Welcome to the read along for JUST ONE YEAR, part of the Gayle Forman Read Along event!
Each WEDNESDAY, we will be posting the answers from the previous week and I’ll be giving you my answers as well as the questions for the next week’s batch of chapters! Here’s a look at our official schedule for the event:
October 18th: Questions week 1 (Ch 1-12)
October 23rd: Answers week 1 (Ch 1 – 12), week 2 questions (Ch 13 – 21)
October 30th: Answers week 2 (Ch 13 – 21), week 3 questions (Ch 21 – 32) Now!
November 6th: Answers week 3 (Ch 21 – 32), week 4 questions (Ch 33 – end)
November 13th: Answers week 4 (Ch 33 – end), wrap-up & giveaway winner announced!
As you may have noticed, there will be a little giveaway for one of the JUST ONE YEAR read along participants! I’ve detailed the guidelines for the giveaway allllll the way down at the bottom!
ANSWERS: WEEK 2
- First off, how much did Willem’s time in Mexico KILL YOU? Have you ever had close run-in situations or actual run-in situations with someone you knew far away from home?
Oh my GOSH, I was dying. I mean, obviously we know how that situation ends up since we already know Allyson’s time in Mexico, but GAH.
I actually haven’t had many encounters like that… But one time we DID see a family from my parents’ church when we were in Washington DC! (And in case you don’t know, we live in IL, so that’s a loooong ways away!) I don’t know why, but I’m always looking for people I know, no matter where I go because I secretly LOVE that weird coincidence. - Kate told Willem, “Nothing happens without intention” and she also said, “This theory of yours — life is ruled by accident — isn’t that just one huge excuse for passivity?” Do you think she’s on to something there?
Wow, that is such a hard thing to answer. I do kind of believe in fate BUT I also think you can only let destiny control your life so much before YOU start making decisions. Life will not do everything for you. You need to make your own choices and maybe fate can control the outcomes of two possible paths. What I really liked was that she opened up Willem’s eyes to that situation. I feel like he really was leaving too much up to chance and he needed to sort of be awakened to that. Then again, he was already in Mexico…….. To be debated! - Marjolein said that Willem is like his mother after packing up his bags. He says that he’s not. Which do you think is more accurate knowing what we now know about his mom?
I think he’s a lot like his mother but he just doesn’t realize it or doesn’t want to admit it. I think they both have tendencies to run from hard emotional experiences and we already know that Willem is avoiding those feelings at all costs. I really liked seeing the dynamic between Willem and his mother. As much as they’re different, they really are the same in a lot of ways. - What do you think of Willem’s relationship with his mother? He feels like they’re not speaking the same language. Do you think that either one of them specifically are at fault?
I think his mother is partially to blame, yes, but I also think that Willem doesn’t quite know what to do either. His father was always the more open one, the more emotional one, so when he needs to lean on his mother emotionally, she’s just not there — both physically and mentally. It’s really hard to say who’s at fault there. I think it takes two! - We learned a lot about Willem’s history in this section of chapters and we see how rapidly Willem’s life has changed in just the past few years. Even though he’s pretty much an adult at this point, why do you think the absence of his parents hit him so hard?
Wow. Ummm. Well, honestly, I think no matter what age you are, it has to kill you to lose a parent. Then to figuratively lose another by her up and leaving…. I think Willem felt abandoned. He always loved his parents and they had a specific dynamic. He had a rhythm of life that got abruptly changed when his father died. His entire life changed and I don’t think he knew how to handle it, which can you blame him? That REALLY opened up a new window to Willem’s life and I was so glad to see that family history! There’s so much more beneath the surface there.
QUESTIONS: WEEK 3
- How did you feel about Willem’s time in India? Besides his mother, what do you think he found from his time there?
- Prateek told Willem, “To dream is the ultimate dare.” What do you think he means by that?
- Do you have hopes for Willem and his mother? Do you think they’ve mended their relationship?
- We finally find out how Bram died. How do you think that affected Willem’s theory of fate and accidents?
- Why do you think that just one day with Allyson awoke so many feelings in Willem?
1 thought on “Just One Year/Gayle Forman Read Along: Week 2 Answers, Week 3 Questions”
OMG Mexico! I wanted to pick him up out of the book and put him next to her. Drove me crazy, he was so close! Even when he was staying at Ana Lucia’s and the lady from the tours came by and offered Ms. Foley’s number. And Celine, she just rubbed me the wrong way from the minute we met her. I’m loving reading the book, but I want to get to where she is at his door NOW!