Book Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Where She Went (If I Stay #2)

Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Publication Date: November 4th 2010
Source: Bought for my Kindle

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.

*There might be spoilers for If I Stay!!*

Let  me start by saying I totally loved If I Stay. It was such a beautiful, moving story. I've readit  a while ago, but I still think about it a lot. Many people told me that the sequel is even better. I had my hopes very high, but I was a little disappointed.

This book is told from Adam's point of view.Three years have passed since the terrible accident. Adam has now everything he has ever wanted - his band is super-successful, he is now rich, famous and is dating a hot, famous girl. But he is still depressed. He can't stop thinking about Mia - Mia who has decided to cut off their relationship when she went to study in Julliard.

Accidentally, the two of them meet in New York, only one day before each one of them is going to a long tour around the world. Can they fix their relationship? Can they open their hearts for each other?

My favorite thing about the book was that it was focused about music. Both Mia and Adam were musicians. They lived and breathed music. Even though the two of them played a different type of music - classic and rock, they still enjoyed each other's playing. I also loved reading about the music world and about the lives of talented young musicians - the opportunities they were taking, the life around tours, what's it like to be famous, how they deal with success/failure...

The book's writing style was very unique. I think that Gayle Forman is a very talented author. I just love how she combines the past in the plot - revealing small details each time until we get the whole picture. At the end of the book, I felt like the characters are old friends of mine - like we've shared our childhood together.

What I didn't like about the book were the two main characters. In If I Stay, I liked them pretty well, but in this book, both Adam and Mia were annoying! Adam was deep in his own sorrow and didn't care about anyone else. Not his girlfriend, not the other band members, not his manager, not his fans.. He was all selfish and whiny.

Mia, from her side, wasn't so good either... She has dumped Adam without saying a word, without caring about his feelings. I know she was going through a really hard time after the accident, but Adam was so sweet and was ready to do anything for her. How could she hurt him like that?!?! It really frustrated me....

From the moment the two of them met, the story became very predictable. There was nothing surprising at the end. Everything was too good about it... too happily-ever-after. It was really disappointing.

Overall, this book was very good, but it didn't blew me away the way If I Stay did. I'm not even sure if it was a necessary sequel. I recommend it only to fans of the first book who need to know how the story ended.

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