“I needed to hate someone and you’re the one I love the most, so it fell on you.”
– Gayle Forman, Where She Went
Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Length: 5 hours (read audio-book)
Genre: Romance, Fiction, YA, Realistic fiction
My Rating: 3.7/5 stars
My Age Rating: 15+
Content Notes: Strong language, sex, suggestive comments, alcohol and drug use, smoking, anxiety, anger issues, depression, grief, emotional themes
“But still, I find the need to remind myself of the temporariness of a day, to reassure myself that I got through yesterday, I’ll get through today.”
– Gayle Forman, Where She Went
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.
Review:
I recently read the book ‘If I Stay’, it was full of raw emotion, heartbreaking choices and an ending that left me wanting more. So I was overjoyed when I found out there was a sequel to this book. And I was even happier when I realized that this book was in the love interest POV! I mean, could it get better? So with flying fingers I quickly snatched it up and dived into the continuing story.
I had to wait for the physical book and I didn’t have the patience so I actually read this one via audiobook! I don’t really like audiobooks if I’m being honest, because I can never find a narrator that I like. But not this audiobook. In fact I highly suggest listening to this one if you want to read it. I mean, his voice added so much to the story, he sounds exactly what I imagined Adam’s voice to sound like, and he just read the book so well!
The writing style of this book is very similar to the last. The only difference really just being that the perspective is from Adams POV. The writing is very real and raw. Sad but still has punches of humor throughout. It really handles the emotions perfectly, making me feel them myself as I listened to it. Also like the last book, this one jumped between past and present, but it wasn’t hard to grasp, and was written perfectly so that I never felt lost when reading this book.
Let’s talk specifically about the fact that this book is in Adam’s perspective. This was one of the things that excited me most. I really felt like it added a flare that I was missing. It added a brand new angle and more emotions that were never touched in the first book. This book deals with hard emotions. Grief, heartbreak, and how letting go of the one you love more than life can break you. And this book portrayed all of this so perfectly. Giving me glimpses into a life I will hopefully never experience myself.
Next up, let’s talk about romance. Similarly to the last book, the romance wasn’t fluffy and cute. It was raw, real and heartbreaking at times. But it is different because it holds more of a punch, they have moved from teenage hood to adulthood. In this book it is mostly focusing on how he is still struggling after the breakup. It is putting on display the mental toll it is taking on him, and how his life isn’t the same. How even though he seems to have moved on, deep down he never did. This book is less of a falling in love book, but more of a falling back into love romance. And his perspective gives us everything we were missing. Overall his love for her in the book isn’t perfect, but it is deeply moving.
Okay, time to talk about the content. This book was definitely a bit more inappropriate than the last. It had a fair bit of strong language, something that bothered me more than usual because I was listening to it. It also had a fair bit of sexual content. With a sex scene that I skipped over, and lots of references, some in great detail, about his sexual relationships with groupies. I felt like this was unnecessary and is probably my biggest complaint about the book. Especially since I was listening to it and it was harder to skim or skip over stuff. There are also some heavier themes. Such as grief, heartbreak, anxiety, not to mention some substance abuse and addiction. I would say this book would be best for ages 15+ because of the strong language throughout, heavier themes and sexual content.
Overall I enjoyed this book and am glad I read it. I would give it a 3.7 out of 5 star rating (just slightly higher than the last book, but brought down because of the content.) And I would recommend it to a mature audience that is looking for a more intense and sad read with great humor and raw romance. I was so happy that this book could wrap up this story in such a sweet way and it left me very satisfied.
Happy Reading,
Ava!
P.S. Click this Link to check out my review on “If I Stay,” the first book in this collection!
To get your own copy of this book click this Link
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