Where She Went by Gayle Forman Review

Title: Where She Went
Series: If I Stay (Book 2)
Author: Gayle Forman
Published: April 5, 2011
Pages: 264 pages
Format: Print
Source: Purchased

Summary (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 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.

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Why Gayle Forman, why would you do this? This is the first time I was so glad to be the last person on Earth to read Where She Went. I don’t know what I would have done back then, but I’m certain it wouldn’t have been my calm yet incredulous reaction. I so wasn’t expecting for the book to be set in three years after If I Stay, or for it to be in Adam’s point of view. I didn’t even see coming Mia’s absence in his life. Big shocker right there for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I liked the book a lot. Gayle Forman’s writing is exquisite and she knows how to get you inside a character’s head. While in If I Stay I barely had the chance to know Adam, in this one I got the full force of his personality and I finally understood why everyone loves him. He is a raw, passionate person with a huge heart and talented mind. I just love him now.

But Mia, ugh, I hated her in this book. I hated her for leaving and “forgetting” about Adam. I hated her absence and the pain she caused him. And I also hated that she had every right to do so. So no, I really didn’t hate her, but I just wish she hadn’t hurt my Adam so much. She is in fact a remarkable character who I can’t help but admire her strength for moving on, despite everything that should have made her fall.

The storyline is not one that got my heart racing, but it did feel like if I were floating inside a river and just an inch away from drowning. Adam’s thoughts and memories made my heart ache, yet I couldn’t stop reading about them. I also liked his midnight adventure with Mia and how those few hours changed them both so much. It was exactly what they needed to find each other again.

As a whole, Where She Went is a striking, unforgettable read that tells exactly how sometimes life doesn’t move on the way we want it to. It’s a bittersweet read, but it’s the perfect closure needed to get over these characters’ heartbreak, and for that, I was extremely grateful.