Young Adult Review: Just One Year by Gayle Forman

Just One Year (Just One Day #2) by Gayle Forman

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published: October 10th, 2013 by Dutton Children's

Source: Purchased 

The heartrending conclusion—from Willem’s POV—to the romantic duet of novels that began with Allyson’s story in Just One Day

After spending an amazing day and night together in Paris, Just One Year is Willem’s story, picking up where Just One Day ended. His story of their year of quiet longing and near misses is a perfect counterpoint to Allyson’s own as Willem undergoes a transformative journey, questioning his path, finding love, and ultimately, redefining himself.

Have you read Just One Day?  If you haven't read it yet, please go do so immediately.  It's full of travel, romance and finding oneself.  I very highly recommend it!  While these may have different narrators, they very much go together and I would not suggest reading this one without reading the first.

Now I'm not going to promise no spoilers from Just One Day, but it is spoiler free for Just One Year.

I've been so excited to get Willem's POV, but I was unsure as to when the book would start and end.  And it starts right where Alyson lost track of him and goes to the point where she found him.  So this is everything that happened to him while we were with Alyson.  While reading it was so hard knowing what she was going through at the same time.  To know that these two could have been together the entire time!  But when it comes down to it, I believe things went how they were meant to go.  Alyson needed to find her way, to find her own inner strength and move forward with her life without her mothers constant pushing and plodding.  Willem has his own journey to take as well.  With his past and his present.  He has things to come to term with, he has a mother he needs to sort things out with, he has friends and family that he needs to reconnect with.  He even has strangers to meet that will help shape and change his life.  So while I was aching for Alyson and him to be together, or at least sort their feelings, I see how this journey is so important.

I really love Willem and I felt so, so much for him.  I felt his heartache and I felt his pain.  When he was lost, I felt that.  I got that.  I connected with that.  And while Willem has a lot to go through in this book, I really love how he's able to survive in about any place.  He can settle into any country and just live the way they do.  He makes friends with strangers and they have friendships that mean something.  All these friendships were really special to me, and I wish that I could be more like Willem, able to just go and meet new people and settle into any lifestyle really.

One thing I love about these books is all the travel.  We get to see different areas of the world in this book and I'm not going to tell you where as that's too spoilery, but we do see some new places and I loved it!  I loved traveling through Willem's eyes and seeing new things.

I loved this book, loved, loved, loved.  I think that the 2nd half was better than the first, but maybe that was because I was going insane waiting for that moment when they see each other again.  One thing that I really wish for is a chapter or two more. I know that we are suppose to imagine what happens after, but I don't want to imagine, I want to read it.  I want to see what happens to them next.  Heck, I want a whole other book for what happens next!  But, I still loved this.  I still felt so much and I still closed the book and had the hugest grin on my face.  I still felt very, very happy.  And I still give it 5 stars. So. Flipping. Good.