Review: "Where She Went"

Where She Went by Gayle Forman
4 out of 5 stars

I've been putting off writing about this book just because I didn't want to reread parts of it and cry again! I'm such a big baby lol...This is the sequel to If I Stay so I knew it was going to be a cry-fest. It's 3 years after Mia's accident and lots of things have changed. Adam is a major rock star. Mia is a musical prodigy at Juilliard. And they are not together.

In a lot of ways, I liked the sequel better than the first. I think most people who have read it do. It's hard to say you enjoyed a book about death and losing people that makes you openly sob. This book is about loss too, for sure, but it's got a hopeful feeling to it. If you enjoyed If I Stay, then you should definitely read Where She Went. It brings the story of Adam and Mia to an acceptable ending (I'm not saying they are or are not together at the end by the way :) just their story).

She left for Juilliard the day after Labor Day. I drove her to the airport. She kissed me good-bye. She told me that she loved me more than life itself. Then she stepped through security. She never came back.


So. Mia decided to stay. But she also decided to run away from everything and everyone she had left. Including Adam. He's of course heart-broken, but he has no choice but to let her go. I know I probably shouldn't feel this way, but Mia was pretty selfish. Yes, I know she lost her family and she has all this guilt, etc...but Adam lost them too. He was like their surrogate son. And on top of that, he lost Mia after thinking he had her back. Because he told her he would let her go. And she heard him.

I'll be your mess, you be mine
That was the deal that we had signed

Fast forward to the present...this book is told in Adam's perspective. We get to see what he is feeling, what he felt. He's this big rock star, totally famous and he hates every minute of it. It reminds me of some story I read as a teen, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Superstar musician who has everything and yet nothing. Maybe something about Axl Rose?

Anyway, Adam is on the brink of a major breakdown in New York when he stumbles across a poster advertising Mia in concert. He decides to go and watch her play, incognito, but of course he's recognized and she asks him to come backstage after. They end up spending the night together, walking around New York and finally talking. Like Talking. The ending was satisfying. It's like Ross & Rachel getting together at the end or something lol. This one didn't make me sob like the first, but I did have some burning-I-have-something-in-my-eye moments.