Review #38 - Just One Day by Gayle Forman

Just One Day is a novel by Gayle Forman about Allyson who's spent the summer before college on a European tour. On the last day of the tour she meets Willem and they go for one whirlwind day in Paris. The book is set into two parts: the day in Paris and the year after at college.

This is very much a romance YA novel with an air of un-tragic TFIOS and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. The romance is great though I didn't fall in love with Willem which is a shame because it's fantastic when you fall in love with a character. However it is top of it's game in the contemporary YA romance.

It is set in Paris (which is not my favourite European city by a long way), Amsterdam (yes yes yes), an American college and a tiny bit in Stratford and London. The European settings are gorgeous and very romanticised which I liked because it is first person. It is an insight into Allyson (rather than general oh Europe is amazing writing). I also always love books about uni.

My favourite part was the part at college because it made my little feminist heart warm and also the most character development occurred here and it was a really important moment in the plot. I feel like everyone overlooks this and focuses on the romance but I really loved the bits in college (especially the bits about Shakespeare).

I thought the characters were wonderful (apart from maybe Willem) and really colourful. I loved their relationships and the way they interacted. So much was very subtle and I really enjoyed that because I hate it when authors treat their readers like idiots. I really liked how Allyson was more preoccupied about finding herself in the novel that Willem which again, pleased by little feminist heart.

I would recommend this if:
You want a good YA romance
You loved the Fangirl setting
You want to visit Europe

I gave this five stars.

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Favourite quotes:
“I think you cry in movies that aren't even sad because you have a soft heart, though you don't let it show. I think you do things that scare you, and that makes you braver than those adrenaline junkies who bungee-jump off bridges.”
“No one is who they pretend to be.”

Review #35 - The Letter to the King by Tonke Dragt

The Letter for the King is a Dutch children's book that has just been translated into English. I got this at the American Book Centre in Spui, Amsterdam. The man on the checkout told me that this is one of his all time favourite children's books. I'm pretty sure it's up there in mine.

It's about a 16 year old boy, Tiuri, who is sitting in a chapel keeping his vigil before being knighted the following morning. He hears a knock at the window and opens the door and undertakes a dangerous task that stop him becoming a knight.

I think if I were to compare it to another children's book I'd compare it to The Hobbit. However, I hated The Hobbit (sorry Tolkien lovers) and I really loved Letter to the King. It has the same dynamic and both involve travelling to a destination and back from it. Letter to the King however is has no fantastical beasts or creatures (think BBC Merlin without the magic and bromance, mainly knights riding through places) which I really enjoyed. Also Letter to the King felt very much like all the plot points linked unlike The Hobbit which felt like a collection of shore stories. The Letter to the King's plot twists were better and more exciting. The style seemed to really work with The Letter to the King.

I really liked the pace of Letter to the King especially as it started very quickly which is actually what sold it to me. It had me hooked from a very early point. It does slow down but I don't think the matters. The suspense keeps it going from the constant danger he feels.

I read a lot of books that are either set in America or feel American because the YA genre is dominated by the US. This was beautifully European as a book. I felt like I had a lot of heritage as a book, in it's European Dynamic and the history of it with it's forests and knights and wars about land. I felt like this was a real strong point to this book.

The relationships between the characters were captured really well and were complex especially as there was a lot of prejudice to Tiuri. I liked the misconceptions. My favourite character was the horse. That horse. I think it's because it is Tiuri's validation as a hero symbolically.

If you get the amazing hardcover version like I have (I'm not sure about 1) if there is an English paperback 2) if it contains the map) it has a beautiful map at the cover which made the story really come alive and a lot of the reason I loved this book was because I could relate this book to something visual.

I would read this book if:
You want a children's book that is just wonderful
You want a book that captures European culture
You just want to own the world's most beautiful book

Five stars for you Glenn Coco, you go Glenn Coco