Where She Went
by Gayle Forman
ISBN-13: 9780525422945
ISBN-10: 0525422943
Publisher: Dutton Books
Date: April 2011
Page Count: 264
**Please be warned, you will not want to read this review unless you’ve read the first book, IF I STAY, here.
4/5 Stars
Synopsis: It’s been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam’s life forever. Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard’s rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia’s home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future – and each other. Told from Adam’s point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.My Thoughts: WHERE SHE WENT was from my understanding, an unexpected sequel. How wonderful I thought it was when I found out that Gayle Forman was going to being giving up more and this time it’s all from Adam’s prospective. With If I Stay, the emotions of the story, what Mia went through with the lost of her family and the heartbreaking decision she had to make, had me sobbing uncontrollably once I finished. So when I read the synopsis for Where She Went and found out it was more or less what Adam when through since the three and a half years Mia left him, I was devastated all over again. Just the mere knowledge of knowing, that everything Mia went though, what she survived but they couldn’t be together, really tore my heart apart.
In Where She Went, we follow Adam as he gets ready to leave from New York to do a tour over seas with his band. In a chance meeting, he and Mia meet up for the first time after three and a half years. Every other chapter alternates between either a flashback to the past or the present day. We get more inside information on what actually happened after Mia woke up and feel how the breakup affected Adam and the path his heartbreak led him down.
I really enjoyed this book. The inside turmoil that Adam is going through due to his breakup with Mia was so heartbreaking. I felt so sad for him and hated Mia for what she’d done to him. But there is a side to every story and I think Mrs. Forman left us with just the right amount of closure we all needed to be satisfied with the ending she gave us.
If I had to compare this to the first book, If I Stay, I would say that the first one better. Though I could feel the emotions Adam was going through they didn’t feel strong enough when he expressed himself toward Mia. I just wanted more. I wanted to see him show his weakness physically toward Mia. I wanted to see him yell, scream and cry at her. Because that’s what he had been doing on the inside anyway.
Overall, it was a fantastic conclusion to the story. Ms. Forman has a very appealing writing style and I look forward to reading more of her work.
Definitely pick this book up if you’ve read If I Stay.