The Aussie Zombie

I was so excited about Gayle Forman's newest book that I turned into something of a stalker. I entered every giveaway I could find, nearly broke my mouse requesting e-galleys and finally ended up pre-ordering on Kindle (which I nearly never do) to make sure I could get my copy as soon as humanly possible.

If you think this is leading up to the bit where I say that Just One Day didn't live up to my lofty expectations, you're almost right. The first 30% or so I was so completely underwhelmed and disappointed I actually contemplated throwing it back on the shelf (metaphorically speaking), and pretending the whole thing never happened. But I stuck with it, and I'm really glad that I did.

My first issue was the characters. I get that Allyson is supposed to be a great example of what breaking out of confines can do, and growing up is hard and learning to be yourself is important, but I actually didn't like her as a character. I found her whiny, negative and quite boring to be brutally honest. I also didn't get the attraction to Willem - I'd built this book up in my head to be an incredibly romantic story with a swoon-worthy lead, but he just didn't work for me. And when Allyson returns to the US and college, I literally wanted to reach through the pages and slap her. Yeah, this was an adventure, kinda romantic and completely out of her comfort zone, but she was so fucking mopey.

But once I got past the day in Paris and the mind-numbing my-life-is-shit attitude, I really really enjoyed Allyson's coming-of-age - shrugging off the expecations of her parents, learning that things cannot always stay the same, finding her own passions and doing things outside her comfort zone, all of which made her a more likable character.

I loved the travel aspect, particularly some of the final stages of her trip, and her determination to find the answers to the questions that had been driving her crazy over the past year.

So in the end, Just One Day redeemed itself for me. We had a rocky start, but I'm definitely looking forward to reading Just One Year.

Read more of my reviews at The Aussie Zombie