Also by this author: I Was Here, Just One Day, Just One Year
Series: Just One Day #2.5
Also in this series: Just One Day, Just One Year
Published by Penguin on May 29th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Europe, Love & Romance, Novellas/Short Stories, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 40 •Format: eBook •Source: Purchased
Goodreads
After spending one life-changing day in Paris with laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter, sheltered American good girl Allyson “Lulu” Healey discovered her new lover had disappeared without a trace. Just One Day followed Allyson’s quest to reunite with Willem; Just One Year chronicled the pair’s year apart from Willem’s perspective. Now, back together at last, this delectable e-novella reveals the couple’s final chapter.
“The truth and its opposite are flip sides of the same coin.”
I’m so glad I was able to read this series when it was completed, because if not the wait for finding out how Willem and Allyson’s story concluded would have been excruciating. This novella is short and sweet, and finally gives life to that agonizing ending of both Just One Day and Just One Year when Allyson and Willem are finally reunited again.
The narrative is told through a third person perspective, which is a little jarring since the previous books were narrated by either Allyson or Willem. However, this method gives the reader the best unbiased view of what’s happening. What I loved about this novella is that it wasn’t 40 pages of perfect, pure fluff. It had a realistic uncertain and awkward feel to it, as all of the complicated feelings from the past year must be confronted by Allyson and Willem, rather than them just falling into a “happily ever after” story. The short story is told through alternating waves of sadness, anxiety, awkwardness, and passion. It brings together all of the odds and ends of the cast in both Allyson and Willem’s separate journeys back to each other, from Wren to the man who took Allyson to the tulips to Kate, the theater company owner who gave Willem the courage to confront himself.
And finally getting to read Allyson and Willem being alone together after that heart-wrenching, soul searching year apart? Incomparable. I walked away feeling so satisfied from this novella, in all of its bittersweetness.
Overall: The best word to describe Just One Night is “soothing.” We get closure, and it’s not rushed or crammed in at the end of Just One Year, but it’s explored in a sort of magical, omnipotent feeling third person perspective. An emotional balm to heal the anxious feelings and lack of closure from Just One Day and Just One Year, Just One Night is the perfect way to wrap up an imperfect real life fairytale.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Goodreads Challenge
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