Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Release Date: April 5, 2011
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 264
Review Source: eARC from Netgalley

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
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 Julliard'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:
This is absolutely the type of book that you want to read in one sitting. It takes you in and doesn’t want to release you. Like its predecessor, ‘If I Stay’, ‘Where She Went’ packs an emotional punch, though it’s a bit of a different type of one. Like many people, I fell in love with Adam in ‘If I Stay’, so I loved reading from his perspective. It made me love him even more, despite some of his behaviours. Some people will probably complain about Adam’s emo outlook on life, but for some reason I felt like I could understand his character’s pain. While this doesn’t justify all of his actions, it certainly explains them to a degree.

Gayle Forman writes so beautifully, I can hardly stand it. When she writes an emotion, I feel it. I was tense and sad right along with Adam, and when he felt joy, I could feel it too. I think this is why this book works so well. You feel things right alongside the characters, and you empathize with and cheer for them. The tone of these books is just absolutely gorgeous. I feel like there’s a certain silence to ‘Where She Went’ until music reappears as part of Adam, and then it was like I could almost hear a soundtrack for the book in my head.

If you loved ‘If I Stay’, believe me, you definitely want to read this one. Just run out and get it, because you will not be disappointed. This book is a whole lot more than a sequel. It’s like a retelling of the loss from ‘If I Stay’, but it's also a whole new beautiful journey. It’s about forgiving yourself and growing into who you are after scraping away all the pain and the hurt. It’s also about love, growth, and honesty. ‘Where She Went’ is a gorgeous story, a continuance of Adam and Mia’s story that you do not want to miss.

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Find Where She Went by Gayle Forman on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.ca