Where She Went by Gayle Forman

2011/264 pgs

About the Book: Three years since the accident that took Mia's family and changed her life, Adam and Mia have gone down separate paths. Shortly after beginning her school year at Julliard Mia cut off all contact with Adam with not warning. Since then Adam has wondered what exactly happened to her-and to them.

Adam is a rising rock star and his band, Shooting Star, is a worldwide sensation. Adam is dating a beautiful actress and on the outside appears to have a fabulous life. But he's miserable. All of his songs are about his grief over loosing Mia, but he can't talk about it with anyone.

Mia is a rising star at Julliard and about to take off on her first tour. One fateful evening bring Mia and Adam together before their worlds separate again.

Sarah Teenlibrarian Says: When I first heard that Gayle Forman was writing a sequel to If I Stay, I was excited but I kept thinking, "huh, it didn't really need a sequel." Boy was I wrong!

Where She Went is told from Adam's point of view this time around. Much like If I Stay the book is told with flashbacks so we know more about Adam and Mia's relationship, what happened after the accident, and what sent Adam into his spiral downward. Yes, Adam is emo at times (he is an emo rock star after all!). But I found his side of the story to be very interesting. He lost Mia's family as well and then lost Mia. His grief is understandable as well as his conflicting emotions over the fact that his success is based out of his grief. Adam is also dealing with the fact that he told Mia he would let her go, but how do you truly let someone go?

I'll admit that for the first part of the book, I wasn't sure what I thought. But then something clicked about halfway through. I realized that just like Adam, I needed closure to Adam and Mia's relationship. I needed to know what happened next and what made Mia just up and leave. I needed to know how they were moving on, how they were coping. I needed them to come together again for just one evening and figure out where things went wrong. The fact that the author could connect me to the characters in this way made me love the book more.

This is an emotional story and the writing is raw and beautiful. I got sucked into Adam and Mia's story. Much like in If I Stay, I felt the pain of losing Mia's family, in Where She Went, I felt the aftermath. I connected with the characters and I felt like they were part of me, making the book even that more powerful.

A beautiful sequel that surprised me. I'm so glad Gayle Forman wasn't done with the story!