Where She Went Review

Where She Went
Gayle Forman
Dutton Juvenile
April 2011
5/5
Quotes:
"You don't share me. You own me."
"I needed to hate someone and you're the one I love the most, so it fell on you."
"In the calculus of feelings, you never really know how one person's absence will affect you more than another's."
"Letting go. Everyone talks about it like it's the easiest thing. Unfurl your fingers one by one until your hand is open."
"A day might just be twenty-four hours but sometimes getting through just one seems as impossible as scaling Everest."

I loved "If I Stay," but I held off for as long as possible before reading this one. I was scared that it wouldn't live up to the first book. However, I've heard nothing but good things about it so I figured I might as well give it a shot. Seeing things through Adam's perspective was so incredible and I feel like Forman absolutely couldn't have written it any better. The writing, characters, plot, just everything about this book was amazing. I did miss seeing things from Mia's point of view, but it was a good idea to just focus on Adam's perspective only and not alter back and forth between the two.

It's been three years since Mia's accident and Adam hasn't talked to her since she left for Julliard. Adam had a lot of anger whenever she first left his life, but he turned all that anger into a chart topping superstar album with his band. His band has been touring around the world and winning big time musical awards. He also lives in LA with his movie star girlfriend. Although his whole world seems to be perfect on the outside, he's really falling apart of the inside. He and his band members are barely speaking at all and he hardly ever gets to spend time with his girlfriend. Adam ends up spending the night in New York by chance, and decides to go see Mia Hall perform. This sparks a surprise reunion between the two former lovers as they make some last minute memories before they both go their respective ways: Mia to Japan for her concert tour and Adam to join his band members on tour in England.

Adam is one of my all time favorite book boyfriends. Yes, part of that has to do with him being a musician. But it's mostly just because of the way he carries himself and how genuinely kind he is. He appears as a total jerk and is labeled as a douchebag bad boy in the media, but that couldn't be further from the truth in reality. I'm going to continue stressing the fact that I love getting to read the story through his eyes. Getting an insight into what makes Adam who he is, and knowing exactly what he's thinking make him all the more charming. It's strange not seeing the story through Mia's eyes, but she's just as charming and composed as ever.

In my opinion, this story was the ideal conclusion to the not so fairytale but still beautiful romance between these two. They are one of my favorite couples because they just get each other. I love the way they bond over all different types of music. They obviously have somewhat of different tastes considering that Mia is a classical musician while Adam is a rockstar, but that seems to not be a big deal to either of them. I also love how we get to see flashbacks of their relationship in high school. Some of the scenes are just too adorable for words, like talking about them will just make me beyond mushy so I'll spare you guys that whole mess.

Basically, this book was everything I hoped for and more. If I Stay was such a beautiful and heartbreaking story, one of my all time favorites, and I'm glad to say that this one was no slacker either. It couldn't have been better or more heartwarming for me. Gayle Forman is honestly one of my favorite YA writers, she just has such memorable characters filled with unique and special plots.