Book Diary #5: Just One Day by Gayle Forman

If you weren’t able to tell by my “If I Stay” movie review I’m a huge fan of Gayle Forman and her books. Recently, I finally found the time to sit down and read “Just One Day.” I’ve had this book sitting on my Nook for over a year and just now was able to read it. It was definitely worth the wait.

Getting Lost

“Just One Day” recaps the ups and downs in a single year of Allyson Healey’s life. The book starts with the soon-to-be college student at the end of her tour around Europe that was gifted to her by her parents for graduation. On the last day of the tour Allyson and her friend Melanie skip the tour scheduled performance of “Hamlet” in favor of an outdoor performance of “Twelfth Night.” It is here that Allyson meets the charming and mysterious actor Willem with whom she finds an almost immediate connection.

On her way to London Allyson runs into Willem again on the train. After he discovers her tour had skipped over their day in Paris, Willem invites Allyson on a spur of the moment, one day trip to the romantic city. Against her own reservations, Allyson says yes.

This decision leads a whirlwind and completely unexpected day in Paris. A day full of adventure and maybe true love, but it’s just one day. When Allyson goes back home she finds going back to normal, back to the way things were, is no longer an option.

Being Found

While I can’t quite say that I enjoyed this book more than “If I Stay,” it’s definitely one of the better books I’ve read this summer. I’ve always wanted to travel around Europe but never as much as I wanted to while reading this book.

The things that make this story great aren’t just the interesting plot or the beautiful back drop. What makes this story great is the beautiful mix of fun and interesting characters that give the story its conflicts and heart. From Allyson being the “good girl” who wants to be so much more than that, to Willem being the player who just might have the capacity for true love after all, to college friend Dee who is full of personality, sass, and real friendship, to the Australian back-packers that befriend Allyson on her return trip to Paris. I could go on even. Not to say that there aren’t some frustrating characters, such as Allyson’s desperate and controlling mother and her ever-changing, too-cool-for-school best friend Melanie. But every character, no matter how big or small, adds to the story and gives it that human touch to make it great.

Weather you’ve read Forman’s previous work or not, this is a book that should be added to your reading list. If you want a story that can show you the beauty of being lost and the possibility of being found, then you’ve come to the right place with this one.

Also check out this other review for Just One Day.

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Do you love this book? What other books should I be reading? Let me know in the comments!

Movie Review: “If I Stay”

Movie Poster

Rating: 4/5

I’m going to throw this out there from the get-go: I love this book! As in, it’s my favorite book. So I was definitely excited for this movie, albeit with some reservations. It’s very possible that my opinion on this movie was a bit biased going in, but I’m going to put my thoughts out there anyways.

Summary

If you don’t already know the story, here’s what you need to know (if you do know it, you can skip this part like I always do). “If I Stay” is based on the book by Gayle Forman and is about cello prodigy Mia Hall who comes from a cool family of ex-punk rockers where she understandably feels like a black sheep. Despite this, though, they are a tight-knit family. On top of her supportive family she has a confident rocker-on-the-rise boyfriend, Adam, who loves her despite their differences and a possible future at Julliard. Mia’s life seems full of love and possibility until it is all halted by an icy and deadly car crash that leaves her in a coma and in an out of body state with the power to choose whether she lives or dies.

The story shows everything that has happened in Mia’s life up until the accident. We find out who she is and who she loves and the cracks in her life are revealed. All the while, Mia hangs on by a thread trying to make the toughest choice she will ever have to make.

The Movie

I went to go see the movie yesterday morning. I walked into a completely empty theater with the thrill and disappointment of knowing I had the whole place to myself. Again, I was looking forward to this movie, but I was not expecting the best of it. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised.

First of all, the script holds quite true to the source material. Everything that matters is there and while, yes, there are some changes, they often make sense and make the story flow better in a visual format. For example they change Shooting Star’s name to Willamette Stone; most likely for copyright reasons (I’m pretty sure there is a real band out there called Shooting Star). They also remove the fake band that Adam’s band opens for and replaces them with the very real band The Shins. This also means there is not a scene where rock stars have infiltrated the hospital in order to help Adam get into the ICU.

SPOILER!!!

Also the biggest change I noticed was the amount of time it takes for Mia to figure out that both her parents have died. In the book she sees their mangled bodies at the crash site. In the movie she hears about it when the doctors inform her grandparents. This is a cruel change but not a bad change. Personally, I felt it added more to the suspense if you weren’t already familiar with the story. There were more changes in the way the story was laid out, but it all seemed like it was for better pacing so I have no complaints.

Problems

While I was mostly pleased with the way this movie turned out, there were a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. First, if you’ve go into this without reading the book I realize that there are some parts that may make you scratch your head. I watched one interview where one of the reviewers had not read the book and he was confused as to how Mia functions as a not-so ghost and honestly I can see why. There is little to no explanation or exploration of her limitations and there is no clear way to see exactly how she would follow through with a decision. To clarify: Mia can’t walk through walls or re-enter her body, and she can’t manipulate things in the real world. When it comes to making a decision she has to be wholeheartedly set on it, not just say “I want to die” and poof it happens; she can’t have any doubts.

Second, I don’t feel like there was enough back story on the character of Teddy. You know he’s this quirky little kid that loves punk rock and is clearly more like Mia’s parents than she is, but you don’t know much about Mia’s relationship with Teddy and just plain don’t see enough of him to care about him as much. You only care because he is a little kid on the brink of death.

Last, and this one is small, they never make it clear that Willow works in the hospital where the story takes place. You see her in a pair of scrubs at one point in a short flashback and she shows authority with the nurses and security at the hospital, but unless you are pretty observant, you may not catch this and it’s fairly important.

Also check out my story on “If I Stay” in the latest issue of Highlight Magazine on page 13.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I really loved this movie adaptation. The music was great, the acting was great and the story remained intact. For a story that I felt may not translate well in movie form, I was very impressed.

Unfortunately, I doubt this movie will do as well as it could. With being overshadowed by the mega popular “The Fault In Our Stars” and a negative reaction from seemingly ignorant critics, most movie goers will likely fall in line with popular opinion that is some kind of TFIOS rip-off (which is an invalid criticism since the book “If I Stay” was released three whole years before TFIOS). Despite this, I urge you to watch this movie and see for yourself if it is something worth watching.