Book Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

*This is the second book in a series. If you haven't read If I Stay. Then don't read this review as there are spoilers.

Buy This Book
If I Stay #2
Pages: 274
Published: Apr 2011
Genres: YA, Romance, Contemporary

Goodreads Synopsis...  
It's been three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life.
And three years he's spent wondering why.
When their paths cross again in New York City, Adam and Mia are brought back together for one life-changing night.

Adam finally has the opportunity to ask Mia the questions that have been haunting him. But will a few hours in this magical city be enough to lay their past to rest, for good - or can you really have a second chance at first love?
 
Review...
If you've read my review of If I Stay, then you know I compared it to a stained glass window. This book is like stepping away from that window, from the light that shines through its newly put together pieces. Turning around and facing a new direction. You can still feel the warmth of the sun, and you know the colours and pictures are just behind you. But you no longer see them.

I loved the honest and unique way in which Adams story unraveled. He is in a very bad place, and we get to feel how much previous events have effected him. 

Just like If I Stay, the writing is simple yet truthful. The characters, feel real and their struggles become the readers struggles. I am becoming a big fan of Formans writing style, with its excellent pacing. And lyrics at the start of each chapter that connected things wonderfully, and that I would be thrilled to see become real songs.

The one thing I was missing in this book was Mia's family. They were not only my favourite thing in the previous book. But the flashbacks allowed for a balance between sorrow and happiness. That made the happy times sweeter, and made the sad present even more heartbreaking. Even so I still enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it to those who have read If I Stay.
 
4/5

Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

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If I Stay #1
Pages: 201
Published: Apr 2009
Genres: YA, Romance, Contemporary

Goodreads Synopsis... 
Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

Review...
I feel like this book is a stained glass window. At first you look at the picture made up of little pieces of coloured glass, and the picture they make up is beautiful. You are just starting to look at all the different parts when BAM!!! Gayle Forman takes a baseball bat to the window, sending shards of glass flying your way. Then she starts putting the pieces back together. You just stand there with blood dripping from your wounds, because you have no other choice. You must see that window again.

Mia's family was my favourite thing about this book. They made me love them. Yes, they made me. I had no choice. The laughter, the sarcasm, the cute adorable little brother. All shown through flashbacks, made me fall in love with Denny, Kat, Teddy, Kim, and Adam (because Kim and Adam are part of the family too!)

The other thing that made me fall in love with them, was the writing. It was so honest, and detailed in the perfect moments. Yes there were flaws, and things could have been smoothed out a little bit more. But this story, this family, and the love that burst from them. As softly as cello chords, and as loudly as a rock concert was so real, and so heartbreaking. That those flaws meant little to me.

4.5/5

If I Stay Trailer Reaction

My reaction to the trailer of If I Stay.