Review: Just One Day by Gale Foreman

I read and loved Just One Day by Gale Foreman -- but be aware-- tears alert!

A breathtaking journey toward self-discovery and true love, from the author of If I Stay
When sheltered American good girl Allyson "LuLu" Healey first meets laid-back Dutch actor Willem De Ruiter at an underground performance of Twelfth Night in England, there’s an undeniable spark. After just one day together, that spark bursts into a flame, or so it seems to Allyson, until the following morning, when she wakes up after a whirlwind day in Paris to discover that Willem has left. Over the next year, Allyson embarks on a journey to come to terms with the narrow confines of her life, and through Shakespeare, travel, and a quest for her almost-true-love, to break free of those confines. (GoodReads).

Originality: 7. This could have been another "find yourself while abroad while falling for a sexy foreigner" stories, but thank goodness, it is so much more than that. Allyson, while having the burden of a weirdly spelled last name, takes us beyond that magical one day euro adventure. You see her grow up, navigate college( authors, more books about college) and while this still has a bit of an after-school-special feel about finding yourself, the characters you met along the way elevate the story.
Absurdity: 7. I don't care if you are getting down with your wild self in Europe- going off with strange boys does not end in love. It ends in a B-level slasher flick....That being said..... 
Level of Paranormal Romance: 10. Willem! Yum! I don't know if he would be as sexy in, say, a strip mall in Ohio, but good lord he is glorious. 
Level of Harry Potterness: 7. I love how this story is structured. I am dying to know more with Just One Year, which I am on the waiting list for. I cried at the end of this book. It beautifully written and moving, in a happy tears kind of way! The best kind of tears.