Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Page Count: 260
Publication Date: April 5^th 2011
Obtained: Purchased

Synopsis:

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. (~Goodreads)

What I Thought:

I enjoyed reading If I Stay and now I’ve finally gotten round to reading the sequel. I was glad that this book was from the perspective of Adam this time as I felt we didn’t really get to know him very well in the first book.

Adam being a protagonist was definitely helpful to the story and gave me a better understanding of the connection that Mia and Adam have so that I could get more of a background on their relationship. Also, I found the story is more engaging when told from Adams point of view. Sorry, but Mia was kind dull and I felt her character lacked depth. Music, music, music. This is literally all she talks about.

That being said I can’t really say I liked Adam that much. I’d say he had more of a personality than Mia did in the first book but in this he was quite selfish and seemed angry about Mia going to Julliard, amongst other things. It was a bit weird because I imagined him to be quite understandable because, well – her family just died, but Adam tried to turn it around and make seems like it was about him and that she hated him or was punishing him somehow by going to Julliard. This is a shame since Adam seemed like an alright guy in the first book, but he lost his credibility in this one.

The two of them together was at times stressful to read because they clearly want to be together but they’re both so terrible at expressing their feelings, for one another and in general, that they assume that there’s a mutual hatred between them. The second half as the book is better and I’m glad I read it as I always wondered what happened after If I Stay. So all in all, definitely worth a read if you’ve read the first book.

Rating: 3/5