Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Yesterday I finished a book called Just One Day by Gayle Forman. To say the least, I loved this book. Here is the synopsis for it posted on Goodreads:

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.

Allyson is a good girl who has always done what her parents have wanted her to do: she's gotten good grades, she's been planning on becoming a doctor since she was 13, and she's lived her life cautiously. After graduating high school, her parents send her and her friend Melanie on an educational guided trip through Europe. Her last day on tour, she meets this boy named Willem. He convinces her to free herself of the expectations of life for just one day, and in the process discovers a side of herself she never knew existed. The next morning when she wakes up, he's gone without a trace, and she hobbles back to America, wondering what happened to the boy she fell in love with.

Over the next year, she almost falls apart trying to keep herself from thinking about that one day and how it changed her life. But she's able to pull herself together enough to do better at college and eventually make her way to try to find this boy again.

I loved it. There were many times I connected with Allyson because I had felt the way she did at some point in my life. I admired her bravery in picking up the pieces and making things work in her life.

The only thing I didn't like: the abrupt ending! Ah! There's another book in the series that just came out, Just One Year, that is from Willem's perspective of what happened during the year after he met Allyson. I haven't read it yet, but I have it and I'm going to start reading it today, probably. It's supposed to be a companion novel, but all I gotta say is that it better flesh out the ending better than Just One Day did!

Cleanness: There was some swearing, but not much, and half the time it was in a different language. :) There's an intimate scene, but it doesn't go into details about the act itself. It probably could have left a little more out, but what was included didn't bother me too much.

I would give this book between 4 1/2 and 5 stars. I can't wait to read the next book! If you're curious about it, click HERE to go to Just One Year's Goodreads page.