Just One Year Read Along - Week 1

I'm a procrastinator of course so I waited until this morning to read all twelve chapters of the week one assignment for Just One Year. So far, Just One Day is a million times better then this one but reading from Willem's POV is interesting. I can't relate to him like I could with Allyson but at the same time I can. If you follow me on Twitter then you probably saw all of the quotes I tweeted. I'm obsessed with his thoughts! Now for my answers to this weeks questions :)

1. We know from JUST ONE DAY how Allyson and Willem initially got permanently separated, but in JUST ONE YEAR, we get to see Willem’s story of this situation. Did this change how you initially felt in JUST ONE DAY? Did your opinions of Willem from JUST ONE DAY start changing by seeing his side of the story?
---------->I honestly feel like it's a cop out of some sorts to have him have gotten beaten up. I feel like it's too easy which seems like a crazy thought. I love the whole idea of just leaving her though because that's what he does and leaving her heartbroken. I like the tragedy and sadness of it. I like seeing his POV and seeing that he has the same thoughts as he did with Allyson. I think he's a really smart, beautiful human being and I feel like my opinions of him haven't changed. I still think he's a smart, beautiful human being.

2. A common theme in both JUST ONE DAY and JUST ONE YEAR is double happiness. Besides the Chinese symbols, what sort of significance do you think it holds for our two main characters? Do you think there’s a deeper meaning?
---------->I was thinking about this and it's really hard to decipher! The thought that I came up with is basically...double happiness - you need to have happiness within yourself/be happy but you also need to have someone who compliments you and makes you content with life and wants to you to be happy.

3. Along with Willem’s POV, we also get to get to see a bit more into Celine’s character. Did you feel any different about her reactions towards Willem? Towards Allyson?
---------->I just don't like Celine. I do however feel she is semi important to the story because of her relationship with Willem and it's interesting seeing how she's the opposite of Allyson. But at the same time, I don't really give much thought to her. I just try to get past her sections of the book really fast.

4. Willem’s life has been surrounded by and filled with “accidents”, even going back to the story of how his parents met. Do you think this affected his view on life? How he feels about meeting Allyson?
---------->I love his outlook and how accidents have always been in his life. I feel like he's lucky to have this type of outlook because it brings some uniqueness to him. I guess in relation to Allyson, it's holding him back because he's not the type of guy that's going to just go look for some girl. If they're meant to be together, they'll find their way back to each other.

5. All of the chances and accidents we see in this series brings up the idea of chance versus action & intention. Do you think Fate exists?

---------->Ok so, I feel like fate and destiny are two different things. I feel like fate is perfect for these books and for situations like this. I have a tattoo that says "We Create Our Own Destiny." I really believe in this because I feel like I have done nothing but create my life and my destiny. Ultimately I think I know where I want to end up in life but I am choosing how I get there. It's very important that I be in charge of my life. Not fate. But I love the idea of fate when it comes to love!

Categories: Gayle Forman Read Along, Just One Year, The Book Addicts Guide