Book Review: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

After I finished reading If I Stay, I immediately looked for a copy of its sequel, Where She Went. I failed to watch the movie adaptation of If I Stay, but that didn’t kill my curiosity as to what happens with the love story of Mia and Adam. I have to applaud Gayle Forman for that cliffhanger in If I Stay because it really made me anxious to know what happens next! Hahaha!

Where She Went chronicles their lives after that fateful accident that involved Mia and her family. A lot of the questions that were left hanging on the first book were finally answered. I liked If I Stay. It tore my heart into pieces. I was wondering how Forman can keep up with the same intensity. But I think I liked the sequel even more. Gayle Forman managed to take her readers through every single detail that happened after Mia’s accident. The non-linear way of narration, having a glimpse of the past, definitely helped the readers have a better grasp of why Adam and Mia ended that way.

It’s a very easy read. I’m amazed as to how Forman was able to expound the story given the very limited setting. If I’m not mistaken, the entire story, minus the three years worth of flashbacks, only happened in a couple of days. If I Stay was narrated in Mia’s point of view, while Where She Went was in Adam’s. That made things a little more interesting especially with how the lyrics of Adam’s songs were injected all throughout the book. It somehow explained Adam’s life for the past three years.

What appealed to me the most is the fact that Where She Went tackled about one of the hardest things when it comes to love, death, and relationships – CLOSURE. A lot of people are living in a life full of what-ifs and what-could-have-beens. Lucky are those people who get a second chance in life and finally have the answers to the questions of their hearts. The ending is something I was expecting, though. But I can forgive Forman because I liked how it ended anyway. =)