Review - Where She Went (If I Stay, Book 2) by Gayle Forman (4.5/5 stars)

Reading level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Size: 208 pages

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: April 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0525422945
Stand Alone or Series: Sequel to If I Stay
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This is the sequel to the book, If I Stay.  I think you do need to read that book first in order to understand what is going on in this one.  It was a great sequel and wonderful to find out where Adam and Mia ended up in their lives.

The whole book is told from Adam's point of view.  He is living in Los Angelos as the front man for Shooting Stars, which has now gone double platinum with their first album and is hugely popular.  Meanwhile Mia is out in New York City pursuing her degree at Juliard.  Adam's life has been shattered by Mia's abscence and as he dodges paparazzi and tries to have some semblence of a normal life he is left grasping at straws.  Then one night while in New York he stumbles across one of Mia's performances and decides to go watch her.  Will this one night finally give Mia and Adam some closure on all of the events that happened during the first book, If I Stay?

This was a wonderful book.  Forman does an excellent job of dumping you right into the main charater's head so that you are absolutely tied up their emotions and thoughts.  It was wonderful to see things from Adam's perspective and to see how he was having to re-evalute his lifestyle.  The majority of the book is told in present day, but portions of the book go back to times while Mia was recovering from her surgery or times after Mia went to New York City.

The book is heart-rending, but not as heart-rending as the first one.  I think I only found myself in tears once in this one :-)  I thought the characters acted more realistic than they did in the first book, they weren't so perfect.  The book is hard to put down and really propelled by the continuous question, why did Mia leave?

This book tackles a lot of serious issues, although I didn't feel they were quite as serious and deep as the issues covered in If I Stay.  Adam struggles with his fame; he can never get any privacy and he always feels alone even though there are tons of people around him. 

The books ends fantastically and realistically.  I think readers will be pleased.  I really liked where it ended, but find myself hoping just a little bit that we can read more about Adam and Mia in the future.

Overall an excellent sequel to If I Stay.  Readers who loved, If I Stay, need to check this out.  You get to find out what happens to Mia and Adam and how the events of If I Stay color their lives afterwards.

This book goes towards the following reading challenge:

 - 100+ Reading Challenge