Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Where She Went (If I Stay #2)

By Gayle Forman

Published: April 5th 2011 

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Hardcover, 264 Pages

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. --Goodreads

4.5 Stars

Review:

Warning: This review contains (tons of) spoilers of If I Stay!

Warning: May contain a bit of spoilers of Where She Went

This book was amazing, but it didn't quite measure up to the awesomesauce that was the first book, If I Stay. Click HERE for my review of If I Stay! 

Before you read more of this review and in case you missed the red warning above, this book and review DOES have spoilers of the first book, since it is the sequel to If I Stay!

The sadness factor of this novel is out of the roof! You guys know how the first book ended in a sad, but happy way? Well Where She Went is the sequel of that sadness! The second book is from Adam's POV as oppose to Mia's like in the first book. I would've much rather the second novel be from both Adam and Mia's POVs, so I could have found out how Mia was feeling and how Adam was feeling as well, but you know what they say, "Life isn't a Burger King; you can't always have it your way."

If I Stay ended with Mia waking up and then breaking up with Adam and Where She Went tells the story of what happened to Mia and Adam three years later and hopefully we will find out why in the world did Mia break up with Adam! 

Three years later, Adam and Mia meet again for the first time. At first Mia just shows Adam around NYC and they make small talk and eventually they talk about bigger things...  I just realized that this novel is one of those novels that if you talk about the plot, you will spoil it for others, so I'm going to try to not talk about the plot! 

Adam is now a major rock star and is super famous and Mia is a rising star. Everything seems good on the outside for Adam, but on the inside he's always stressed-out, nervous, and he also has a lot of anxiety, but this is kind of understandable because the love of his life did break up with him. 

I found myself rooting for Adam, maybe because of how his character was painted in If I Stay, I'm not quite sure why, but I just know I was rooting for him. I also wanted Adam and Mia to get back together!

I LOVED all the flashbacks of Adam's life! Even though they may not have been necessary, they were neat.

I think it's safe to say that I officially love Gayle Forman novels. I'm really excited for her new novel to come out! If you've read the first book, you should check out the second! 

Happy reading everyone!

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