Just One Year (Just One Day #2) by Gayle Forman

When he opens his eyes, Willem doesn’t know where in the world he is—Prague or Dubrovnik or back in Amsterdam. All he knows is that he is once again alone, and that he needs to find a girl named Lulu. They shared one magical day in Paris, and something about that day—that girl—makes Willem wonder if they aren’t fated to be together. He travels all over the world, from Mexico to India, hoping to reconnect with her. But as months go by and Lulu remains elusive, Willem starts to question if the hand of fate is as strong as he’d thought. . . .

The romantic, emotional companion to Just One Day, this is a story of the choices we make and the accidents that happen—and the happiness we can find when the two intersect.

My Thoughts:
I was expecting a sort of reprise of Just One Day, only told from Willem's perspective. This wasn't that. Exactly.

I mean, the only thing I actually wanted to read about was their day. That one day in Paris with Willem and Allyson. I wanted to see it from his perspective. I didn't even get that. The book begins just after that day. Sure it answered every nagging question I had about Willem and what happened and all that but it was like all the fun was sucked out of the story. Willem is depressed throughout the vast majority of this book. While the introspection and story-telling and all is character-building, it's just not fun to read about. I was a bit bored.

Why is it that all the men in Forman's books sleep around a lot but the girls are pretty much chaste? Or at least monogamous? The double standard makes me angry.

I did like all the traveling. Traveling is interesting and it felt realistic the way people would flit in and out of the story. But, again, not very fun to read about. Only a few characters were allowed more than a chapter or two. There was very little continuity. I like continuity.

I don't know what else to say about this except that it was kind of disappointing. I finished it, so I guess that says something.

Sexual Content: Moderate (Lots of sex going on but nothing graphic)
Language: Moderate
Violence: Mild
Drugs/Alcohol: Moderate