Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

It's been three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life.

And three years he's spent wondering why.

When their paths cross again in New York City, Adam and Mia are brought back together for one life-changing night.

Adam finally has the opportunity to ask Mia the questions that have been haunting him. But will a few hours in this magical city be enough to lay their past to rest, for good - or can you really have a second chance at first love?

Description taken from Goodreads

My Review

Where She Went actually drained me of absolutely every emotion that ever existed.

I almost threw this book at the wall several times but then remembered that it’s a book and a book that I love and that it’s just temporary frustration or insert random emotion here that I feel.  So then I decide to stroke it and confess my undying love for it.

Now, I loved If I Stay when I first read it.  But since it had been so long since I had read that I knew I had to read it again before I started Where She Went, and I fell in love again.  Perhaps, even more then the first time around.

Where She Went takes a place a few years after If I Stay and we find out what exactly happens at the end of If I Stay.  Except this time, we get to hear from Adam.

At first, I wasn’t so sure about being in Adam’s head.  I was so content and comfortable being in Mia’s.  I love Mia’s world.  But, Adam was so raw and emotional and emotionless at the same time.  It’s like he refused to feel things but then the simplest thing would set him off and then was this raging hurricane of feelings.

I loved it.  Raw, emotional, heartbreaking.  Frustration, anger, sadness.  Every single emotion was felt.   By the characters and by me.  It was like I was living right alongside them and that right there ladies and gents, children and pets, is the sign of a fantastic novel.

One that makes you feel for the characters but also for yourself.  Makes you think about your troubles and your fears and feelings and puts them into perspective. 

The character development was outstanding and so surprising.  Not that I didn’t think Forman could pull it off, but because I saw so many different sides of Adam and Mia.  I saw the best and I saw the worst, I saw the cogs turning in their brains and the light bulbs going off.  It was a wonderful journey that I actually felt a part of.

I just love Forman’s writing style.  There isn’t a lot of dialogue.  Just a lot of thoughts.  And most people, including me, would get lost in that and might get bored without any interactions, but this is just done so well.  Maybe it’s because Mia in If I Stay and Adam in this book are just so damn likable and relatable that it’s okay to be stuck in their heads and not able to leave their worlds for awhile.

The extras in the back added a little something to the story, making it even better.  Everything about this book is perfection.  I see absolutely no flaws whatsoever.  That’s right, I said it!  No flaws!  Argue with me all you want, I don’t care.  I stand by my opinion.

Where She Went is definitely going down in my all time favorites.  No ifs ands or buts about it.  It was that awesome.  Actually, awesome doesn’t even begin to cover it.

If you haven’t read If I Stay then you really need to and then read Where She Went.  If you have read If I Stay and haven’t read this book, I have a question for you.  What’s wrong with you?  Read it!  Read it right now!

5/5 hearts!