Book Review: Just One Day by Gayle Foreman

Goodreads's Review:

When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance ofTwelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines.

Published: January 2013
Author: Gayle Foreman
Pages: 368
Genre: Teen Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult
My Rating: 3.5/5

I saw this book on one of the lists on Broke and Bookish and then I saw it on the e reader and started reading it.

I loved most of the book. I loved that it was so much about travelling and all the places were described in such an amazing way that if I wasn't already dying to go there, I would have been persuaded. But I saw another perspective on travelling. That if its forced than you don't enjoy it. This is ironic considering how much costly it is to travel and if I am forced, I will happily oblige.

Allyson is a girl who is both idealistic and realistic and is not the kind of girl to believe in fairy tales.  But for one day, she stops considering what she believes in and lets go. She explores the world from a different angle. And that day ends up changing her life. If you think about it, no one is stupid enough to leave everything behind and go on a dare devil adventure in search of a one day love that you had. But then its kind of exhilarating at the same time.

I loved loved loved all of the Shakespeare that was incorporating into the story. At first I was like, OMG ! There is no way I will know what they are talking about but surprisingly, I did remember almost 80% of the plays that I have read (in story form) which were in the story.

I did not understand Willem at all. I did get Allyson's struggle with life and her own personality but Willem, I failed to get him. He was given more importance than he should have. Because in a way, Allyson goes back to Paris to find the girl that she was for one day in that city. Willem was just the guy who made that happen. So in searching for Willem, she was searching for herself.

I love open endings but this ending, I did not like at all. I needed something clear cut to wrap my head around. I wanted to see Willem's reaction and hear his story from his mouth.

P.S. Am I the only one who found the name WILLEM both weird and annoying ? As if its a bad pronounciation of William.

...SAP...