Goodreads

“Sometimes the best way to find out what you’re supposed to do is by doing the thing you’re not supposed to do.”

Allyson Healey's life is exactly like her suitcase—packed, planned, ordered. Then on the last day of her three-week post-graduation European tour, she meets Willem. A free-spirited, roving actor, Willem is everything she’s not, and when he invites her to abandon her plans and come to Paris with him, Allyson says yes. This uncharacteristic decision leads to a day of risk and romance, liberation and intimacy: 24 hours that will transform Allyson’s life.

A book about love, heartbreak, travel, identity, and the “accidents” of fate, Just One Day shows us how sometimes in order to get found, you first have to get lost. . . and how often the people we are seeking are much closer than we know.

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

"We are born in one day. We die one day. We can change in one day. And we can fall in love in one day. Anything can happen in just one day

Exactly! Gayle Forman just proved to all of us that anything is possible. That it's not about the time, it's about how much you want something to happen. This book is a roller coaster ride of emotions. There may not be some heavy drama scene that have transpired in the pages but I have experienced more than just sadness and happiness. There is so much to this book that not everyone could see and read. Gayle was able to give us such promising story.

"Traveling's not something you're good at. It's something you do. Like breathing."

I must say I really like this book a lot. For a moment I imagined myself as Allyson and at some point, I feel like we have something in common. I actually wanna be her, you know, take a day off from everything, pretend I'm someone else, be lost in a foreign city and for once, not care where my feet takes me. It's something one would want to experience for once in their life.

"He showed me how to get lost. And I showed myself how to get found."

It's basically a slice of Aly's adventure and we just can't deny that her character developed so much throughout the story and we've seen it (I'm guessing we all did). I actually didn't expect that Willem would be her love interest. I usually don't read synopsis. I go for the "Judge the Book by its cover". It's thrilling and exciting because it's like reading with your heart and not with your eyes.

I appreciated Willem's character so much. He's that kind of a person you want to be free with. I love how reckless and impulsive everything seemed to be. His spontaneity is what made me love him and how peculiar he visions the world and everything around him. Being with him means taking risks and just letting go. It may sound crazy if it were acted in reality but the idea itself is something to look forward to.

"Accidents. It's all about the accidents"

I actually love this quote. Again with all the spontaneity. This book feels so liberating. And for once, I felt as if I could let destiny take over of the whole journey. I know, that sounds so cheesy (and maybe crazy) but hey, it's what books do to us, right?

Ally's character is not very positive. She has a different way of dealing with  herself, people around her and the situation she is in. I would say that she is like most people in the world. She's this lost girl that just needed time to finally find herself. She doesn't help, she's no damsel in distress. She's smart, She just need work things out on her own for her to able to learn.

 

"He showed me how to get lost and then I showed myself how to get found."

I could get annoyed at Ally for expecting something more from someone she just met but I refused to. I cannot exactly blame her for feeling that way. She just shared something special with someone, There was a bond, an intimacy between them. It's like, she finally have found someone who could truly show her how to appreciate life then she got overwhelmed.

"You have to fall in love to be in love, but falling in love isn't the same as being in love."

For a moment I learned how to hate Willem. Why? Obviously, she left girl he just slept with in a foreign place. Aly was lost. She put her trust to him. Again, I don't wanna blame her.

But I'll be a spoiler now. You may wanna read Just One Night to restore your faith and love to Willem. It would finally makes sense now. The ending, I mean.

Anyway, this book certainly deserves a. . .