Just One Day - Gayle Forman

I began this book,

a little nervous.

I was not a fan of

Gayle Forman's 

If I Stay

but did enjoy 

Where She Went.

I was not sure what to expect with

Just One Day.

Allyson Healey

is a good girl.

She studies hard and

earned good grades.

For graduation,

her parents send her on

a European tour.

Along with her best friend,

Melanie,

they see the sights of Europe.

Each evening,

the students on the tour

hit a local bar/pub.

But not Allyson.

She's a good girl. 

She goes back to her hotel

and watches a movie.

On the last night of their trip

they are in a queue to watch

a production of Hamlet,

when a boy hands her a flyer

for another Shakespeare play.

Allyson has never been impulsive,

But something overcomes her

and she convinces Melanie to

blow Hamlet for this other performance.

Allyson is mesmerised

by this boy, Willem.

The following day,

Melanie and Allyson head back to London.

On the train,

they meet Willem

who is going back home to Holland.

Allyson mentions they had to cancel

the Paris portion of their trip

(due to a strike)

and Willem convinces her to 

change her plans and spend the day in Paris.

I loved these scenes. 

Paris came alive.

I revisited my trip there.

Allyson and Willem spend the day

and night together.

In the morning,

Allyson awakes.

Alone.

The rest of the book

is her change.

Her coming of age story.

I thought it would be about her

moping over this guy.

But it's more than that.

Willem called her Lulu.

He never knew her name.

And now Allyson is unsure of who she is.

Is she Allyson?

But where's Lulu?

The book goes through the effects

of this one day

on Allyson.

How her relationships with her parents

and Melanie have changed.

How she's become scared to get close 

to her roommates and classmates.

She spends a year

trying to find herself

before deciding to go back to Paris

to find the answers.

And perhaps

even Willem.