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A review by kimching232
Just One Day by Gayle Forman
3.0
I seriously couldn't connect with Allyson for the most part. By the time she stopped being a whiny teenager, I was already 65% through the book, and too late to convince me to like the book. Sorry to all the fans out there!
SERIES REVIEW:
Allyson and Willem's story started in the first book, Just One Day. A series of fortunate circumstances - serendipity, you might say - brought them together to spend an amazing day in Paris, and within twenty four hours, find love in one another.
To be honest, I was really hesitant to pick this up at first. I didn't really like the sound of Shakespeare in the synopsis. I only picked it up because of the endless gushing of bloggers and readers alike. I still can't say whether it was worth it or not.
On the first book, we got to see Allyson's side of the story. We got to see how she and Willem met, talked, and eventually went on a trip to Paris together. Before meeting Willem, Allyson was the shy goody-two-shoes, but then after just one day, everything changed and she became this whiny teenager that I really hated! It was like she wanted to inflict more pain to herself by thinking about crazy things. Because of this, I wasn't able to enjoy the first book so much. But then about the middle or so of the book, Allyson goes to college and meets Dee, which is the redeeming point. Of course, at first she was still a bitch, but then with the help of Dee, she finally puts herself together and stopped being the whiny teenager that I've come to hate so much. So thank you, Dee, for being that thing that salvaged the book for me, and for being one of the reasons why I continued on to the next book. I seriously couldn't connect with Allyson for the most part. By the time she stopped being a whiny teenager, I was already 65% through, and too late to convince me to like the book.
As I said, Dee was only one of the reasons. The second is that, I thought: Well, I got this far already! I couldn't just go on with another book without knowing Willem's side of the story! I felt a need to understand what really happened, so I dared to read the second book, and hoped that it would at least be a bit better than the first book.
Reading Willem's point of view is definitely a great change because I didn't have to deal with a whiny teenage girl anymore. It was refreshing, and it actually made me thankful for continuing on to the second book, despite not getting what the fuss was about the first book. Willem's POV definitely made things better, and I began to like the story. In Just One Year, we get to see what really happened that night in Paris. Why had he left Lulu, and had he tried to look for her? All things were answered in the second book and more. Willem's book is definitely the better of the two, and I even picked up a few wise words from him here and there. I really like the second book, which make me almost thankful for picking up the first one. Almost.
Overall, I don't get what all the fuss was about the first book, but I finally understood after reading the story in Willem's point of view. I guess it was just the whiny part that I didn't like about the first book, but you've got to admit, it's pretty much a big part of the book. I give the first book 3 stars, and the second book 4.5 stars.
SERIES REVIEW:
Allyson and Willem's story started in the first book, Just One Day. A series of fortunate circumstances - serendipity, you might say - brought them together to spend an amazing day in Paris, and within twenty four hours, find love in one another.
To be honest, I was really hesitant to pick this up at first. I didn't really like the sound of Shakespeare in the synopsis. I only picked it up because of the endless gushing of bloggers and readers alike. I still can't say whether it was worth it or not.
On the first book, we got to see Allyson's side of the story. We got to see how she and Willem met, talked, and eventually went on a trip to Paris together. Before meeting Willem, Allyson was the shy goody-two-shoes, but then after just one day, everything changed and she became this whiny teenager that I really hated! It was like she wanted to inflict more pain to herself by thinking about crazy things. Because of this, I wasn't able to enjoy the first book so much. But then about the middle or so of the book, Allyson goes to college and meets Dee, which is the redeeming point. Of course, at first she was still a bitch, but then with the help of Dee, she finally puts herself together and stopped being the whiny teenager that I've come to hate so much. So thank you, Dee, for being that thing that salvaged the book for me, and for being one of the reasons why I continued on to the next book. I seriously couldn't connect with Allyson for the most part. By the time she stopped being a whiny teenager, I was already 65% through, and too late to convince me to like the book.
As I said, Dee was only one of the reasons. The second is that, I thought: Well, I got this far already! I couldn't just go on with another book without knowing Willem's side of the story! I felt a need to understand what really happened, so I dared to read the second book, and hoped that it would at least be a bit better than the first book.
Reading Willem's point of view is definitely a great change because I didn't have to deal with a whiny teenage girl anymore. It was refreshing, and it actually made me thankful for continuing on to the second book, despite not getting what the fuss was about the first book. Willem's POV definitely made things better, and I began to like the story. In Just One Year, we get to see what really happened that night in Paris. Why had he left Lulu, and had he tried to look for her? All things were answered in the second book and more. Willem's book is definitely the better of the two, and I even picked up a few wise words from him here and there. I really like the second book, which make me almost thankful for picking up the first one. Almost.
Overall, I don't get what all the fuss was about the first book, but I finally understood after reading the story in Willem's point of view. I guess it was just the whiny part that I didn't like about the first book, but you've got to admit, it's pretty much a big part of the book. I give the first book 3 stars, and the second book 4.5 stars.