2014 Book Challenge: Just One Day

Finally was able to squeeze in one book before January ends. According to my progress bar, I am three books behind schedule. This time last year I think I have read three to four books already and this year I only had one at the end of the month. I hope this doesn't set the trend for the year when it comes to reading books.

While reading Just One Day, I remember that the first book I read last year was The Fault in Our Stars and for a brief moment, the story was set in Amsterdam as what also happened in Just One Day. Galing, no? I'm sure not a big deal pero amused ako sa mga ganitong coincidences kahit gaano kababaw. So anyway, I carefully chose this book to start the new year because it is about taking chances and stepping out of one's comfort zone which I think I need to try. Last year's book choice was a bit depressing and I think maybe it sort of set the mood for my 2013. I need to pick up the pace here.

Allyson and Melanie went on a cultural/exposure trip in Europe as a graduation gift from their parents. And that one fateful day, Allyson meets Willem. She went with Willem, whom she barely knows, on a trip to Paris. Alone. Without Melanie.

I guess Allyson doesn't have CI channel on cable

So Allyson (otherwise known as Lulu) likes Willem so much that she took a chance on him and hopped on that train to Paris even if she barely knew him. Maybe she hasn't watched any of those psycho-thriller movies where this good-looking guy is a serial killer or someone who sells teenage girls to prostitution dens. But whatever because Willem turns out to be a perfectly normal human being without Dexter-ish tendencies. They spend one day together in Paris, took a nap in the park, got chased by Parisian tambays and trespassed an art squat to spend the night in. The morning after, Willem disappears. Distraught and feeling duped, she goes back to England, to Melanie (with the help of Ms. Foley) and let this one event affect her life.

This one day changed Allyson into an anti-social, sad person who was stuck in a moment. But you see, Willem was someone she barely knew and when she spent one day with him I kinda think she already knew that what they had was something temporary. She expected too much and we all know by now that expectation is the root of all heartache. Very befitting quote as it came from Shakespeare.

But of course our story doesn't end there. She goes back to Paris to find Willem and find out what really happened that morning. I guess she just wants some sort of closure. She finds him but we will find out how their story ends in Just One Year which is told from the point of view of Willem.