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    Just One Day
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    Just One Day
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    Just One Day
    Audiobook10 hours

    Just One Day

    Written by Gayle Forman

    Narrated by Kathleen McInerney

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay

    When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth 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.

    Just One Day is the first in a sweepingly romantic duet of novels. Willem's story-Just One Year-is coming soon!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJan 3, 2013
    ISBN9781101601709
    Unavailable
    Just One Day
    Author

    Gayle Forman

    Award-winning author and journalist Gayle Forman has written several bestselling novels for children and adults, including Not Nothing, the Just One series, and the number one New York Times bestseller If I Stay, which has been translated into more than forty languages and in 2014 was adapted into a major motion picture. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her family.

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    Reviews for Just One Day

    4/5

    386 ratings60 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This was another lender from the co-worker who gets YA galleys. She was right, it's super cute. An 18 year old college bound girl on a European tour manages to steal off one day for a romantic tryst to Paris. The rest of the story is of how it affects her first year of college and exploration. It was a cozy rainy Sunday afternoon read.
    • 2/5
      I just couldn't get into this book. I found the storyline dragged and I never connected with the narrator, Allyson. After she is dumped she spends far too much time feeling sorry for herself when she made the decision to go to Paris with a total stranger. And when she and Willem are in Paris they don't do anything!! You would think if you only had one day in the world's most romantic city you would be trying to see as much as you possibly could. I think this will be the last book I read by this author, because even though she has good ideas, her books always fail to engage me.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book.
    • 4/5
      I loved this book. I liked Allyson's transition from being always organized and leaning on her parents for her decisions, to being a bit more carefree and making her own choices- just because of that one fateful, heartbreaking day. She met new people, made new friends, did new things, found herself again. The whole self-discovery thing is what I liked in this book.

      I hated the ending, though. I would've been okay with her seeing Willem again in the play (not to mention with a new girl), because that was closure enough for me. BUT SHE VISITS HIM AFTERWARDS. AND WORSE: THE BOOK ENDS THERE. Are you kidding me, Forman?! I understand there's a sequel, but, no. It slightly ruined this book for me, because it could've stood alone so brilliantly. (What is the problem with you YA authors? Is this the trend now, cliffhanger/vague endings? BECAUSE IT. IS. NOT COOL.)
    • 5/5
      As a graduation gift, Allyson is sent to Europe by her parents with her best friend Melanie. Allyson is always the reserved, "good" girl of the group. By chance, she and Melanie end up leaving the tour group and attend a Shakespeare play in the park.

      This is where she sees Willem for the first time...the next day they meet on the train, and rather unlike her normal self, Allyson agrees to spend the day with Willem in Paris...and has the adventure of her life.

      When she wakes up alone the next morning, she thinks Willem has deserted her...but this one day, has forever altered her...

      Where is Willem? Why did he leave her? Will she ever know the answers to her questions...or get over him?

    • 5/5
      This is the kind of book where words are not adequate to express how much I loved it. Just One Day was so not the story I had expected it to be. It was so much better. I very rarely buy physical copies of books these days, but I've already purchased this.

      Just read it. I promise that if you are past your early twenties that you will see yourself amongst the pages and that you will love it too.
    • 4/5
      A fun young adult book, but not great literature. The main character was well developed and likable girl named Allison. My favorite character was her college friend Dee. The plot was interesting and it really drew me in. I wanted to know what would happen next. I must say, however, that I HATED the ending, but since that would be a spoiler I won't say more about that. The one thing I found unconvincing was Allison's mother.
    • 4/5
      At the end of her guided European tour, Allison meets a handsome Dutch actor and takes off with him for a day in Paris. When she wakes the next morning, he has disappeared, and she needs to know why.
    • 4/5
      I love it! Now I want to read book 2.
    • 4/5
      A lovely story about taking an unexpected, once in a lifetime chance and following your heart instead of your head. Add a wee bit of teen angst - but not much, the beautiful setting of Paris (and later on, a few more countries), some romance and you have a wonderful alternative to the dystopian, supernatural, paranormal teen books that are everywhere.Thoroughly enjoyed this one.
    • 4/5
      While on a student tour of Europe, good-girl Allyson decides to break the rules for once and runs off to Paris for a day with Willem, a young, handsome actor who Allyson only just met the night before. After a one night stand, Allyson wakes up alone and spends the next year wondering where Willem and, more importantly, her adventurous side went. I enjoyed "Just One Day" if only for the fact that Allyson returns to Paris not simply to find Willem, but mostly to find herself and to figure out how to be independent, without her parents telling her who to be. It was less about reuniting with the guy than it was about reuniting with herself. I'm looking forward to reading "Just One Year," which is written from Willem's perspective.
    • 4/5
      Let me just say straight up that it was a nice refreshing change to read about characters in my age group.

      The story began with a party and a proposal, a very public proposal, not something that Andie wanted at all. Her boyfriend is rich and successful, giving Andie anything he wants. Notice I said anything that 'he' wants. It is at that moment Andie starts questioning just how much her boyfriend really knows her and if her answer should be the one he is expecting. She is given 24 hours to make up her mind and on impulse, she goes on a road trip.
      Meet Jesse, the one person who Andie has ever felt really connected to, but whom Andie hasn't seen since that day all those years ago. Who would have thought that they would meet again, but coincidences and serendipity happen. In a place they least expect it, they are once again thrown together and circumstances are throwing fate right in front of them, begging it not to be ignored.

      I really liked this novella and I am definitely interested to read more from this author. It was well written and I nearly read it in one sitting except for life interrupting. The characters were realistic and as I said at the start I really enjoyed reading about characters in my age group. I was caught up in Andie's head and could feel the turmoil she was going through and when we met Jesse, I felt the electricity going between the two. The couple of twists were well written and I felt they really fitted in well with the theme and feel of the story.

      I would have loved it to have been a longer book so I could really immerse myself in the whole atmosphere of the characters world and their feelings. Overall a great quick, enjoyable read.

      copy kindly provided by Netgalley and the publisher
    • 5/5
      Lovely story of Allyson's brief, intense first love on a trip to Europe and the repercussions that it has with family and friends during the following year. Great book for teen girls, and I will be awaiting the next book written from Willem's point of view.
    • 5/5
      Review originally published on my blog: AWordsWorth.blogspot.comBasic premise is the idea that one day can change your life, can change who are are. Allyson's one day was in Paris (as "Lulu"), with the beautiful and slightly mysterious Willem as her guide into "living spontaneously". What began as a quick foray into rebellion became so much more, as Allyson began to see another side of life. Another side of herself. Every day after became a struggle between who she was and who she can be. Ultimately, she begins a quest -- to rediscover the glimpses of the girl who wandered Paris, to find Lulu, and see if that girl could possibly be real, and also to find Willem.The story's engrossing, and while it doesn't seem like anything that'd ever happen to me, it still felt almost possible. I think we can all relate to Allyson's quest to find herself, on some level we've all wondered who we really are, deep down inside. And when it ended, I was really, really glad that Just One Year is coming out this fall, to fill in all the missing pieces!
    • 5/5
      GUH.

      GUH.

      GUH.





      How do I even begin? I am madly in love with Gayle Foreman and have been since all of Mia's ride in If I Stay/Where She Went.

      This book was entirely new and entirely different and I still ate the whole thing in less than six hours, stayed up reading until one or two in the morning because I literally could not put it down and walk away from this book. This book is gorgeous and it handles so much about learning to grow up and be more than a child. How to reach out into the world and start tasting things. People. Life. Choices. Food. Countries. Travel. And, of course, love.

      Allyson and Willem's "one day" is a gorgeous, faulted, but very learning filled day. But it is still One Day. One Day to change your life, your self, your heart, and how you see the world. Even if that means it might break all of those things into pieces you can no longer recognize when you wake up the morning after it.

      My heart went so many different directions in this book. Allyson is compelling. Her learning to break out, her falling under the tide, and her fighting back. Especially her great epiphany at the end, when she realizes everything might not be little girl dreams of rainbows and ponies, but that this entire miracle-and-mistake trial has made her into an amazing human being, capable of so much walking, flying and stumbling. That she's a better person for all of it.



      I can't wait to see how Willem's "One Year" went, but I have my grand theory already.

      As Dee warned everyone from the reader to Allyson very, very early on, "Stop jumping to conclusions!"
    • 4/5
      A love story and finding yourself story. Allyson was always doing what her parents wanted, until she meets Willem in England and spends just one day in Paris with him. She likes being Lulu and how she is with him, but when she wakes up to find him gone she freaks out and runs back to safety. However, she always wonders about him. After a disaster of a first semester she switches classes and meets Dee. They become friends and he encourages her to find Willem. She meets new people and saves enough to get to Paris. She searches for him and in the meantime finds herself.
    • 2/5
      Gayle Forman's If I Stay and Where She Went are two of my all-time favorite books, so I was really excited for this one. I'm sad to say that it didn't meet my expectations. It might have even been a DNF for me, but I was stubborn and pressed on to the end. I'm kinda glad I did, as the last third of the book is better than the rest, but I was still disappointed in the ending. I get that there's a sequel, but I wish the Willem story had been wrapped up a little more in book one.

      My biggest issue with the book was Allyson. She frustrated me to no end. I wanted to shake her. Her entire life is spent keeping the peace, going along with whatever anyone else wants. She didn't seem to have opinions or desires of her own beyond that. Even her day with Willem is spent worrying about whether he likes her versus this girl or that girl.

      She does get some gumption in the last third of the book, but I think (at least for me), it was too little, too late at that point.

      On the plus side, I really liked the character of Wren and thought her story would have been more interesting to read than Allyson's. Maybe Forman will write a companion novel with Wren. If so, I'll check it out.
    • 5/5
      I won a copy of Just One Day via the Goodreads Firstreads giveaway. Thank-you to the author Gayle Forman and Goodreads for the opportunity! Just One Day shares the story of nineteen year old Allyson, who is freshly graduated from high school and travelling within Europe prior to entering into college back in the U.S. A gift from her parents, she is sharing in her adventures with best friend Melanie. As chance has it, Allyson meets Willem, a Dutch "actor" and the two share in a brief but life-changing romance. Allyson grew up privileged, albeit sheltered, as an only child with high-achieving parents with set expectations. She soon recognizes that she does not like the meek and passive, "plain Jane" that she has become. The novel takes us through Allyson's journey of self-awareness and maturity in a new found lived experience apart from her parents. The book follows her personal turmoil as she seeks answers to who she is and what she wants from life. The author did an incredible job of describing Allyson's innermost feelings and emotions. The reader cannot help but to feel and sense what all of the characters are experiencing. I felt like I was right alongside her at every turn. Although the book is a romance, it also speaks to evolving relationships at transitional stages in our lives. The idea that life can change on the turn of a dime, that there are chance meetings and missed opportunities. What is our fate and what role do we play in our destiny? The novel was a page-turner and a quick read as the author keeps the intrigue alive straight to the end. My only complaint is that because this is one of two novels in a pair, the readers have to wait until the second book is complete to find out how it all ends...I would sink my teeth into the next one immediately if I could, the suspense is killing me!! I recommend with five stars and will happily await for "Just One Year".
    • 3/5
      I thought Just One Day overall while a fun quick moving novel, was a tad bit cliche. Even with its excellent writing, the worn out "weak female lead and the unrealistic element of girl meets boy in Paris and finds her soul-mate who leaves her after they sleep together and then her life is ruined because she cant think outside of the guy", was often bothersome. This is a great daydream, and one I think many people have about magical romance and love at first sight, but in the real world this type of scenario speaks volumes to the danger of getting it on with a stranger in a foreign country, it also does a great job reinforcing female dependency on a male, or overall codependency on another person, something many feminist readers will bulk at. While I loved Formans If I Stay, I found Just One Day to evoke from me feelings of like and dislike.
    • 4/5
      I had a few issues with this book. I didn't really connect with the characters, and I felt like Allyson was a bit of an idiot. Still, this book was enjoyable to an extent.
    • 5/5
      The main character has her life planned out by her family, but then she makes some (in real life) very bad decisions. This book is in no way indicative of real life, but it is fun to think about all the decisions you, as the reader, could have made differently and the various out comes. That is why I liked this book so much. Not because it's real life, but it's a bit of an young adult fantasy world.
    • 2/5
      That was disappointing.
    • 3/5
      OK--will probably buy this because it was relatively clean but.....Good Girl Allyson on a trip through Europe (graduation present from the parents) decides to take a chance and go to Paris for just one day on an adventure with Shakespearean Actor Willem. Within 24 hours she sees a bit of Paris, meets his ex-girlfriend (plus sees him pick up or at least try to pick up several others), goes on a boatride that costs her $100 "emergency money" gets chased by skinheads and ends up sleeping with him in a house that they have broken into only to be abandoned by him the next morning. She gets out of there by the miracles of knowing just the right person (since she is stuck in Paris with no money) and gets back to the US but still can't forget about this guy that she only knows his first name and that is from Holland. College is a disaster until she realizes that she is not Pre-Med material (that had been Mom and Dad's idea) and gets into a Shakespeare class where she meets Dee who is the best part of the book. A young black man who can change his personality like some folks change their clothes and be just "who you want him to be" or "who you think he should be". THat summer she decides that she has to go back to Paris to try to find Willem once more and works like crazy to get the money plus taking a French class. Even turns down contribution from Mommy which is also a good thing. (Spoiler Alert!!!) Paris is better this time. Meets up with folks who are willing to help, but also keeps finding out that Willem is a bit of a jerk. Through a whole bunch of circumstances that are just too good to be true, she does finally find him only to end the book and wait for a sequel. Relatively clean and wish that it had ended about 10 pages before it did. As it is it is the teen girls "dream" of "Well, he's a jerk but he's my jerk and now we'll live happily ever after because love changes him." Bah Humbug. Likes: The fact that Allyson has a college counselor who sticks up for her and gets her on the right track The fact that Allyson actually realizes the Willem is probably a jerk. The fact that Allyson makes her own money to take this trip to Europe rather than taking from her parents. (Never had a real job in high school? Really????) There is a level of maturity there that you don't always find. Dislikes: Willem is a jerk! I don't care if he got beat up by skinheads and that is why he didn't come back for you--he is a jerk! Loved Dee--wish that there was a book just about him (Would like to think there will be in the sequel but not sure)
    • 5/5
      I'm not one for sappy true love novel but Gayle Forman, you may have made me a believer. I cried, not hypothetical tears, but real sopping tears that blurred my makeup and stung my eyes. Funny, heartbreaking, and achingly beautiful, Just One Day tells a story about Allyson, an American teen in Europe before she starts her first year in college. As her trip nears its end, she meets a boy, Willem, at a Shakespearean play and spend one magical day with him before he disappears. Heartbroken, Allyson returns to Boston and starts school confused, depressed, and shell-shocked. As she enrolls in a Shakespearian class, she finds the courage to open up her story to those around her, gather her courage, and find her identity in the city she found love, Paris.It's a great story overall but it can get quite annoying when you realize the turmoil she feels and the subsequent search is all due to a boy. But a boy who led her to figure out who she is and not who she should be.
    • 4/5
      I ended up liking this a lot more than I thought I would. The first part is a very typical let's spend a day in Paris with a cute boy and be in luuuuuurve. Then the book mixes things up a bit, and I think the author took a neat approach to showing more of the aftermath of a "one day" love story. I know this book has a sequel, and I'm not even sure I want to read it, because I liked how this book ended, and would have been even happier if it had just ended with Allyson not ever finding the dude again, because that was interesting.
    • 4/5
      Gayle Forman is a wonderful writer. I loved her other duology, If I Stay and Where She Went, and I think this is another one on that list. I first liked it because the premise of traveling. But it's so much more than that. It's about finding yourself, and taking risks. I enjoyed watching Allyson find herself in her journey to find Willem. That's the real story not the short romance between the two. I also enjoyed that there is more to Willem then the player that so many people make him out to be. I'm sure that reading the next book, in Willem's perspective, will only increase his worth in my eyes. It's a young adult book but I think any adult can find something in here to love and take away. It's not as intense as If I Stay, it has a different flow to it, but it's a pretty great book too. Recommended.
    • 5/5
      I should give this 4.5 stars because of one major drawback!! The absolute only drawback about this book is that I have to wait until "Fall 2013" to read Willem's side in Just One Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    • 4/5
      Great read! I received an ARC of the second book, Just One Year, so will be reading that shortly! I identified with quite a lot of Allyson's struggles throughout this book, and it reminded me a lot of myself when I started college. I definitely enjoyed the fact that is was more about Allyson's growth and journey to find herself than just a focus on a girl meets boy love story. I haven't read a lot of contemporary YA but it's definitely a refreshing break from all the supernatural fare!
    • 3/5
      I really liked this book until the end. When I read, I want to get emotional. I want tears, either happy or sad, but I want to feel something. Didn't happen with this one.
    • 3/5
      Allyson's life has always been neatly organized and she never deviates from the plan. That is until she sees a poster for Guerilla Will on the final day of her intense group tour of Europe and decides to skip the RSC in favour of this non-scheduled activity. At the production she sees Willem and then bumps into him again the next day on the train. In an entirely uncharacteristic decision Allyson agrees to go to Paris for the day with Willem and has an experience that will alter her life in ways no one could imagine.My first Forman novel, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from this bookgoing into it. What I found was a lovely romance followed by an intense exploration of Allyson's identity. Split into two parts that are quite different from each other, I found them both equally enjoyable. Allyson's flirtation with Willem is highly swoonworthy. Her experiences after that single day encounter are far less fluffy than the first half of the novel but it is delightful to watch Allyson grow up and figure out who she is when her helicopter mother isn't there to dictate her life. Be warned, this novel ends on quite the cliffhanger so you'll likely want to have the follow-up near at hand to read afterwards.