Just One Day

Just One Day

by Gayle Forman

★★★★

Allyson just graduated from high school and is touring Europe with her best friend on an educational trip. She’s always been a “good girl” and hasn’t taken many risks in life. At the end of the trip she meets a guy named Willem and decides to throw caution to the wind and head to Paris with him. The consequences of her decision leave her reeling.

I really loved Forman’s last two novels, If I Stay & Where She Went, so my expectations might have been too high for this one. The story felt flat at first for me. Allyson is so self-conscious, I know that’s how many teenage girls are, but her spontaneous decision to take off with Willem seemed too far-fetched considering what we knew about her personality. I understand the desire to try something new, but the Paris trip with a stranger would be extreme even for an incredibly adventurous person.

**A Bit of a Spoilery Rant**

I understand that in the end the story isn’t just about following a guy, but a big chunk of the story is. Not only is she going to a different country with a guy she barely knows, she also lets it destroy her mental health for months afterwards. I understand that she’s learning a bigger lesson about finding your own self-worth, etc., but I feel like that lesson isn’t the main focus of the book. Instead we focus on how she is so heartbroken she can’t function. She treats her parents badly; she’s a horrible friend, she neglects school and all of her relationships, etc.

For example, even when she’s on her journey of discovery in Paris and is supposedly doing better, she still ignores any potential friendships that come her way. Instead of doing something interesting with her new friends from Australia, she turns down every one of their offers to hang out. For days she gives them no explanation of why and once again hurts the feelings of those around her. Being a better person is not just about learning that you can follow your own dreams instead of your parents, it’s also about treating the people around you with respect and kindness.

Also, I know Willem is suppose to be swoon-worthy, but I disliked him the more she discovered about him. I’m not saying he didn’t have some great lines, it’s just he's not that great of a guy and he's not really worth a year of heartbreak.

**Spoilery Rant Over**

BOTTOM LINE: I know I just finished ranting, but I did like the majority of this book. I especially loved reading the travel bits and everything related to Shakespeare. I also thought some of the supporting characters, like Allyson’s Mom and Wren, were really interesting and would love to hear their stories. I think I just needed to lower my expectations for depth and read it just for fun.

“They’re always on strike for something in France.”

Photo by moi of  Sacre Coeur.

Where She Went

Where She Went
by Gayle Forman
★★★★☆

***This book is a sequel to Forman’s novel If I Stay. I won’t spoil anything in Where She Went, but I will assume you’ve read If I Stay.***

In If I Stay, a high school senior, Mia Hall, lost her whole family in a horrible car crash. She almost died, but pulled through at the end of the book when he boyfriend Adam begs her to stay. The whole story is told from her point-of-view as she sees Adam, her friends and extended family visit her in the hospital.

In Where She Went we pick up three years later. We learn that Mia and Adam aren’t together, but we don’t know why. She’s become a famous cellist and attends Julliard, Adam has become a famous rockstar, but his life’s a mess. The story is told from Adam’s perspective, which was a wonderful choice. Each chapter starts with beautiful lyrics Adam wrote and they really spoke to the story instead of feeling like a gimmick.

Honestly I liked this book ever more than If I Stay. The characters became more real to me. They had more depth and more pain. You find yourself rooting for them to find peace, because their struggles are so realistic.

It would be easy to dismiss Adam and Mia's two-year relationship as a high school love that could never last, but there’s more to it. Going through the horrible loss that happened in the first book bonded them together in an irreversible way. No matter what came after that, Mia and Adam became a sort of family for each other.

I loved how Forman decided to switch perspectives and toss us into the story a few years down the road. She explores the way love can destroy us and change us so deeply, for better or worse, that we never quite recover. The people you love become a part of you.

***I received this advanced reader copy from the publisher**

**On a side note, there's a scene where Adam borrows someone's iPod without knowing exactly what music will be on it. He needs the music to help him find some peace. It reminded me of strange night in Ireland when a friend loaned me her iPod. I flew to Dublin from London with some friends and my eardrum burst on the plane ride over. After 8 hours in a shady ER and then four days touring the country, I couldn't fly back with everyone else. The doctors had told me that flying was off the table until my ear healed. So I took a bus/ferry/bus back to London by myself, while they flew home.

My friend left her iPod with me (this was before I had one) and it was one of the kindest things she could have possibly done. Sitting on a dirty floor in a Dublin bus station, then on a crowded overnight bus for hours and hours, the music gave me comfort. I didn't know what bands I would find as I scrolled through the artists, but soon songs from Iron and Wine, the Beatles, the Postal Service, the Shins (along with a battered copy of Mansfield Park), were keeping me company. Music is such a powerful thing and Where She Went spoke about that so beautifully.