Just One Year by Gayle Forman

* * * * 1/2

Before you find out how their story ends, remember how it began....

When he opens his eyes, Willem doesn’t know where in the world he is—Prague or Dubrovnik or back in Amsterdam. All he knows is that he is once again alone, and that he needs to find a girl named Lulu. They shared one magical day in Paris, and something about that day—that girl—makes Willem wonder if they aren’t fated to be together. He travels all over the world, from Mexico to India, hoping to reconnect with her. But as months go by and Lulu remains elusive, Willem starts to question if the hand of fate is as strong as he’d thought. . . .

The romantic, emotional companion to Just One Day, this is a story of the choices we make and the accidents that happen—and the happiness we can find when the two intersect.





Review:

In Just One Day, we watched Allyson experience her own journey of emotional growth and self-discovery.  A journey that ended with a search for Willem.  The guy she knew for just one day.  The guy that changed her life and her heart.

In Just One Year, it is Willem’s turn.   Willem wakes up in a Paris hospital with a concussion and almost no memories of the events that lead to him being there.  All he knows is that he left someone behind and he needs to find her.  When he is finally able to leave the hospital and begins to remember all the details of his day and night with Lulu, she is already gone and can’t be found.  He has no other option other than to return to his home in Amsterdam.  But he is lost and the only way he thinks he can be found is to find Lulu.  With the very little information he has about her he begins his search.  His search for Lulu begins and ends in Mexico.  The trip to Mexico quickly becomes a journey of self-discovery that leads him to India where he will find the love of a mother he has been missing most of his life.  And then back to Amsterdam where he will find comfort in more family and friends as well as learn to pursue the things that bring him true happiness.

Much like the first book, this is not a traditional romance.  This story is about Willem’s journey and the hope that if he can be happy with himself and his life then, maybe, just maybe, he will find the one girl that turned his life upside down and forced him into that journey in the first place.

Thankfully, Willem’s story did not make me curl up into the fetal position and sob.  That does not mean it was lacking in its poignancy.  This is a beautiful and moving story and it is a wonderful compliment to Just One Day.


~Nat