TheBooky

Review after the summary…Where She Went by Gayle Forman.

Again, this review will NOT BE SPOILER FREE.

So there will be SPOILERS

SPOILERS

SPOILERS!

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.

Toldfrom 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.

Summary from Goodreads!

This is what I thought:

• The entire book is from Adam’s POV, which I love. Mia was a great character, but I love Adam’s perspective. He’s entire angsty during the entire book, however, I didn’t mind that. I know some people found him annoying, but I quite enjoyed his pain.
• I felt better about reading this book than I did the first one because it doesn’t have that whole oh-I-am-such-a-sad-story-cry-or-you’re-a-heartless-little-bitch vibe. I don’t think the vibe was intentional in the first book, but I sort of felt like there was something wrong with me because I wasn’t crying or sad. With this book, though, there was no vibe. I didn’t feel guilty for not feeling those overwhelming emotions that everyone else felt. 
• Again, this is not really a plot driven book. It’s more character driven, so you get lots of flashbacks and thoughts from the narrator (the pacing was much better in this book, certainly less frustrating). 
• A thing that kind of disappointed me? Mia’s tour of NY. I was expecting something more exciting, more John Green style where the characters break into Sea World and that sort of thing. However, that was probably not the point of the tour/you’re not supposed to focus on what they’re doing so much as what they’re feeling and saying or how they’re changing as characters. 
• This book had bits of songs before the beginning of every chapter, which I loved. I was wishing, a little bit, that Shooting Star was a real band so I could hear their songs (especially “Roulette”).
• Oh, and the focus of this book is the love story. Anyone looking for anything else, sorry.