Book Thoughts: Just One Day

Title: Just One Day
Author: Gayle Forman
*Imported from tumblr*

This book taught me three things about myself: 1) I want to be the kind of person who says yes. 2) I’m lucky to be studying something that I actually love. And 3), I always knew I wanted to travel Europe, but now I extra-special want to travel Europe.

In Just One Day, good girl Allyson Healey is in Europe for a student tour. On the last day, instead of heading back to London with her best friend, she spends just a single day in Paris with a Dutch actor she’s just met, and she falls a little bit in love with him. It’s just one day, but it turns into a year of self-discovery, finding out who she truly is and who she is capable of being. Also, some seriously cool tie-ins to Twelfth Night and As You Like It, but not hitting you over the head with it.

Europe and sassy friends and adventures and well-incorporated Shakespeare and a deeper understanding of life. Definitely, definitely read this one, guys.

Book Thoughts: If I Stay

Title: If I Stay
Author: Gayle Forman
Series: If I Stay #1

First off, I have to say how much I love this cover of this book. I love the texture of the font that makes it look so handwritten, I love the simplicity, I just love it. That said, the paperback cover is beautiful too, but I think I like this one better.

And the story is just beautiful. The narrative is nonlinear; a series of flashbacks is intercut with the story in the present, and it's not broken into chapters but rather divided by time stamps. Not everyone can pull off such a complex structure, but Forman certainly does. And the characters are so beautifully, wonderfully real. The choices Mia is forced to make are very real ones, and her reactions to them are so starkly human and so well-tied to her personality that she could very easily come to life. And even the smaller characters - Adam, Kim, Mia's family, Henry, Willow, everyone - are well-developed. Readers see them through the filter of Mia's narration, but we are shown (not told: important distinction) enough that we really get a sense of who these people are and what Mia's life is like.

Mia's relationships to her family and her boyfriend were refreshing, too. Her love life isn't perfect; far from the I-have-the-perfect-boyfriend or I-have-the-perfect-secret-lover relationships shown in a lot of books, Mia's relationship with Adam has the same ups and downs that any normal relationship has. They are in love, but their relationship is flawed. They fight and argue, but it's something they can work through. And it's wonderful to see a teen who doesn't totally hate her parents. Mia experiences the same feelings of loneliness and misunderstanding that most teens experience, but she still loves her parents, they are very present in her life, and she has a very protective and sisterly instinct toward her younger brother.

My only complaint was that it seemed to take a very long time to get to the heart of the major choice Mia was facing, but the story is absolutely worth reading in spite of that. It's beautifully written, heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time. I have to confess to crying like a baby at parts of it. Definitely read this book if you get the chance.