Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Novella Review: Just One Night by Gayle Forman (Salute Your Shorts, #6)

Salute Your Shorts is a weekly (ish) feature hosted by Heidi at Bunbury in the Stacks. It highlights and reviews short stories and novellas, both of which don't receive too much attention in the blogosphere. 

Title: Just One Night (Just One Day, #2.5)

Author: Gayle Forman

Rating: 4 Stars

It will come as a surprise to many that I didn't necessarily want Just One Night. Unlike the majority of readers, I fell head-over-heels in love with Just One Year, particularly its ending. It felt right. While Just One Day may have had readers questioning Willem's fidelity or the depth of his love for Allyson, I knew by the answering smile on his face as he opened the door to allow her his apartment that their love story could have only one type of ending: a happy one. And though Just One Year may not have prolonged their reunion too much, I closed the volume with absolutely no complaints, feeling swept up in the whirlwind of life, of fate, and of the journeys that take us to new dimensions of understanding ourselves.

Thus, when I heard Forman was releasing Just One Night, her first novella, I was mostly confused, though admittedly curious and more than a little eager to re-visit the lives of Allyson and Willem both. For a small title, Just One Night is impeccably written--as is only to be expected from Forman--venturing into a slightly different format as Forman flits between the third person perspectives of Allyson, Willem, and even their close friends. It is a content installment, full of the connecting dots that further emphasize just how much Willem and Allyson belong together, and for that, I loved it. I loved the meandering conversations these two share, both as they yearn to begin their lives together while simultaneously backtracking to the marvelous day they shared together in Paris. As they try to piece together all the missing gaps in their love story.

Perhaps, for most readers, this novella provides that tiny little bit of closure they felt missing from the ending of Just One Year. Perhaps seeing a confirmation in both the dialogue and actions of Willem further reassure readers that yes, he loves Allyson; yes, he means to begin a relationship with her and make it work till the end; no, she isn't just another one of his girls--she's special. For me, however, all this and more became abundantly clear in Just One Year, particularly in the way that Willem compared his relationship with Allyson to that shared between Yael and Bram. Of course, there are lines--snippets, really--from this novella that are sweet, adorable, and meant to be cherished but, as a whole, it didn't do too much for me beyond clarify what I already knew to be true for these two. It's a short work and a pleasure to read, but where the previous two books in this series gave me more than a love story--they gave me a remarkable journey of self-discovery to examine and admire--this novella remains a romantic tale, tying up the potential loose ends Forman may not have spelled out in Just One Year and pleasing fans around the globe. It's well-worth the read, in my opinion, but while I'll be re-reading Just One Day and Just One Year in the time to come, I am perfectly content letting Just One Night sit demurely on my Kindle from here on out.

You can read my reviews for Just One Day and Just One Year here and here respectively.

16 comments:

  1. I don't usually read a lot of novellas, only the ones about the authors I already follow but this one sounds good. Plus I'm in love with the cover! thanks for the discovery!

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  2. I've started Just One Night, but I feel pretty similar to you in that I thought Just One Year clarified the ending pretty well and I was fairly confident in Willem and Alyson and their staying power. I still am enjoying Just One Night though.

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  3. I DNFed Just One Year (though I adored Just One Day) but I like that the author followed up with a novella to give a bit more closure to those who needed/wanted it. Kind of like an epilogue in novella form. Nothing wrong with that!

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  4. I have yet to read anything by Gayle Forman. I should fix this immediately! I cannot read this review until I read the first two, but I will tell you I plan on reading If I Stay or Just One Day soon :D

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  5. I've been meaning to start Just one day for a very long time, but since If I stay was a huge disappointment for me, I'm on the fence to start anything by Forman, although it's highly regarded. Your reviews for Just one day and Just one year convinced me to start the series right away. I need to get to this most talked novella soon. Glad you enjoyed it. Lovely review, Keertana!!!

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  6. I still have yet to read anything by Gayle Forman. How much do I fail Keertana? I'm really curious about this series because it seems to have inspired a wide variety of reactions, and I really want to find out what I'll think. Glad this novella worked so well for you!!!

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  7. I love Foreman's writing and I just know I will enjoy this one as well. Glad that even though this wasn't something you needed to enjoy the first book more, you still liked it.

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  8. I'm not someone who reads a lot of novella's, but I do like them from time to time. I haven't read Just One Year yet but I've seen people complaining about the ending, so I think Forman might have written this mostly to please the fans.

    I'm glad you liked it, though I can understand it didn't exactly overwhelm you.

    Great review, Keertana <33

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  9. I still need to read Just One Year. And although I sort of feel the same as you did about Just One Day's ending... I wanted to know for sure. So, I guess... that novella has my name on it. LOL

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  10. I need to read these still..hah

    That's great the novella worked for you, since you were wary.

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  11. I feel as though Gayle was pressured into writing this (though I don't know that, perhaps she had planned this novella all along) and I recently read that another author... maybe Anna Carey, also felt the need to release a novella after the end of a series due to readers complaints/comments.

    I agree, I felt as though they were definitely going to get together, and while I enjoyed this, I don't think it was essential to the duology.

    Mands @ The Bookish Manicurist

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  12. I'm happy this provided more assurance that Allyson was special to Willem and he meant to have a relationship, because that's exactly what I wanted after the end of the first book. I wasn't thrilled the second book was an alternate story set at the same time of the first book so I didn't pick it up. That and Willem bugged me. Wonderful review, Keertana. I would like to read this. :)

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  13. I agree that this didn't change my outlook on Willem and Allyson too much because I also felt fairly certain of Willem's feelings at the end of Just One Year. But then I always tend to try to make the most romantic ending in my head happen. :-) Glad you enjoyed this, and thanks for your lovely review!

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  14. I was happy with the end of JOY but I still very much loved this and consider it a happy and indulgent addition to the series. I'll be rereading it more than you, I think. I agree it wasn't needed. But it was wanted by many and I love when an author gives that to her fans.

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  15. I was happy with the end of JOY but I still very much loved this and consider it a happy and indulgent addition to the series. I'll be rereading it more than you, I think. I agree it wasn't needed. But it was wanted by many and I love when an author gives that to her fans.

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