Just One Day by Gayle Forman + Giveaway!

Title: Just One Day (Just One Day #1)

Author: Gayle Forman

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Release Date: January 8, 2013

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

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

When shelter 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 YearI--is coming soon!

Just One Day by Gayle Forman is one of those books that has been getting a whole lot of hype. Anytime something like this happens with books I start having my doubts as to whether or not said book is going to be able to live up to that hype. But I shouldn't really have worried about Just One Day because it was simply amazing.

Allyson has always been the responsible girl who has everything planned out and who follows that plan. But on one of the last days of an organized Europe tour, she decides to ditch the planned activity to instead see an underground production of Shakespeare's The Twelfth Night. There Allyson meets Willem and so starts a one day whirlwind trip to Paris. In Paris Allyson discovers a whole entire side to herself and that side might even be better than the Allyson she has always known. But that's not all she discovers. With Willem she realizes she can do just about anything, maybe even fall in love. But how much can really happen in just one day?

This book brought on all sorts of emotions while I was reading. I would go from smiling one minute to basically crying the next. And Just One Day definitely brought on a whole slew of tears. That's not to say that the book was sad because there were plenty of times that I was crying happy tears. But beyond the tears, the story itself took me away on a fantastic adventure. Even though it wasn't exactly a story filled with intense action, the story in Just One Day was still one I just couldn't put down. With every page I read I was just dying to know what would happen to Willem and Allyson, especially whether or not they would have the happy ending I was so hoping they would. I just became so wrapped up in the story. The setting also helped with that. Having been to Paris myself, I was able to picture all the places Allyson and Willem were going and it just made me want to go back go Paris myself. And after all the emotions Just One Day put me through I still can't wait to read the story from Willem's perspective in Just One Year.

A lot of people have said this, but I could really relate to Allyson. There was something about me that I could see in her. Just like Allyson I tend to be the responsible person who has everything planned and follows that plan. I wouldn't just take off to Paris with someone I had met twice. So the fact that I could really relate to Allyson made me that much more invested in her story. I wanted her to become the person she had been in Paris and I wanted her to have everything she wanted, but at the same time I also wanted to protect her from heartbreak, because her heartbreak would also cause my heart to break. But mostly I loved who Allyson was with Willem. And I personally wouldn't mind being led around Paris by Willem. Willem was someone I had trouble getting a good understanding of who he as but that didn't stop me from loving him. For the most part he seemed to be this carefree person who just went where the wind took him, but at the same time, there was this other side of him that came out from time to time that showed that there was something more going on with him. And that's the side of Willem that really made me love him, especially when that side came out in relation to Allyson.

Gayle Forman's Just One Day is one of those books that broke my heart. But it's also a book that made me cry happy tears and by the end, my heart was full once again. Believe me when I say that you don't want to miss out on this book, and by the end you will be begging for Willem's story and Just One Year.

Giveaway!

If it wasn't clear from my review, I absolutely loved Just One Day! For that reason, I am giving away a finished copy of the book to one lucky reader because this is a book I am going to be pushing on everyone. To enter, just fill out the Rafflecopter form below. The giveaway is open internationally, wherever the Book Depository ships. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Title: The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

Publisher: Dutton

Release Date: January 12, 2012

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning-author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Before reading The Fault in Our Stars, the only other book by John Green I had read was Paper Towns, which I had really enjoyed. I don't know why I didn't pick up on of his other books sooner. And then everyone was talking about The Fault in Our Stars and I picked up a copy. I started reading it right away and pretty much didn't put it down until I was finished reading it.

Hazel has cancer and everyone thought she was going to die. But then a medical miracle bought her more time. Now Hazel spends that time either at home watching America's Next Top Model or attending Cancer Kid Support Group. And that's where she meets Augustus Waters. That's when Hazel's life becomes more than just support group and ANTM. Now she spends her time with Gus, and before long she finds herself falling in love with him. For both Hazel and Augustus, life becomes about more than just cancer. But something like cancer can be hard to escape.

Oh how I loved this book. I'm not really sure how to explain all the feelings I have for The Fault in Our Stars, but I'll try. I knew going in to this book that I would be feeling all kinds of different emotions, not because it's about kids who have cancer but because John Green wrote it. The only other book of his I had read was Paper Towns and that one had left me with all these crazy emotions. The Fault in Our Stars was no different, and before I knew it I found myself tearing up almost every other page. The story itself wasn't necessarily sad, but there were often moments where I just couldn't help but feel for the characters. And those characters are most definitely what made the story for me. 

I absolutely loved Hazel. Despite the fact that she had cancer, a lot of the time I almost forgot about her personality. Sure, she had cancer, but she didn't necessarily let that guide all the decisions she made, especially once she met Augustus Waters. But regardless of all that, Hazel was someone for who I wanted nothing but the best because she more than deserved it. And she definitely deserved someone like Augustus Waters. Because Augustus Waters was exactly what Hazel needed. I'll admit that even I fell for him. He just had this quality about him and I just couldn't help but smile any time he showed up. But he was also the cause of a lot of heartbreak brought on by this book, though that didn't make me love him any less. 

I have to say I absolutely loved The Fault in Our Stars. It was a fantastic read despite the fact that it broke my heart just a little. I think I have also finally been convinced to go back and read all those John Green books that have been sitting in my bookshelf for all this time.