Review of Just One Day by Gayle Forman Or, Forman: Master of Characterization

Gayle Forman has yet to disappoint me. I find myself much less interested in what happens as whom it happens to. This author has a real gift for creating well-rounded, believable characters. 

I want to be on a European train when I look at this cover

In a short time, I get to know her characters really well. How long did we spend with Babs? Or Wren? Or Dee? And yet these minor characters are as vivid (sometimes more vivid) than main characters I've spent an entire series with. And this is because Gayle Forman writes characters, not vessels that the reader just injects themselves into. This technique makes it very frustrating when a character makes a decision I would not make. This character is supposed to be me, but I'm not that stupid! When Allyson frustrated me (or her mother, or Melanie, or Celine, etc.) I at least knew why she was choosing what she chose. Because she is her own character. Forman has given me enough background to understand Allyon's thought process and appreciate her feelings.

I'm also deeply impressed by Allyson's character evolution. I've read books where the author tries to show her character has evolved and changed based on her experiences, but it feels sudden; out of place; forced. I hate that. Nothing about Allyson felt forced. She still failed. She backed down. but we could sense her growing resistance and frustration, so when she finally spoke out against her mother (not, perhaps, in the most tactful way, but definitely in an understandable way) it felt so right. Her actions had been building over the course of the novel. Forman laid solid foundation for Allyon's evolution.

While I'm a sucker for romance, it made me so happy that the focus of the book was on self-discovery. Sure, the catalyst was that day in Paris with Willem, but Allyson was very aware throughout the novel that she was very much searching for Lulu; she was searching for herself. Maybe it's because that's the place I'm in my life. I have this really deep urge to get out, go away, see what's out there. I deeply desire to travel by myself and therefore have a deeper understanding of myself. I found that very satisfying in this novel. (Sidenote: in many ways this novel makes me think of The Alchemist- listening to the universe! You will fave adversity, but the universe will give you the signs and nudges and help to make your dreams come true! But you need to be willing to put in the effort and pay the consequences.)

I am so glad I read this book now and not a few months ago. I'm not sure I could wait that long for the sequel. As it is I am waiting impatiently for the library to present me with a borrowed copy! My guess: Willem had another run-in with the skinheads.

Not to judge a book by it's cover, but I would NOT want a
run- in with these gents

-Kate
Rating:


Badges:
Good Writing Badge

Review of Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: "Jay, NA, & Hemingway"

In which Sam rants about the new NA genre, raves about The Sun Also Rises and The Great Gatsby, and accuses summer of inducing the mass delusion that we are all young again.

In 2009, in an effort to reach a growing cohort of YA readers over 18, St. Martin’s Press held a contest seeking fiction for a “new adult” category. Though it’s been four years since the term hit the blogosphere, I still hadn’t heard of “NA” fiction until Meg and Kate mentioned it to me a few weeks ago. After some Google sleuthing, I discovered the fabulous NA Books Blog, which aptly describes the category here. I’ll give you Heather’s summary of NA in brief:

NA books are the bridge between Young Adult (YA) fiction and Adult fiction. Main characters are 18 to 30 years old. Themes include leaving home, gaining independence from parents, developing sexuality, and romance, as well as making education and career choices.

Heather also points out the controversy among publishers that NA isn’t “real” somehow – that there is no such category, and it’s just a marketing tool. She musters the strong evidence of NA existence from the success of contemporary NA fiction like Beautiful Disaster. I agree, but I also think that NA has been around much longer than four years, or fourteen years. I think it’s been around for at least eighty-eight.