Review: "Just One Day" series by Gayle Forman (Spoilers)

    

     Last week I had the sudden urge to go to the library. I hadn't been in years and I couldn't find my library card. I realized that there was a branch right beside the high school I have been student teaching at, so I walked over one day after school. I gave them one dollar for a replacement card then looked for some books to read. I picked up "Anna and the French Kiss" by Stephanie Perkins and "Just One Day" by Gayle Forman. I read "Anna and the French Kiss" first, then I started "Just One Day." Little did I know, both of the books are set in Paris, France. They even visit some of the same places. I slightly regret reading the two back to back because I was getting some of the details mixed up. However, I enjoyed "Just One Day" way more than "Anna and the French Kiss." I felt like "Anna and the French Kiss" was written for middle school girls while "Just One Day" was late high school/early college level. Also, Forman is an incredible writer. Some of the things that she says are outright poetic. Like this: 

“But what if Shakespeare― and Hamlet― were asking the wrong question? What if the real question is not whether to be, but how to be?” 

     This quote brings up my next favorite thing about "Just One Day." It was FULL of Shakespearean references from beginning to end. The protagonist, Allyson, met Willem in Stratford-upon-Avon (Shakespeare's hometown) while he was performing in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." She contemplates Hamlet's famous "to be or not to be" line. After their perfect day in Paris Allyson is in s state of depression but finds hope through her Shakespeare class at college. She reads the role of Rosalind from Shakespeare's "As You Like It" and she feels like she's talking to Willem. That is actually the only scene in the book that made me cry. I read "As You Like It" last year so I was already familiar with that play, which helped make it more meaningful to me. When Allyson finally finds Willem he's playing Orlando (Rosalind's love interest) in an outdoor performance of "As You Like It" in Amsterdam. It's just perfect. In "As You Like It" Orlando actually falls in love with Ganymede, who is Rosalind in disguise. I found it interesting that Willem fell in love with Lulu, who was Allyson in disguise. It was all very symbolic and amazing. 

     This book made me want to travel. The way that Willem and Allyson explore Paris is incredible. They are explorers as opposed to tourists. The food sounded amazing. I now want to go to Paris if only to eat the food. Forman obviously did her research about Europe. I wouldn't be surprised if she had actually lived in Paris or Amsterdam for some time. 

     My favorite part of the novel was Allyson's process of self-discovery. Sure, the love story was great, but I'm glad that it was only a small part of the novel. I watched Allyson struggle with being alone and feeling oppression from her parents. She overcame that, and it was incredible. I loved when she decided that she would go back to Paris so she got a job and signed up for a French class. I was rooting for her the whole time, and even though the book left us with a major cliffhanger, I was okay with that. This book was perfect in so many ways.

     The day after finishing "Just One Day" I went back to the library to check out "Just One Year." This is the second novel, and it's written from Willem's perspective. I expected to have some of my lingering questions answered, and they were, but I also got so much more than that. This book starts the morning after their "one day" in Paris. Allyson thought that Willem had left her but we find out that he was actually injured and stuck in the hospital. Allyson assumed that Willem had forgotten about her and moved on to other women, when in reality he had also been searching for her for a year as well. His journey to find her is incredible. In the process he reconnects with his best friends as well as his mother. He also deals with pent up grief he had over his father's death. I loved that he was just as depressed as Allyson the whole time. They even almost found each other several times. The end of this novel is also a huge cliffhanger. Allyson has found Willem (at a performance of Shakespeare's As You Like It, of course) but she thinks he's found a new girlfriend. At the ending of the novel they still haven't found each other.

     After reading "Just One Year" I found out that Forman had written a companion novel called "Just One Night." It's only around 40 pages and was 99 cents on the Kindle store. I bought it and finished it very quickly. Basically, Allyson and Willem find each other finally, and Willem makes plans to move to New York City. They will finally be together after all this time. There were some really weird scenes in this book, but it was completely necessary after the giant cliffhanger from books one and two. 

     Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading this series. I read "Just One Day" from April 20 - April 22, "Just One Year" from April 24 - April 26 and "Just One Night" from April 29 - May 2. I gave "Just One Day" and "Just One Year" 5/5 stars and "Just One Night" 4/5 stars. I would recommend these to everyone. While it is technically a love story, I feel like it was also a story about self discovery, which was inspiring to me.

P.S. I liked this series way better than the "If I Stay" series.