Just One Day is the story of a girl who lets other people control her life. Allyson is taking a tour of Europe, a graduation present before heading off to college and medical school, the life she has had planned for years. In England, her plans change when she attends a Guerrilla Shakespeare performance of Twelfth Night, and falls for the guy playing Sebastian. Willem is Dutch and alluring. He takes her to Paris and they spend a lovely day together before he disappears into thin air.
Willem's disappearance breaks her. Allyson does poorly at college. She doesn't connect with her roommates, she does terribly at her classes, and she doesn't keep up with her parents or former best friend. The first part of the book was really difficult to read. I wanted to like Allyson, but it was very difficult. She was so bad that part of me wanted to stop reading the book. The girl was stuck in a plan she made when she was 12 or something, pining over some guy that she knew for one day and didn't even learn his last name!
Thankfully, Allyson eventually moves out of her rut. I'm always a sucker for a good girl empowerment story. Despite the excruciating beginning, I'm going to come down on the positive side here. I greatly empathize with the difficulty of growing up. It's hard to figure out what to do with your life and who you want to be. Lord knows that I haven't figured everything out yet. What we get here is a girl who figures out that she doesn't want what she thought she wanted. By the end, she has moved in a direction to find out what she actually wants. It seems as though there will be a sequel from Willem's point of view. I almost don't want to hear from him, as he comes off as a bit of a dog. I'll probably still end up reading it when it comes out.
I received my copy of Through the Ever Night from Edelweiss, courtesy of Dutton Juvenile. It's available for purchase now.
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