whatanerdgirlsays's review
5.0
This review will not contain spoilers for the book Just One Year. However, there will be spoilers from the first novel, Just One Day.
When I read Just One Day a few months ago, I never knew that it was going to leave me with a cliffhanger that made me want to pull my hair out. I was unaware of the fact that there was even going to be a sequel so I just wasn’t expecting it.
We meet Allyson, aka Lulu, in Just One Day. She meets Willem in a chance encounter, and decide to spend one day in Paris, France. Their encounter is more than either expected, except when Lulu wakes up the next day, after trusting this stranger and giving part of herself to him, he’s gone. The day changes Allyson in many ways, and she’s unable to move on until she finds out what happens next. The novel follows Lulu and Willem on their magical day and Lulu’s plan to find him. The book ends with Lulu knocking on Willem’s door, and him letting her in. Seriously. Worst. Cliffhanger. Ever. I almost threw the book until I remembered it was a library book and thats probably against the law, in book world.
Just One Year is the year that Willem spends after this magical day. He wakes up, disoriented, in a hospital, after being attacked, and he can’t remember much at first. By the time he remembers, its too late and Lulu is gone. He knows nothing about her; not her name, not from where’s from, nothing. He gave her the name Lulu. He literally has absolutely no way of finding her, and like Allyson, that day changed him and he can’t forget about it. The book shows the year that it takes Willem to get to that door that he and Allyson finally get to.
I LOVED this novel, and I think its because we already know Willem from Just One Day but we don’t really know him. We don’t see his personality, his family, anything. He’s a mystery, and yet we totally fall in love with him. You have this great desire to find out what happened to him, and how he got where he is. Its seriously all you’re wondering and all Allyson is wondering and she finally reaches that door in Just One Day and the BOOK ENDS! And you want to scream your head off, especially since she spent all this time looking for someone who didn’t want to be found.
But just a great novel. Willem is a world traveler, and he travels both to try and find Lulu and also to try and just figure out himself and how that day changed him and it makes for a beautiful novel. Just the backdrop of the novel, and the adventures that he has and the people he meets are enough to forget about the meeting that he and Allyson are eventually going to have. Honestly, so much of Willem’s story makes me want to hop on a plane and just GO somewhere, anywhere. He is so fearless and so ready to be in a new place. He just hops on a train, a bus, in cars with random strangers, eats new food and its just incredible and completely envious.
I can’t say much more than that because it will just ruin the novel. The whole point of Just One Year is to discover the mystery that is Willem since we get to see such a small sliver of him in the first novel. I don’t want to ruin any of the mystery for you guys, because living with Willem, discovering who he is and who he grows to be is the center point of this novel and its just a beautiful novel. Gayle Forman has a way of writing a seemingly normal, contemporary novel and she pulls at your heart in both good and bad ways. What a beautiful and talented writer.
When I read Just One Day a few months ago, I never knew that it was going to leave me with a cliffhanger that made me want to pull my hair out. I was unaware of the fact that there was even going to be a sequel so I just wasn’t expecting it.
We meet Allyson, aka Lulu, in Just One Day. She meets Willem in a chance encounter, and decide to spend one day in Paris, France. Their encounter is more than either expected, except when Lulu wakes up the next day, after trusting this stranger and giving part of herself to him, he’s gone. The day changes Allyson in many ways, and she’s unable to move on until she finds out what happens next. The novel follows Lulu and Willem on their magical day and Lulu’s plan to find him. The book ends with Lulu knocking on Willem’s door, and him letting her in. Seriously. Worst. Cliffhanger. Ever. I almost threw the book until I remembered it was a library book and thats probably against the law, in book world.
Just One Year is the year that Willem spends after this magical day. He wakes up, disoriented, in a hospital, after being attacked, and he can’t remember much at first. By the time he remembers, its too late and Lulu is gone. He knows nothing about her; not her name, not from where’s from, nothing. He gave her the name Lulu. He literally has absolutely no way of finding her, and like Allyson, that day changed him and he can’t forget about it. The book shows the year that it takes Willem to get to that door that he and Allyson finally get to.
I LOVED this novel, and I think its because we already know Willem from Just One Day but we don’t really know him. We don’t see his personality, his family, anything. He’s a mystery, and yet we totally fall in love with him. You have this great desire to find out what happened to him, and how he got where he is. Its seriously all you’re wondering and all Allyson is wondering and she finally reaches that door in Just One Day and the BOOK ENDS! And you want to scream your head off, especially since she spent all this time looking for someone who didn’t want to be found.
But just a great novel. Willem is a world traveler, and he travels both to try and find Lulu and also to try and just figure out himself and how that day changed him and it makes for a beautiful novel. Just the backdrop of the novel, and the adventures that he has and the people he meets are enough to forget about the meeting that he and Allyson are eventually going to have. Honestly, so much of Willem’s story makes me want to hop on a plane and just GO somewhere, anywhere. He is so fearless and so ready to be in a new place. He just hops on a train, a bus, in cars with random strangers, eats new food and its just incredible and completely envious.
I can’t say much more than that because it will just ruin the novel. The whole point of Just One Year is to discover the mystery that is Willem since we get to see such a small sliver of him in the first novel. I don’t want to ruin any of the mystery for you guys, because living with Willem, discovering who he is and who he grows to be is the center point of this novel and its just a beautiful novel. Gayle Forman has a way of writing a seemingly normal, contemporary novel and she pulls at your heart in both good and bad ways. What a beautiful and talented writer.
laurak23's review against another edition
4.0
Ah, finally, Willem's point of view. Many of the things that were revealed in this book, I saw coming. I didn't feel like it was too predictable, though. It was fun to see the events of Willem's year unfold, and to learn more about his backstory.
The only thing that I thought was a little odd was how everyone seemed to speak English. Everywhere. Though maybe that is true of people in Europe, especially the young people. Willem explains why he speaks it so perfectly, but I didn't really know why everyone else was so fluent. But really, that wasn't a big issue, just something I was curious about.
As someone who's not usually big on "romance" books, I really enjoyed this series. I am glad that there is an epilogue ebook. :)
The only thing that I thought was a little odd was how everyone seemed to speak English. Everywhere. Though maybe that is true of people in Europe, especially the young people. Willem explains why he speaks it so perfectly, but I didn't really know why everyone else was so fluent. But really, that wasn't a big issue, just something I was curious about.
As someone who's not usually big on "romance" books, I really enjoyed this series. I am glad that there is an epilogue ebook. :)
octobertune's review against another edition
4.0
“Have you been gone for so long you’ve forgotten how to drink and drive a bike? How can you even call yourself Dutch anymore?”
In Just One Day, we read the story of Allyson, aka ‘Lulu’, who has an amazing day in Paris with the Dutch Willem. But the next morning, she wakes up all alone, Willem is nowhere to be found. Throughout the rest of the book, Allyson tries to both forget and find Willem, and at the end of the book we see that she does. But what has Willem done in that year? The answer to that question will be answered in Just One Year, the same story but from Willem’s point of view. We read of his journey to find his ‘Lulu’ again, of his travels and his acting. Of his friends, his (potential) lovers, and of his parents. If you haven’t read Just One Day, this review might have some minor spoilers.
I loved Just One Day, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the sequel. But like so many other sequels, I postponed buying/reading Just One Year for a while. Not as long as normally, sometimes it takes me months or even years to read the following book in a series, but this time it only took me about five/six months. Still, that’s quite a while, but for me it’s short! Like I probably said before, I am not a huge fan of romance books, but JOD and JOY both grabbed me right from the start. Maybe it was the fact that Willem is Dutch, like me, and all the mentions of Dutch things, such as hagelslag, broodjes and a ‘white tower that looks like a giant penis’. But of course, I just liked way the story was written as well!
What I liked:
I liked all the travelling. Willem loves travelling, and he hates being stuck in one place for too long. But due to certain circumstances he stays in Amsterdam and/or Utrecht for at least half of the book. The other half, he is travelling to Mexico, to Mumbai, and not entirely without reason. He is trying to find his Lulu, but he doesn’t remember her real name. I personally thought all the Dutch things were very well written, because it happens a lot that when someone wants to show that a person is Dutch and they do it all wrong (by making them sound German mostly). This book actually corrects that (there have been a couple of times where Willem told people that he’s Dutch, not German). A tiny pet peeve of mine, is that they kept calling the Netherlands ‘Holland’. Yes, that might be a bit easier to type than ‘The Netherlands’ the entire time, but Holland really is just two of the provinces (North and South Holland).
We meet a lot of new characters in this book, including some of Willem’s friends. Robert-Jan, aka Broodje (sandwich) was my favourite. He’s Willem’s best friend, and he’s just really awesome. In JOD he is described as a Hobbit, and that is what I pictured the entire time I read JOY; a Dutch hobbit named Broodje. There is also Henk and W, who is dating Lien, and a lot of other Dutch characters. All the Dutch names just made me incredibly happy, and also made me laugh out loud because it made me wonder how non-Dutch people were pronouncing them in their heads. There are also some of Willem’s ex girlfriends (or well, not sure if they were really girlfriends or just ‘flings’) and there was one in particular which just made me cringe. And there are the people that Willem meets on his new journeys, including Kate, which is my favourite. She helped him near the end of the book, for the play in het Vondelpark, where Allyson went to see him near the end of JOD.
I have to admit, I am a bit jealous of Willem, because he’s able to just travel anywhere he wants, whenever he wants. I wish I could do that sometimes, just pack a bag with just some clothes, money, a toothbrush, my phone, maybe a notebook and a camera, and just randomly pick a place to go to. Because that is what Willem was doing – or was planning on doing – at the beginning of the book. Though he is a traveller, he spends at least half of the story in the Netherlands, mostly in Amsterdam or Utrecht, but that didn’t bother me a lot, because I just loved reading about my country from the perspective of someone who wasn’t from here (I mean the author, of course). I have to say it again, Gayle Forman did a great job.
The writing in JOY was very good, but I hadn’t expected anything else. I loved JOD and If I Stay (still need to read Where She Went though, oops). It was so well written, that it took me less than twelve hours to finish the book, something I haven’t had in a while, I think.
What I didn’t like:
I have to say, there weren’t really things I disliked about this book, apart from the fact that sometimes Allyson and Willem were so close to seeing each other again, and then they didn’t. It actually made me a bit sad, haha. Also, the ending was quite disappointing, in my opinion (and I think almost everyone who’s read the book agrees with me). Because (spoiler? I think), it ends just the same as Just One Day, with them finding each other again in Amsterdam and that’s it. End of story. But, in answer to that, Gayle Forman has written ‘Just One Night’ a 40 page novella about what happens after this book, and I am reading it right now!
Conclusion:
I loved Just One Year, absolutely loved it. Together with the first book, I think this series made me want to read more (well written) romance books. Yes, you heard it right, I am starting to like romance more, all thanks to Willem and Allyson (even though their relationship was kind of insta-love, which is still something I despise). If you want to read a nice story about love, one that is not a trilogy, you should definitely read Just One Day and Just One Year!
In Just One Day, we read the story of Allyson, aka ‘Lulu’, who has an amazing day in Paris with the Dutch Willem. But the next morning, she wakes up all alone, Willem is nowhere to be found. Throughout the rest of the book, Allyson tries to both forget and find Willem, and at the end of the book we see that she does. But what has Willem done in that year? The answer to that question will be answered in Just One Year, the same story but from Willem’s point of view. We read of his journey to find his ‘Lulu’ again, of his travels and his acting. Of his friends, his (potential) lovers, and of his parents. If you haven’t read Just One Day, this review might have some minor spoilers.
I loved Just One Day, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the sequel. But like so many other sequels, I postponed buying/reading Just One Year for a while. Not as long as normally, sometimes it takes me months or even years to read the following book in a series, but this time it only took me about five/six months. Still, that’s quite a while, but for me it’s short! Like I probably said before, I am not a huge fan of romance books, but JOD and JOY both grabbed me right from the start. Maybe it was the fact that Willem is Dutch, like me, and all the mentions of Dutch things, such as hagelslag, broodjes and a ‘white tower that looks like a giant penis’. But of course, I just liked way the story was written as well!
What I liked:
I liked all the travelling. Willem loves travelling, and he hates being stuck in one place for too long. But due to certain circumstances he stays in Amsterdam and/or Utrecht for at least half of the book. The other half, he is travelling to Mexico, to Mumbai, and not entirely without reason. He is trying to find his Lulu, but he doesn’t remember her real name. I personally thought all the Dutch things were very well written, because it happens a lot that when someone wants to show that a person is Dutch and they do it all wrong (by making them sound German mostly). This book actually corrects that (there have been a couple of times where Willem told people that he’s Dutch, not German). A tiny pet peeve of mine, is that they kept calling the Netherlands ‘Holland’. Yes, that might be a bit easier to type than ‘The Netherlands’ the entire time, but Holland really is just two of the provinces (North and South Holland).
We meet a lot of new characters in this book, including some of Willem’s friends. Robert-Jan, aka Broodje (sandwich) was my favourite. He’s Willem’s best friend, and he’s just really awesome. In JOD he is described as a Hobbit, and that is what I pictured the entire time I read JOY; a Dutch hobbit named Broodje. There is also Henk and W, who is dating Lien, and a lot of other Dutch characters. All the Dutch names just made me incredibly happy, and also made me laugh out loud because it made me wonder how non-Dutch people were pronouncing them in their heads. There are also some of Willem’s ex girlfriends (or well, not sure if they were really girlfriends or just ‘flings’) and there was one in particular which just made me cringe. And there are the people that Willem meets on his new journeys, including Kate, which is my favourite. She helped him near the end of the book, for the play in het Vondelpark, where Allyson went to see him near the end of JOD.
I have to admit, I am a bit jealous of Willem, because he’s able to just travel anywhere he wants, whenever he wants. I wish I could do that sometimes, just pack a bag with just some clothes, money, a toothbrush, my phone, maybe a notebook and a camera, and just randomly pick a place to go to. Because that is what Willem was doing – or was planning on doing – at the beginning of the book. Though he is a traveller, he spends at least half of the story in the Netherlands, mostly in Amsterdam or Utrecht, but that didn’t bother me a lot, because I just loved reading about my country from the perspective of someone who wasn’t from here (I mean the author, of course). I have to say it again, Gayle Forman did a great job.
The writing in JOY was very good, but I hadn’t expected anything else. I loved JOD and If I Stay (still need to read Where She Went though, oops). It was so well written, that it took me less than twelve hours to finish the book, something I haven’t had in a while, I think.
What I didn’t like:
I have to say, there weren’t really things I disliked about this book, apart from the fact that sometimes Allyson and Willem were so close to seeing each other again, and then they didn’t. It actually made me a bit sad, haha. Also, the ending was quite disappointing, in my opinion (and I think almost everyone who’s read the book agrees with me). Because (spoiler? I think), it ends just the same as Just One Day, with them finding each other again in Amsterdam and that’s it. End of story. But, in answer to that, Gayle Forman has written ‘Just One Night’ a 40 page novella about what happens after this book, and I am reading it right now!
Conclusion:
I loved Just One Year, absolutely loved it. Together with the first book, I think this series made me want to read more (well written) romance books. Yes, you heard it right, I am starting to like romance more, all thanks to Willem and Allyson (even though their relationship was kind of insta-love, which is still something I despise). If you want to read a nice story about love, one that is not a trilogy, you should definitely read Just One Day and Just One Year!
haley_j_casey's review against another edition
5.0
She mentioned Adam!! YAY for book crossovers and amazing authors and wonderful, wonderful, character-driven stories!
kelseybee17's review against another edition
5.0
I was going to write a review, but after I read this review I just couldn't. She wrote everything I would have wanted to say, but said it better then I could ever. So please, go read hers!
dnyameke's review against another edition
5.0
So this book makes me want to cry and laugh at the same time. its so sweet and not even in a cliche way either. there so much symbolism in here that I just adore. such a wonderful companion book. sooooo reccomend. really with my library had just one night!
kobireads's review against another edition
4.0
Going into this book, I was worried that I wouldn't like Willem as much as I did in the first. I was so glad when I was proved wrong. In this sequel to Just One Day, you not only read about how Willem tries to find Lulu, but also get a look at the reason why Willem is so adventurous and inights of the past. I can't wait to read Just One Night because I'm dying to know what happens to them in the future! I thoroughly enjoyed this series due to the mixture of adventure, romance, and finding oneself with a little help from friends.
wrenlee's review
3.0
Title: Just One Year
Author: Gayle Forman
Genre: New Adult fiction, Romance, Realistic
Note: I never intended to read this book. Truly. I just ended up getting it because I didn't see 'Anna' at my local library.
Premise: This is Willem's story. It's 'Just One Day's after story. Willem missing. Allyson/Lulu waking up alone. And what Willem did to try and find his mysterious girl.
Plot: The plot is revolving around Willem trying to find Lulu. Or the girl he thinks is Lulu. He ends up in Paris talking to Celine and in Mexico with Broodje. He acts in India where his mother Yael lives. He travels.
The plot is quite interesting. You get to see Mr. I-Travel himself. And I like that. Willem traveling is very interesting. We have him looking for Lulu but finding himself as well. He ends up finally seeing her, and kissing her, in his hometown when Allyson/Lulu finds him. After seeing him as Orlando in a Shakespeare play.
We get scenes with him acting, in Hindi and English. We get Willem talking to friends and family. Connecting with his mother.
And I like that. We're seeing Willem in his element.
Character Development: I feel like there should only be one character, so I'm writing this review that way.
Willem. Willem is someone I wanted to know more about. That might contradict what I said in my precious review of 'Just One Day', but I did want to know more. And I got it. Willem is confused at first, after getting a knock to the head. He slowly start his search, diving in. But. He gives up. And finds accidents. I like how we got to see him acting in Bollywood. Willem would be the only book guy who would get that. Only one I've read. I like him. He's an interesting character with an interesting backstory. Willem isn't made of Saba or anything, but he's more than the people he came from. He's the character that draws you in and makes you wonder. He has a dark past and falls into a dark place. And he comes out of if. And finds his mountain girl again. Well...she finds him. That's more like it.
Problems: There were less problems in this one compared to its first book. Like many books, this one does have problems.
I didn't like how he still ends up with Allyson. Or I assume so. I don't like Allyson. She's annoying. I don't like him ending up with her. He could have kept looking. He did. He was looking for her, but this story isn't about finding Lulu about half way in. You want him to give up and just pursue his dreams. And that's what I felt.
Another bad thing? The emphasis on his past with girls. I could have done without it. I don't want to know he slept with Ana Lucia. Over and over. He is a playboy. I did feel that vibe off of him. He was, I mean. He ends up more of an actor than a playboy.
I don't like the beginning. I felt like it could have been written better. This book did get better as I read on.
Good points: I admit, there were good points. Quite a few compared to the two Stephanie Perkins books I've read.
I liked how we got to see more of Willem. You feel as if he wasn't looking for Allyson, but he is. You find out how hard he searched. He looked constantly, feeling the need to do so. I don't mind that. It isn't an amazing part, but it's more good than bad.
I liked how we got to have the acting scenes. Willem is a passionate person. Lover or actor. I liked how we got to see him acting. He is an actor no matter how hard he tries to shake that title.
The story got progressively better. I got to learn more about him and his mysterious parents. It was quite nice, I'll admit.
This book has more emphasis on family. We have the Yael and Willem scenes in India and what happened afterwards. We get the friendship bond between him and Broodje. He is looking for Lulu, but he's also looking for himself and his family and friends. He strengthens those bonds and makes them count. This isn't a book entirely about romance. It's family and friends too. Which is a nice change.
While this book didn't have action, I did feel it was good nonetheless.
Score: 7/10
Recommended: If you like 'Just One Day'. If you like Willem. If you like realistic stories with people finding themselves.
Author: Gayle Forman
Genre: New Adult fiction, Romance, Realistic
Note: I never intended to read this book. Truly. I just ended up getting it because I didn't see 'Anna' at my local library.
Premise: This is Willem's story. It's 'Just One Day's after story. Willem missing. Allyson/Lulu waking up alone. And what Willem did to try and find his mysterious girl.
Plot: The plot is revolving around Willem trying to find Lulu. Or the girl he thinks is Lulu. He ends up in Paris talking to Celine and in Mexico with Broodje. He acts in India where his mother Yael lives. He travels.
The plot is quite interesting. You get to see Mr. I-Travel himself. And I like that. Willem traveling is very interesting. We have him looking for Lulu but finding himself as well. He ends up finally seeing her, and kissing her, in his hometown when Allyson/Lulu finds him. After seeing him as Orlando in a Shakespeare play.
We get scenes with him acting, in Hindi and English. We get Willem talking to friends and family. Connecting with his mother.
And I like that. We're seeing Willem in his element.
Character Development: I feel like there should only be one character, so I'm writing this review that way.
Willem. Willem is someone I wanted to know more about. That might contradict what I said in my precious review of 'Just One Day', but I did want to know more. And I got it. Willem is confused at first, after getting a knock to the head. He slowly start his search, diving in. But. He gives up. And finds accidents. I like how we got to see him acting in Bollywood. Willem would be the only book guy who would get that. Only one I've read. I like him. He's an interesting character with an interesting backstory. Willem isn't made of Saba or anything, but he's more than the people he came from. He's the character that draws you in and makes you wonder. He has a dark past and falls into a dark place. And he comes out of if. And finds his mountain girl again. Well...she finds him. That's more like it.
Problems: There were less problems in this one compared to its first book. Like many books, this one does have problems.
I didn't like how he still ends up with Allyson. Or I assume so. I don't like Allyson. She's annoying. I don't like him ending up with her. He could have kept looking. He did. He was looking for her, but this story isn't about finding Lulu about half way in. You want him to give up and just pursue his dreams. And that's what I felt.
Another bad thing? The emphasis on his past with girls. I could have done without it. I don't want to know he slept with Ana Lucia. Over and over. He is a playboy. I did feel that vibe off of him. He was, I mean. He ends up more of an actor than a playboy.
I don't like the beginning. I felt like it could have been written better. This book did get better as I read on.
Good points: I admit, there were good points. Quite a few compared to the two Stephanie Perkins books I've read.
I liked how we got to see more of Willem. You feel as if he wasn't looking for Allyson, but he is. You find out how hard he searched. He looked constantly, feeling the need to do so. I don't mind that. It isn't an amazing part, but it's more good than bad.
I liked how we got to have the acting scenes. Willem is a passionate person. Lover or actor. I liked how we got to see him acting. He is an actor no matter how hard he tries to shake that title.
The story got progressively better. I got to learn more about him and his mysterious parents. It was quite nice, I'll admit.
This book has more emphasis on family. We have the Yael and Willem scenes in India and what happened afterwards. We get the friendship bond between him and Broodje. He is looking for Lulu, but he's also looking for himself and his family and friends. He strengthens those bonds and makes them count. This isn't a book entirely about romance. It's family and friends too. Which is a nice change.
While this book didn't have action, I did feel it was good nonetheless.
Score: 7/10
Recommended: If you like 'Just One Day'. If you like Willem. If you like realistic stories with people finding themselves.
_minucelli's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
jennifervu's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted more of their relationship and the journey to find her didn't entertain me after awhile... I just needed more and the ending was like WHYYY but I can understand if others like it