Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Published: April 17th, 2012
Publisher: Speak

Series: (If I Stay #2)

Format: Paperback (Hardcover, E-book, Audio)
Pages: 260
Genre: YA, Romance 

Purchase*: Barnes and Noble/ Amazon

Add on Goodreads


Source: Bought from Barners & Noble.

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.

“You crossed the water, left me ashore
It killed me enough, but you wanted more
You blew up the bridge, a mad terrorist
Waved from your side, through me a kiss
I started to follow but realized too late
There was nothing but air underneath my feet"

—from the song "Bridge" on the Collateral Damage album” 

Where She Went is a sequel to If I Stay, while I really liked and enjoyed If I Stay, Where She Went just blew me away. I loved it, it was an amazing read. I honestly felt so much more with this book than I did with If I Stay. When I finished reading If I Stay, it felt like a complete story, I was really exited to see what Gayle Forman would write about in Where She Went. It definitely didn't disappoint me! 

The Plot. Where She Went takes us three years after If I Stay, after Mia's accident and after her decision to stay. While If I Stay was told from Mia's point of view, Where She Went is told from Adam's. For one day he meets Mia and they decide to have a final goodbye, they explore New York City, with Mia showing Adam her secret favorite places she found. And Adam tells us about his life now and shows us the past, the moments with Mia and their amazing story. 

The Characters. Adam is an amazing narrative. The way he tells us his story and his feeling, you just can't help but feel them too, and you just can't help but fall in love with him. (Well I did, why can't I meet someone like him?) 

“But I'd do it again. I know that now. I'd make that promise a thousand times over and lose her a thousand times over to have heard her play last night or to see her in the morning sunlight. Or even without that. Just to know that she's somewhere out there. Alive.”

When you read his thoughts and everything he felt and still feels for Mia, its really unrealistic but he makes it realistic. Everything he says, he makes you believe him. Mia was a really hard character to understand for me, I was really confused and didn't understand why she left Adam, because it is obvious that she truly cared about him. That made me really frustrated, and I just wanted to hate her. In the end, when everything comes together, and shows that everything happened for a reason. I never been in Mia's situation so I can't really know what I would of have done in her place, but everyone has their own way of dealing with things. 

“I needed to hate someone and you’re the one I love the most, so it fell on you.” 

The Romance. The heartbreaking romance in this book was just beautiful. In If I Stay I didn't really feel the connection and the feeling characters had for each other, only toward the end I did. In Where She Went, from the beginning all of the feeling were there.  I just loved Mia's and Adam's story in Where She Went, I also felt them. 

“You don’t share me. You own me.” 

The Ending. I loved the ending in this book! One of my favorites, I just can't complain. It completed the story. I wouldn't min if their was one more book, I would love more of Adam and Mia!

“Hate me. Devastate me. Annihilate me. Re-create me. Re-create me. Won't you, won't you won't you re-create me.” 

Overall, I loved this book! For people who read If I Stay, but haven't read Where She Went, you have to read it!! Its an amazing sequence to the story that would leave you wanting more!