Where She Went is the sequel to If I Stay, and this time we hear Adam’s voice. It has been a long time since the fatal accident that killed Mia’s parents and her little brother, Denny. Mia entered Juilliard and is a rapidly growing popular cellist. Adam, on the other hand, is having the time of his life living the life of a famous rock star. Or so it seems. Because Adam Wilde is wallowing in depression and despair. What happened after Mia woke up? Why did Adam and Mia part? More importantly, what happened to Adam after Mia woke up? Where She Went answers these questions and picks up the story three years after If I Stay ended.
For all of its 272 pages (my copy is in PDF), Where She Went is emotionally heavy. I can feel Adam’s pain from the moment I started the first chapter. A few pages towards the end, I was literally crying. If If I Stay is tragic, Where She Went is downright heartbreaking. If I Stay is more metaphysical, Where She Went is more realistic. These two good books are a perfect match – after reading the first one, you can’t wait to move on to the sequel. Gayle Forman writes with such raw passion and emotion, and I like how it seamlessly switches from flashback to present, and vice versa.
Letting go Closing. These are the central themes of this book. Who wouldn’t get excited about this kind of thing? What I also love about this book (and If I Stay, too) is how music played a big role in the characters’ lives. Although I am not very familiar with most of the songs and singers mentioned (I am not a punk rock girl or a classical music girl), I am fascinated with how Adam and Mia come together and part because of their passion for music. .
I especially love this part:
“Concert It doesn’t mean standing up like a target in front of thousands of strangers. It means to join. It means harmony. “(P.243)
Where She Went ends perfectly, for me that is, and for a moment before getting to the final chapter, I was fervently hoping I could handle the ending. Which, thankfully, I did because Gayle Forman wasn’t cruel enough to completely break my heart and cause me to suffer from rhinitis from excessive crying (exaggerated, I know, but this is how emotional this book is). This has been one of my best readings this year and I recommend it to everyone.
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“You know, I thought about that a lot these last few years,” he says in a strangled voice. “About who was there to you. Who held your hand while you afflicted by all that youHad lost? “(p. 254).
Oh tears.
5 stars.