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

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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 Too many times, when people have suffered great loss, they become bitter, withdrawn to the world and damaged from the hurt.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. Johnson delivered an incredibly uplifting story of love and hope, with a great cast of characters that will stay with you long after. That loyalty is tested when Zoe finds herself dancing and kissing the boy who Olivia has been crushing on. Zoe takes it a step further by not telling Olivia about it until later, a lot later.I am really, really glad that the inkling of romance was just that, an inkling. I think any more romance would have taken away from the beautiful story of friendship that Melissa Kantor had so carefully crafted. However, I felt that so much more could have been done with Maybe One Day. Zoe's relationship with dance, Olivia's religious parents, and Zoe's attraction to Calvin all could have improved with more development. Perhaps Kantor could have spent more time showing Zoe rekindling her passion for dance, or maybe she could have created more room for conversation between Zoe and Calvin about how they felt regarding Olivia's illness or their emotions for one another in general. The concept of God came into the story a few times, but it felt as if Kantor dropped it in to make us think just a little bit, instead of developing the idea of religion as a solid theme in the book. The writing, while nice and non-distracting, did not convey the emotional depth of the characters well enough for me to genuinely care about them.

I don't want to say too much more because the journey is part of the experience with this novel. It's sad, and uplifting, funny and poignant, touching and charming, different from Debbie Johnson's normal style but engrossing nonetheless. What I think was great about this book was that it wasn’t told from the point of view of the character with cancer but her best friend. You got to see up close the emotions she went though, how she was not only dealing with school and hormones but the illness of someone she loved. It was at times a painful read but also a beautiful one. Jess has (mostly) lived her life by her parent’s rules. She’s stayed within the routines and doing what ‘should’ be done. Her life after Joe feels very saturnine and predictable, not engaging with life or emotions (for obvious reasons)… until her mother’s death and the finding of the hidden box of letters and postcards in the attic. This opens up a gateway for Jess to start remembering and opening herself up to opportunities and emotions. But she doesn’t do it alone, she has Belinda and Michael by her side. They’re both fabulous characters and bring so many emotions to the story.This book really put my heart through the ringer. It was an emotional ride filled with lots of ups and downs. I knew going in that it wouldn't be an easy read, but I wasn't quite prepared for how heartbreaking this story would be. There are quite a few CW's that readers should be aware of before starting this journey (please see below). The story was told through letters and wonderful anecdotes from people whose lives have been touched by Joe. As he moved around his life trying to escape his past, he leads a life not soon to be forgotten, as he leaves every town he stays in somehow better than it was. I promise you, there is no one as kind, giving, authentic, and a more tender soul than is Joe. I've always known Debbie Johnson is a fabulous author, but this book seems to have catapulted her to a whole new level, I really had no idea what to expect from the book, the blurb gives an idea but thankfully doesn't touch the surface of just what's inside the covers. Not: Bu arada kitabın adını çok sevdim. 'Belki Bir Gün'. İçeriğe oldukça uyumlu olmuş hem de umut aşılayan bir yönü var. That’s exactly my relationship with Maybe One Day. On one hand, I was so thrilled to have a strong female friendship portrayed in my young adult literature. And on the other, some rough transitions, offhand comments from the main character (football players learning to rape?), and overlooked characters and situations continued to nag me and therefore, affected how I felt about the entire book.

I loved both Zoe and Olivia in this story. Both loved each other so fiercely, and both were really passionate about dance, even if Zoe couldn’t admit it at times. This is supposedly a story that highlights the friendship between Olivia and Zoe. Both are ballerinas and have been best friends since they were little. Just the blurb alone has already caught my attention because I’ve always loved books that focus on friendship and I thought with dancing as an element in the story, this would be something really exceptional except somehow, the plot managed to take a completely different turn from what I have been looking forward to. As friends, Zoe and Olivia had chemistry. They were very supportive of each other, and pushed the other to try their best, fight and to be strong. They brought out the best in each other, and I enjoyed scenes with them together (mostly).What I loved the most about this story was that the bare bones of it, despite everything going on around these characters, is about friendship and how amazing it can be. And how rare is it that we see a YA book that hones in on that instead romance these days. It’s lovely to see a book that focuses on positive relationships and shows us characters who love each other unconditionally, yeah they may get mad at each other, but at the end of the day that doesn’t change their love for each other. It was also amazing to see the support system for these girls. Not only their parents, because they were a big part of it, but the other girls at school. Zoe never really formed that true friendship connection with many other girls but regardless, there wasn’t a mean girl in the bunch, which in itself was refreshing to see. Mia and Stacey and even Emma while secondary characters to the main friendship were absolutely a positive addition to the story, and I especially loved Mia’s tenacity and determination to not let Zoe push her away permanently.

And because I went into this story with blind faith that I knew I loved the author and thus would be happy with whatever was written, I really do think the less you know about the specifics the better. Maybe it was the writing style. Maybe it was the heroine. But something about the book just felt so flat and without any personality. Or maybe that it was more of a telling than showing kind of book. The point is, it didn't make me cry as much as I wanted to, or made me want to spend more time with my friends or family and things like that. It was just so plain for me. CW: death of parent, death of child, car accident, PTSD, complicated grief, mental illness and hospitalization, homophobia, child abuse, toxic family/foster family relationships We're not going to be dancers, but one day our lives are going to be amazing, Zoe. Totally amazing.” We do have a potential romance with Calvin, which is kind of complicated because Olivia has a crush on him and Zoe doesn’t like him much at first. But I really liked him. Even when Zoe was difficult, he never stopped trying to be her friend. (Plus he was always there for Olivia’s brother. Nice guy.) I could have used more of him to lighten up the book and make his story arc a bit more complete. He felt glossed over, and his chemistry with Zoe was just too good to be ignored. (Even if it was a messy pairing; in the beginning, I thought she would hit it off with Olivia’s brother.)

I loved the use of a fun road trip to balance out the heaviness of this story. Cousin Michael was the perfect comedic relief. Gosh, he made me laugh. Also, I got emotionally attached to the characters. I mean, Olivia was obviously going to die from the start, but I still felt when it happened. This is a work of fiction. Whenever possible, I tried to include accurate medical information, but when the narrative required it, I chose the story over the realities of cancer treatment. 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.

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. Okay, so, the rape comment is what threw me and I didn't like at all. I know that Zoe is pretty angsty at times but, was that necessary? 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.Jess still thinks about the man who disappeared from her life seventeen years ago, and the tragedy that tore them apart. So when she discovers a hidden box of letters in her mother’s attic, Jess realises that the truth about why he walked away has been kept from her all this time. After an unwanted encounter with a guy at an off-campus party, Hayley turns to Jace for support, and it brings out all the emotions he's tried so hard to keep buried. As they're pulled together, it’s clear that their feelings haven't changed, only deepened, and keeping things platonic becomes impossible. Jace wants to build a future with Hayley, no matter the cost. It won't be easy for them to overcome years of ignoring the truth, but they're determined to try - together. Jess hingegen will durch das Abgrasen der einzelnen Stationen von Joes Leben und durch die Gespräche mit Leuten, denen er nahe war zumindest ansatzweise nachvollziehen kann, was ihre große Liebe in all den Jahren so getrieben hat. I think this book will turn out to be one of those love it or hate it ones, with not a whole lot of people in the middle. There's some scenes and wording choices that could be taken two completely different ways, such as Zoe's reaction to the oncology ward when she thinks 'Leukemia was cancer. Olivia has cancer'. That could easily be taken as Zoe not knowing what Leukemia is or that she knows but seeing it as opposed to hearing it over the phone just made it that much more real for her.