Where She Went by Gayle Forman

THIS IS THE SECOND BOOK IN A SERIES.

Read If I Stay by Gayle Forman before reading this review!

Thanks.

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 Julliard'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 I could meet one author right now, you want to know who I'd choose? Gayle Forman. Do you want to know why?? Then read If I Stay and Where She Went. They totally knocked my socks off.

There aren't enough authors with guts (in my opinion). More often than not, I read a book and know exactly where a story is going to go. I hardly ever get surprised these days. Don't get me wrong, there are a plethora of incredible YA books. I just wish (sometimes) I could pick up a book and have it be devastating and raw and totally unpredictable. Enter Gayle Forman. I had no idea who she was until I started hearing buzz about If I Stay. And now I can't seem to stop craving her books.

Where She Went was just as heart-wrenching as it's predecessor, but in a different way. This book, told from Adam's point of view, occurs three years from when If I Stay ends. Mia walked out of Adam's life and he is crushed. Broken. Bloody. From the pain of it all came the lyrics and the songs that ended up launching Adam and his band Shooting Star into super-stardom. Celebrity apparently didn't agree with Adam well and as the book opens, he's basically a shell of his former (wonderful) self that we were introduced to in the first book.

The story progresses in much the same way the first did--alternating between the present and Adam's memories. I loved this book. I love the way the story is told, I love the language of the book, I love how it had the ability to tear me to pieces and then help me heal. I haven't read books like these in a very long time, it seems. I need more of them. I don't know why I shy away from a great deal of books that have real depth, but unless one comes highly recommended, it'll probably never see the light of day from me. I know I've said it before, but I'm shocked that I picked these up in the first place....and so glad I did.

Now it's your turn! Don't waste your time on the holds list at the library for these--just splurge and buy them. SO worth the money.

Happy Reading!