Review: Just One Year by Gayle Forman
Author: Gayle Forman
Page Count: 336
Publishers: Dutton
Goodreads Synopsis:
When he opens his eyes, Willem doesn’t know where in the world he is—Prague or Dubrovnik or back in Amsterdam. All he knows is that he is once again alone, and that he needs to find a girl named Lulu. They shared one magical day in Paris, and something about that day—that girl—makes Willem wonder if they aren’t fated to be together. He travels all over the world, from Mexico to India, hoping to reconnect with her. But as months go by and Lulu remains elusive, Willem starts to question if the hand of fate is as strong as he’d thought. . . .
The romantic, emotional companion to Just One Day, this is a story of the choices we make and the accidents that happen—and the happiness we can find when the two intersect.
I wasn't too big of a fan of the first book but I had to know what happened after the ending and although I did know from hearing what others had thought of this book, that it did not leave many answers as to what happens after Willem opens his door, I did also want to know what happened in that year long gap between their time in Paris and when they reunited.
I was pleased that we got to see what Willem was doing in detail because I assumed that he had left Allyson in Paris so seeing that he was thinking and searching for Allison was something I was pleased about. That was probably my favourite part of the book, the searching for Allison part. The rest of the book and the bits about him and his mother I sadly found kind of boring. All that time that he spent in India with his mother was really boring to me because ultimately I read this book to know about Willem and Allyson not Willem and his mother.
One thing that I did not like about this book was Willem. Most of the time I was enjoying his perspective and his choices and In this first book I did like him as a love interest, but in this book I thought at times he was acting like a bit of an idiot with no idea of what he was doing to other peoples feelings. For example, in the book when Willem starts dating Ana Lucia when at the same time he is still searching for Allyson. My issue with this is, if he is dating Ana Lucia he should be giving her all of his attention and ESPECIALLY not looking for another girl and also, if he is still looking for Allyson it is obvious that he doesn't really like Ana Lucia and is maybe just using her which is NOT OKAY WILLEM. He kept lying to her about football when he was really investigating where Allyson had gone and he instead of accepting her invitation to spend Christmas with her and her family, he books a trip to Mexico for him and his friend to guess what...LOOK FOR ALLYSON.
Although Willem did annoy me in this book I did like I said before, enjoy his perspective. Later in the book Willem starts acting again and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book because although I like the travelling that he did, it was nice to see him going back to the beginning with his acting and it was fun to read about his experience.
I do like Gayle Forman's writing and I did find this book a quick and easy read because of it but the downfall of this book for me was Willem being an idiot and the boring middle chapters. Overall I gave this book...
3/5 Stars
That's all for this review! I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you again soon!
Happy Reading!
Lily x
2 comments
I just finished watching If I stay and let me tell you I cried, towards the end at least. Well I sort of did a wet eye thing but that counts as crying, right?! Anyway, it made me want to read the book and possibly her other books but this one, three stars? Doesn't sound like anything I need to rush for but nice review!
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy If I Stay more than I enjoyed this book but I also think the movie is better. The ratings on this aren't astronomical but you should still give it a shot if you're interested! Might just be me that didn't like it.
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