Maybe One Day: Escape with the most uplifting, romantic and heartwarming must-read book of the year!

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Bare with me here as there's bound to be a lot of tears that I will disguise as allergies while I write this review.This book was pretty much near perfection for me. As a child I gravitated towards the fictional works of Lurlene McDaniel and Melissa Kantor's One Day Maybe is right in that very same vein. Actually I would argue that they are extremely similar in a lot of ways. The way Maybe One Day sounded was not at all unlike Lurlene McDaniel's work fifteen or so years ago.

I wish that the friendship was explored more. It. Was. Meant. To. Be. The. Main. Point. Of. The. Book. I felt like there was too much focus on some other elements of the story, and more could have been done to build on the friendship of the two girls. This novel is ultimately very satisfying, but it also has some very sad and gut-wrenching parts about it. It shows that life is a journey, and the people we encounter are parts of that journey. Even if we only know them for a short time, they leave a mark on our lives and go on to share love with other people because of it.

Release

I would recommend this read and its characters - it will have you almost reaching for a handkerchief and hoping for an ending that Jess deserves. This is a very sad but happy book at the same time. Zoe's voice makes everything seem like it's okay and her and Olivia's friendship will always be there. The bond that they have was so unbreakable and so beautiful and I'm absolutely jealous. Olivia and Zoe had one of the most powerful friendships that I've ever read about. Together, their voices made the bookish world a better place. Then we have the MC. Oy, this girl had no idea what leukemia was, only that people could die of it and then upon arriving at the hospital saw the word oncology and immediately knew it was cancer. What high school aged person doesn't know leukemia is cancer? Hell, I would know the word leukemia way before the word oncology. Oh and what about the moment that she walked into the hospital room where her friend was getting her super fast chemo treatment and noticed the view out the window first and foremost. Then she proceeded to see Olivia's brother and have a fantasy in her head about how he was actually the one with cancer and she was just mistaken. She felt bad about this thought for a second and then RATIONALIZED IT AND FELT OK ABOUT IT. And don't forget about how she danced onto a curb minutes after finding out her friend had cancer... but I guess at that point she didn't know it was cancer because she's an idiot. First, I really love this cover. It's pretty simple at first glance but(maybe I'm reading too much into things because I tend to do that) I like how it seems calm, no wind-blown hair or waves, but the clouds are dark so there's a sign of something bad coming.

Maybe One Day was a hard book to read. I'm still not sure what to say about it. I did cry towards the end a lot. I was expecting it because Kantor did prepare us for the worst. I was waiting for it to happen a lot sooner but I'm glad it didn't. It takes a lot to make me cry and I mean a lot. Some people might say I am cold hearted, this is not true, I feel a great deal about a great many things but I don’t often cry. I have read books that people have sobbed over but not even suffered a lip wobble. For an author to make me cry they have to do a great number of things right, it’s not just about the storyline but the characters and the writing. It has to be super good because I have to lose myself in it so much that it hurts enough to make me feel that amount of emotion. Maybe One Day was a story of one woman’s literal journey across continents to find her first and true love Joe. Jess upon the death of her mum and dad discovered a box of of letters from Joe as she was cleaning out the attic. The truth she knew about Joe leaving her to start a new life when a devastating turn of events happened seventeen years ago, was all a lie. With her friend Belinda and cousin Michael, she treks on an adventure using the clues from his letters to follow Joe’s life over the years.

I couldn't help feeling like they saw me as this weird birth defect of Olivia's, something she would have been wise to have removed but for some reason chose to live with." Using Joe's cards and letters Jess, her cousin Michael, and one of Joe's friends Belinda travel from place to place, piecing together Joe's life and the people he met along the way. Holy broken heart batman! There are very few books out there that can make me have the ugly cry moment and this one has made the list. I cried three, yes, THREE, times reading this…IN PUBLIC! But seriously Maybe One Day may be one of the best friendship stories I have ever read and it was worth all the public humiliation. On the day Jess says goodbye to her Mum at her funeral she doesn't realise that her life is about to change as she goes on an adventure with her cousin Michael to discover what really happened in the past. Joining Michael and Jess is a fabulous character called Belinda who as they navigate around Ireland and the UK they trace Joe and discover the life he had - that he had built up a future thinking that Jess didn't want him. Apparently the statute of limitations for being nice to your friend after she's diagnosed with cancer only lasts for a couple of days. I quit here because there is literally nothing Zoe can do at this point to make me not hate her, especially since I spy a romance coming with Olivia's crush, who Zoe of course purports to hate. I love bitchy mean girl heroines, but NOT when they think they are sweet and saintly.

Once Olivia starts treatment, it becomes very clear how Mrs. Greco sees Zoe. She sees her daughter's best friend as "just a visitor" That was heartbreaking. No one wants to think that their best friend's mom doesn't like them. It becomes clear what Mrs. Greco's motive is. She's gone into protective mama bear mode. Her entire existence has turned into keeping her immuno-compromised daughter as healthy and germ free as possible. Cancer. How could my friend have cancer? Cancer killed people. But Olivia wasn't going to die. We were sixteen. People who are sixteen, people you've known your whole life, don't die of cancer. Why not? asked an ugly, scary voice in my brain. Why don't they die of cancer? "Because," I said out loud, the sound of my voice startling in the quiet room. "They don't." Johnson delivered an incredibly uplifting story of love and hope, with a great cast of characters that will stay with you long after. There was a part of the book that I didn't agree with at all. I mean, it's kind of messed up and a huge stereotypes to people that play sports.

Credits

I am in a puddle of tears as I had just finished this book right on time for my book club discussion, and what great tears they were. Too many times, when people have suffered great loss, they become bitter, withdrawn to the world and damaged from the hurt. Johnson wrote a deep and throughly poignant story of everyday relatable people that have suffered devastating loss and yet have continued to be a positive light on the lives of others. There's a . . . I mean, there has to be some mistake. How could you be getting medicine already?" Somehow that was the most implausible part of what she'd told me. I'd slept at her house Saturday night. She'd been fine. I'd talked to her this morning. Eight hours later she was in the hospital and getting medicine? How could they even diagnose what she had that fast? Have you ever read a book that was completely addicting, really moving (enough to make you cry), and in the end, still had no idea how to rate it? Now I feel like she's just waiting for me to fail so she can fire me." Irritated by what I'd just said, I slapped the wall. "Listen to me. How can she fire me. I don't even work here."

Where to start? First, while I really enjoyed this, it is not your typical Debbie Johnson novel which really threw me because I kept expecting the novel to be something it isn't. Eminem does not want to play the Prince Charming-esque character so desired by women and depicts himself instead as a battle-hardened soldier aware of what women genuinely want from men in relationships (this awareness gives Eminem a reason to avoid any sort of chivalry and sacrifice for women who will not return the favour). I dialed her number. "That's information I could have used a little earlier," I hissed. " And she's not 'okay,' and nice of you to tell me she doesn't even want me teaching the class. I thought I was doing her some big favor." I found it difficult to start writing this review because this book was all over the place and I couldn’t really piece together how I really felt about it, despite really loving the book once I’d finished it. In one word, Maybe One Day is powerful. Beautifully written, make sure you have tissues on hand when reading this book: Melissa Kantor’s amazing story of friendship will be sure to bring tears.This book...I don't think I have any tears left because the last 10% or maybe a little bit more I cried. I'm not talking about slow tears going down or even just my eyes getting teary, I'm talking full on ugly cry. I had to stop reading because I couldn't see the words anymore. Don't let the fact that it's a tear-jerker dissuade you from reading Maybe One Day though. My goodness no, this story is not sad all the way through at all. The one thing I liked was that she was really sweet to Olivia, so I DNFed when this happened after the conversation with the Director.