Series: Just One Day, #1
Source: Bought
Publisher: Speak
Publication Date: April 20, 2013
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.
I'm not sure if it's these things or something else, but it makes that kiss, which I get was just platonic - a friendly, cheek handshake thing - feel momentous. A kiss from all of Paris.
Just One Day was a new kind of read for me. While I thought I would like it more than it did, that doesn't mean that it didn't hit me in a good way. From reading the synopsis, I thought it would be more like Anna and the French Kiss. I freely admit that. And while it was little to nothing like it, I still enjoyed it for what it was: a good read.
I liked the adventure of going to Paris for just one day - I love all books with travel, so it wasn't a stretch that I would like a trek across Europe. It all felt very romantic, even though I did question Willem's motives a couple of times. It wasn't hard, with Allyson/Lulu being kind of scared of his motives as well.
In fact, Allyson herself wasn't so bad. I actually ended up liking her more than I thought I would. At first, she comes off as a little uptight, but as you get to know her you realize that she's actually a sweet girl. She's just a little bit too safe, a bit scared. She was unsure.
Which is why Willem really balanced her out - if anything, he was overly sure of himself. He was also very compulsive, and honestly just a little bit crazy. In a good way, of course. I think it takes a strong person to travel around a country by themselves.
There's also something romantic about that, but let's not go there. I guess I just find travel of any kind romantic. The story itself was romantic, but I also feel like it was very nostalgic - and I was slightly disappointed when Allyson came back from Paris in pieces. She went through a bit of depression, and it was sad. I also didn't really care for the ending - it was depressing too. I've ordered Just One Year, to see if we can get a happy ending - but I'm not going to lie.
The end of this one just really made me want to cry. Even for days after, when I glanced at the book - all I wanted to do was cry. All in all, Just One Day was a good read. Depressing and romantic - but you've really got to be in a mood to enjoy that, don't you think?
= I didn't like it.
= It was okay.
= I liked it.
= I really liked it.
= LOVE!
