Book Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman
10:00 AM
Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
E-book edition, 171 pages
Publisher: Dutton Books
Published: 2011
4/5 stars
I might be driven to sell your love for peace,
Or trade the memory of this night for food.
It well may be. I do not think I would.
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.
Or trade the memory of this night for food.
It well may be. I do not think I would.
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.
“If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. I'll quit the band, go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too. I was talking to Liz and she said maybe coming back to your old life would be too painful, that maybe it'd be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I'd do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay.”
So the first book finished abruptly and left many things unexplained. I really wanted to know what happened with Mia after the accident, will she ever move on in her life, and so on. Then I found the second book, and I feel kind of scared because I don't know where this book is going. It was written in Adam's pov. I really liked the first book and I'm afraid this book will tainted it. That's why it took me so long to read it. But I was wrong.
Mia broke up with Adam after the accident. Not in the nice way, she ignored him without any explanation. She broke Adam. Adam poured all his heartache and frustration into an album, which made him and his band a superstar. Now 3 years later, they met by accident, and they spent the night together walking around the city.
I love how angsty and full of raw emotion this book is. I can feel Adam's grief and anger, because we tend to forget that Adam suffers to because it was Mia's family whose dead. Adam supports Mia throughout the whole thing and she left him without any explanation. I felt so angry with Mia. How could she did that? But I also understand the reason she did it. Still it makes me mad.
It sets in one night, but it has so many flashbacks. They learn a lot more about each other, and their passion for music and love for each other is what bring them together again. It's just really cute and perfect, but also sad to remember what they've lost.
The ending is just perfect. I love it so much. Some people prefer the first book, but I liked both. They complemented each other. I highly recommend it if you want to know what happens after If I Stay.
4 comments
I completely agree with you! This book was just filled with raw emotion. I could physically feel the pain Adam was going through, and it really impacted me. So many emotions!
ReplyDeleteAwesome review :)
~Erika @ Books, Stars, Writing. And Everything In Between.
Yeah, and it's interesting to see Adam and Mia in such emotional and different way!
DeleteHonestly, I still want to consider reading this sometime soon. But I've been spoiled by my friends. Ugggh! Although they were telling me that it's not worth the read anymore, I'm liking that I came across your positive review. So thanks for sharing your awesome thoughts about this, Tasya! :)
ReplyDeleteFiona | A Girl Between the Pages ❤
Yeah, many people disliked it, I think because this book potrays Adam and Mia in such an out-of-character way. But I think it's really interesting to find out that Adam and Mia are different from what we thought they were, and see the other side of them, so it's really worth reading :)
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