Where She Went - Gayle Forman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Form: Audiobook

Synopsis: Adam, after dealing with the aftermath of the accident that took Mia’s entire family and the healing and therapy that came with it, finds himself alone. Mia left him without word or explanation, she just disappeared from his life. It’s been three years since the accident and while his life should be a great one; his music has made it big having gone triple platinum, he’s getting ready to go to London for the tour of a lifetime, he’s got a girlfriend suitable for a rockstar; Adam is empty, and unhappy and constantly on the edge of a breakdown. It is a chance happenstance that he notices that Mia is playing at Carnegie Hall the night just before he leaves on tour, and deciding to attend the concert, he has just opened the doors to getting the answers to questions he’s been asking himself for the last three years.

Review: This book was an excellent follow up to If I Stay. I, for one, am thankful that the story wasn’t quite as heart-wrenching this time around, but it wasn’t without its pain. Adam has emotionally been through a lot in the past few years, and when the book opens up, it seems as if every bit of it is getting ready to come crashing in on Adam’s head. He is nervous, paranoid, and withdrawn throughout most of the book. When Mia re-enters the picture, things start calming down within Adam – even after she reveals her shocking reasoning for why she left him in the first place.

I love books told from the male perspective, and especially this time – hearing Mia and Adam’s story from Adam’s voice, it made the entire experience that much deeper and stronger, in my opinion. Typically when I read a novel, especially a romance novel, I end up falling in love right along with the girl, with If I Stay, and Where She Went, that wasn’t the case. It had nothing to do with Adam, Adam is awesome, it’s because of his love and utter devotion to Mia. It’s almost as if he is “off the market,” which makes no sense since in other novels, the boy is utterly in love with the girl too. Maybe because of putting myself in place of Mia, I felt like I was reading about two very real people, and their very real problems and their very real relationship. Either way, I loved the book regardless.


LOVED IT: Adam describing how he first noticed Mia. OH! And also the end..the very end. Which I can’t describe, because that would be a spoiler, and I try hard not to do that….

HATED IT: This is hard. Finding one thing about the book I didn’t like…I’m not sure I can this time. Perhaps the “they talk to me” conversation would fit. I understand what Mia/Gayle Foreman was trying to say I think, but the whole thing sort of felt awkward, and perhaps could have been “said” differently….but I think awkward was what she was going for – so perhaps it’s purpose was fulfilled.

SONG PLAYING IN MY HEAD: Well, lyrics from Adam’s songs start of many chapters of this book – and he knows best how he felt, since this is his story and all. But if I had to place one on the book, I think Muse’s “Time is Running Out” may actually be an okay fit.



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