Where She Went

Before I get to the point, I have to note that even though it's a sequel, it can be read as a stand alone too. The characters are reflecting back to past events, so you probably won't be all lost. But, obviously, to add emotional background it's better if you read If I Stay first. Years ago, when I still went to the library, I stumbled upon a book titled If I Stay (well, it had a Hungarian title of course). I think I was waiting for a book I had to request for my studies which wasn't on the public shelves, and at the time the YA books were right beside the waiting area. I was browsing the shelves and this book popped out to me. I took it home and I remember devouring it probably in a day. It was a tragic story about music, love, loss. When I started to read in English, I discovered it had a sequel. If I liked If I Stay, then I totally fell in love with Where She Went. We are three years after the events in If I Stay. Mia and Adam have their separate life, both having success in their musical careers. Adam had become a world-famous rock star with Shooting Star, selling thousands of albums, winning awards, touring and having a famous actress as her girlfriend. But under the shiny surface he is suffering. What once was a joy becomes a burden for him. He has to spend a night on his own in New York before the European leg of a giant tour becomes and the past he desperately tries to forget comes banging on his door. Giving him one last chance to right every wrong and get his own closure. Mia aced her classes at Julliard and about to go on a tour herself after her solo recital at Carnegie Hall. After the tragedies she had a hard time dealing with her grief and her teachers were soft on her, except one. An old Russian teacher of her pushed her harder than anyone else and under his and other mentors' hands she had become a cellist she was destined to be. On the dawn of her success the last person she expects to run into is Adam Wilde. The world-famous rock star who once meant the world to her. Mia and Adam go on a tour of New York and their past, tearing open old scars, bringing out feelings buried deep down for too long, looking for a closure. While If I Stay was written from the POV of Mia, in Where She Went we see the events with Adam's eyes. The carefree, happy, devoted guy we got to know is replaced by someone cynical, unhappy, haunted someone who completely lost himself and can't find the way out. This book is as much about the present than the past, Mia and his journey together and his own self discovery. After a long time he can finally get the answers he equally needed and dreaded, face his problems and learn to let go. As they say goodbye to New York Adam does the same to himself. "Standing here, in this quiet house where I can hear the birds chirping out back, I think I’m kind of getting the concept of closure. It’s no big dramatic before-after. It’s more like that melancholy feeling you get at the end of a really good vacation. Something special is ending, and you’re sad, but you can’t be that sad because, hey, it was good while it lasted, and there’ll be other vacations, other good times." Why I like this book so much is because a) I always liked Adam; b) I'm a sucker for musicians and books which feature music, especially if it shows the dark side of the music industry too; c) the raw feelings Adam has, his transformation through the book and they way Forman handles these matters. She can keep the balance between drama and lighter moments, and not turning her books into a long sappy romantic dramedy. And although her writing has a lighter tone, she addresses dead serious topics like grief, depression, loss, self discovery, dealing with problems long repressed. Even though I veered away from YA books in recent years, I don't mind picking up Gayle Forman's books every once in a while. Especially Where She Went, a heartwrenching, emotional read which will make you curse and smile and cry. A fast and sweet read for cold winter days.

and I never cry from books! Sad movies yeah, and maybe the occasional puppy commercial, but never from books. On a very basic level, this book is about dealing with a break-up. And this author accomplished something that I view as very difficult - she developed and explored the main characters' relationship in a way that didn't bring the words "teen drama" to mind. Although Adam and Mia are 21 and 20 in this book, their relationship ended when they were both in their teens. Normally, I would be viewing such a relationship rather lightly or even indulgently -- just young love right? Teenage love - we all go through it, we all get past it. But there was a level of maturity in the characters' voices and in the situations themselves that made me completely buy in to their relationship as something serious and real and tragic. In looking back at it, okay, yes, there was some melodrama and perhaps a bit too much angst, but it didn't matter because as I was reading it, I never noticed it (too busy sobbing maybe?) Like the first book, this one was written with flashbacks interwoven throughout. I absolutely love this writing style and felt that every flashback was placed perfectly and flowed well with the present story line. Music also plays a big role in this book, and I especially loved the lyrics from Adam's songs that are shown in the beginning of the chapters. You really get a sense of his pain and bitterness from those slices of lyrics. I haven't read too many books from a guy's point of view that are written by women - the few that I have read have totally sucked in large part due to the narrator's voice sounding like a female (Ethan in Beautiful Creatures comes to mind). But I totally bought it here. Adam felt like a guy, and his raw emotions came across as very genuine.

Original review first posted on The Book Addict's Guide 6/26/12: I must admit, at first I was a little bit unsure that we were getting this story from Adam's perspective after falling totally in love with Mia's story in IF I STAY. Needless to say, I was sooo not disappointed! It took a small bit of adjusting from a female perspective to a male perspective since I wasn't all together ready for it, but writing from any angle, Gayle Forman does an amazing job with building characters and just overall beautiful writing. I definitely saw the difference between Mia's first person and Adam's -- I felt like in the first book, Mia had a very pronounced maturity to her tone and her presence whereas with Adam (and we're supposed to), we have more of a "dude" feel. By that, I don't mean that we have less emotion because that is nowhere near the case. The language mostly is just a little bit looser and we see a more masculine side, a little bit rougher without being abrasive, and a little less proper. Okay, now to the story! I loved it. Love love love this series! If I was impressed with the first book, this one surely didn't disappoint me as I often fear with sequels. I immediately picked up on Adam's perspective and to be honest, despite his forthcoming of emotion at Mia's beside, I wasn't really sure if he was in love with Mia and how strong his feelings actually were. Throughout all of Where She Went, we see just how rough it's been on him since he and Mia stopped communicating and just how much she really did mean to him. She was his world, and you can see and feel the devastation coming from him. Guys, I'm not afraid to admit it. I totally cried. I got so sucked into the story and I just totally let myself be thrown into that world. There was a totally heartbreaking moment which I needed to note, and as all of the poignant moments in my life (at least in my head), it had a soundtrack. Adam turns on Sufjan Steven's song "Chicago" -- and with that album (Illinoise) always standing out in my head as being particularly emotional (let's not even talk about "Casimir Pulaski Day" because I cry every time I hear that song), I completely lost it. During that scene as he's listening to that song, I had it playing in my head and I just started letting the tears fly. I've always been strong into music so I absolutely adore when authors put songs into their stories. It really brings me in a layer further and helps me actually put myself in the story since I have a connection to the music that's play (something I forgot to mention in my review of ONE MOMENT by Kristina McBride -- rats!). That, and I always wanted to be the person who puts together soundtracks for movies. Another dream job! Sidenotes aside (wait, isn't that redundant?), I loved the story and I absolutely adore Gayle Forman's writing! I'm so glad I rushed to read this book so soon after the first! Usually I put a little gap in there so I get to enjoy a series as long as I can/as long as I can hold out, but when I found this in the library, I had to pick it up right away! Re-read completed 9/2/13: Oh my. WHERE SHE WENT was even better the second time around, even better than IF I STAY. Adam's POV is absolutely heart-breaking but I love reveling in that pure emotion. The beauty, emotion, music, suspense... It was all so amazing, even when I knew exactly what happened next. Re-read review originally posted HERE on The Book Addict's Guide 9/23/13: I am SO glad that I re-read WHERE SHE WENT. I remember adoring both IF I STAY and WHERE SHE WENT the first time around, but I had forgotten how emotional these two books were, especially picking up Adam's point of view in WHERE SHE WENT. Adam's point of view is so... raw. He doesn't hold anything back in his narration and I really felt everything he was feeling -- small and ... well, enormous. He's got some BIG FEELS in this book. Sometimes it was hard to watch and to see him in that much pain and constantly try to push it down or shove it away. For reasons I can't explain, I feel like it was that much more emotional because it was a male POV. You guys... Adam is 100% my favorite male POV of all YA. No wait. Of all time. His voice is so genuine and I feel like reading WHERE SHE WENT from his point of view captures all of the feelings that he's holding back from the entire world. That's pretty big stuff. I love catching up with Mia and Adam three years later and seeing where they are in their lives. This is a pretty significant jump in time from where we left off in IF I STAY, but Gayle Forman knew what she was doing. This is where the real story picks up again and we get a lot of the details from what happened in the past three years in flashbacks. Now usually, I don't like flashbacks. Actually, no, that's not true. Usually I'm very picky with flashbacks because a lot of the time I feel like they're not necessary and could have been summed up in dialogue or recounted by the main character. I do, however, love the flashbacks in IF I STAY/WHERE SHE WENT. They felt totally natural to the story and contained a lot of important information that we need to know for the present-day story. Once again, I find that music supplements a story to help draw me in even more. Just that one instance where Adam borrows an iPod and scrolls through a playlist... When I see music I love in a book or I can just hear a single song and imagine the characters listening to that one as well, somehow I just get that connection and it really adds to my reading experience. As far as the Shooting Star music goes, I could take it or leave it. I usually don't get anything from fabricated lyrics because I have no connection to them... It doesn't usually detract from the book, but it doesn't really do anything for me! I get ALL THE FEELS from WHERE SHE WENT. I loved every second of my re-read and I really enjoyed the male POV from Adam. Everything was so emotional and raw and it was just a really different feel for me. So glad I got to re-read this one!Okay, now to the story! I loved it. Love love love this series! If I was impressed with the first book, this one surely didn’t disappoint me as I often fear with sequels. I immediately picked up on Adam’s perspective and to be honest, despite his forthcoming of emotion at Mia’s beside, I wasn’t really sure if he was in love with Mia and how strong his feelings actually were. Throughout all of Where She Went, we see just how rough it’s been on him since he and Mia stopped communicating and just how much she really did mean to him. She was his world, and you can see and feel the devastation coming from him. Guys, I’m not afraid to admit it. I totally cried. I got so sucked into the story and I just totally let myself be thrown into that world. There was a totally heartbreaking moment which I needed to note, and as all of the poignant moments in my life (at least in my head), it had a soundtrack. Adam turns on Sufjan Steven’s song “Chicago” – and with that album (Illinoise) always standing out in my head as being particularly emotional (let’s not even talk about “Casimir Pulaski Day” because I cry every time I hear that song), I completely lost it. During that scene as he’s listening to that song, I had it playing in my head and I just started letting the tears fly. I’ve always been strong into music so I absolutely adore when authors put songs into their stories. It really brings me in a layer further and helps me actually put myself in the story since I have a connection to the music that’s play (something I forgot to mention in my review of One Moment by Kristina McBride - rats!). That, and I always wanted to be the person who puts together soundtracks for movies. Another dream job! Sidenotes aside (wait, isn’t that redundant?), I loved the story and I absolutely adore Gayle Forman’s writing! I’m so glad I rushed to read this book so soon after the first! Usually I put a little gap in there so I get to enjoy a series as long as I can/as long as I can hold out, but when I found this in the library, I had to pick it up right away! I don’t really have anything negative to say at all. I just loved it!

Note: Review may contain spoilers Just read 'If I Stay' in one sitting then bought and read the sequel 'Where She Went' the next day, reading that all in one go as well. That being the case I'm putting this same review on both. Of the two, I'd say 'If I Stay' is the better story and 'Where She Went' is the better written book. Don't get me wrong, they are both excellent, I think it just shows how the author grew her skills as a writer between creating each of them. Where I felt 'If I Stay' fell down a bit was in the early dialogue, I thought it sounded very unnatural and brought me out of the story a bit. Thankfully that improved markedly as the story progressed and I was left with only my own personal preferences getting in the way. It is rare that I read a piece of fiction written in present tense. I'm not sure why that is but, since much of this book is in present tense, it threw me a bit and I also felt like the constant back and forth with flashbacks was a bit jarring. These were both issues that I got used to and barely noticed by the end of the book, the story was good enough to carry me through. 'If I Stay' tells the story of Mia, a seventeen year old girl and a gifted classical musician, with her whole life ahead of her. A life full of choices. That is until a ride in the car with her family ends with a horrific wreck and Mia has an out of body experience. Mia comes to realise that she only has one choice left, live or die, and she has to make it all by herself. Through the use of Mia's (while having her out of body experience) observations of her friends and family around her and the previously mentioned flashbacks we are shown or given hints at all the things Mia has lost, some of the things that Mia has left, and reminded of how life can turn on a dime. The story shows us sweet first love, teenage confusion and heartbreaking choices. 'Where She Went' is written in the same style as 'If I Stay', that is to say mostly first person and with a whole lot of flashbacks but the author does it much more smoothly this time (or maybe I was just used to it by this point). Also, just like the first story, the "present day" events all happen in just a little over a single day. This author can pack a lot of emotion into a single day. This story picks up three years after the events of 'If I Stay' and is told from the perspective of Adam, Mia's boyfriend at the time of her accident. Adam was crushed when Mia cut off contact with him and 'Where She Went' tells the story of how he channelled all that pain into his music and his rise into a bonafide rock star. Through present-day events and flashbacks, we see the way Adam remembers the special relationship they had, the simple pure love and his confusion about how it ended. Wandering the streets of New York randomly, he happens across a venue where Mia, now a rising star in classical music, is playing. Telling himself he'll just slip in and listen to her, then leave, he buys a ticket that leads to an awkward reunion between himself and the love of his life. But has life moved on? Have they wandered too far to get home? They wander New York together as the night wears on and old emotions, sweet and bitter, are both stirred in equal measure. The author did a superb job keeping me guessing until so near the very last page. I was up out of my seat, walking away from the screen so I could pace the room, I was laughing, I was crying. I was a bit disgruntled with the price of the kindle editions, but hey, I bought the first one, read it, and then bought the second one, so you won't see me complaining now. I would recommend both of these books if you like romance stories that aren't all sunshine and lollipops, stories with real grit, real heart and love that is hard-earned and well-deserved.

"If I Stay" was such an incredible book, it was a no-brainer to buy this one. Not only to see how the story plays out, but just because Gayle Forman's writing can be so sublime. But I have to say, I was disappointed by this sequel. It just did not have the same emotional impact as the first book, the storyline was just kind of blah and I didn't find the main character engaging. The things I really wanted to read about- how things unfolded after Mia woke up, why she left Adam behind, etc- were kept hidden. You find out a few details here and there, and get more of the story toward the end, but overall it just doesn't fill in the gaps. You never get a really satisfying explanation for Mia's motives- she does explain them, but it just falls kind of flat. And she seems like a different person from the first book- not someone I could connect with or care about. So basically, you learn very little about Mia's life after the accident and you get this whole book about boring Adam, and in the end there's a rapprochement, but it's too little too late and it doesn't all quite fit together or make sense. I really only kept reading it to see how it turned out in the end...and even then it just didn't really have a satisfying conclusion. The story probably would have been better told from Mia's perspective because there were just too many unanswered questions from Adam's perspective, and his character just wasn't that interesting on its own. It's really a shame since If I Stay was such a great book...I almost can't believe this was written by the same author.

I finished this book over a month ago (and I lost sleep because I was up reading until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore), and I'm still in awe of the genius writing of Gayle Forman. When I first read IF I STAY, it was because I had heard so much about it - little did I know what I was in for. Gayle Forman has a unique ability to draw a reader into a book and grab at your emotions and twist and turn them until you feel so caught up in the character's journey that you would do anything just to give the character a hug or a helping hand. Her books are not ones that you can put down. It's an emotional journey to read IF I STAY or WHERE SHE WENT, but one that you must take! But make sure you read them in order!!! (and if you haven't read IF I STAY yet, why the heck not?!?) WHERE SHE WENT takes place three years later and switches view points from when we had insight into Mia's thoughts in If I Stay to now seeing Adam's anger, heartbreak, and despair. Adam is now a big rock star and his band has hit it big and is heading off on a European tour, but Adam is devastated, and as the reader, you feel it from the first pages. The Adam I loved in the first book is still there somewhere, but he's been beaten down and lost himself when Mia broke up with him. The writing is straight-forward, but pulls you in instantly. This is contemporary realistic teen fiction writing at it's best. This book very much has the feel of a "one night in the life of" kind of story. It's takes place in New York, it includes chance encounters, it flashes back to Adam's perspective of what happened with Mia and her family, and it shows us where Mia is now. The thing I love the most about Adam and Mia is the way they are always looking out for each other. They are such a great, honest couple because they truly want the best for the other, but they've been through such grief and tragedy that they need to resolve those issues before they can be happy and hopeful together. The journey that Adam and Mia have to take to understand each other, forgive each other, communicate their true feelings, and hold on to each other is wrought with emotion, frustration, and love. And ultimately, this is a true love story - one that was three years in the making. Read this one - you will begin your own love story with Gayle Forman's writing. I'm so glad she revisited Mia's world and explored how Adam would have reacted to the tragic events in the first story. It's realistic, it's gritty, and it's hopeful. I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next in her writing career! Review originally posted on Heise Reads & Recommends

This was a really great book but I still think that If I Stay is the best of the two. But this books gives the readers more information about the characters. This book also gives Adam's point of view and memories. Mia was the only survivor of the car accident but she wasn't the only one that lost from that accident. Adam was like an adopted part of their family - he spent so much time at their house and with them. So he lost Denny, Kat, Teddy, and in the end he also lost his one love - Mia. It is 3 years later and Adam is completely different. He's a "Rock Star" but he feels so alone, so unhappy, and so disconnected from everything. He's really not part of the band anymore, whenever they have concerts he stays in one hotel and the rest of the band stays in another. He lives in LA with his "girlfriend" who is a famous actress but he's not really in it, they see each other once in awhile but usually they are apart. He's not really given any of himself to Bryn because his heart always belonged to another - Mia. When Adam was 16 years old, he saw Mia then started noticing more and more about her but she took over his heart and it will always be hers. Even Mia's parents noticed that they had a special kind of love but it wasn't a good sign that they met and fell in love in high school. Her mother knew that they were meant to be. Once Mia woke up from her coma, Adam did everything he could to support her and help her get better. But Mia was so different after that but of course she was, no one can experience what she did and be the same. When she left for Julliard, she and Adam were going to try to keep their relationship going but Mia just stopped answering his calls. She was angry at so many things - the situation, the world, everybody but she was also extremely angry with Adam. You always hurt and blame the one you love the most. But Adam didn't understand, he just felt hurt and lost. This book is definitely worth the read and it was good to find out what happened to these characters.

WOW... Let me just take a minute... WOW... I gave If I Stay 5 stars, said it was a favorite, gave it 100 stars in the review, but DANG... This book blew the first Out. Of The. Water! HOLY CRAP!! That being said, the two books together ... the whole story ... PERFECTION! My mind has literally just been BLOWN! No exaggeration, no flattery, just unadulterated LOVE, DAZEDNESS, PEACE, and Intense, Well-Deserved LOVE!! If I Stay was told all in Mia's perspective, and while I did love and connect to the story, I had some writing issues with it - not big ones - but still. Where She Went is told all in Adam's perspective and It. Was. AMAZING! IT ROCKED MY WORLD!! Like I said, this book blew the first out of the water for me; it like stepped up the game 100%; knocked it out of the stratosphere! HOLY CRAP!! One of the big things that made me connect to the first book so much was the connection to music the story and the characters had. I fell in love with their world, filled with music and family and love! So, like I said, this sequel STEPPED UP THE GAME and KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE STRATOSPHERE!!! The MUSIC, oh Dear Lord, the MUSIC!! "And the music, it's like, I dunno, fresh bread on an empty stomach or a woodstove on a frigid day. It's reaching out, beckoning me." Three years have passed since the first book, and Adam's now a bona fide ROCK STAR, with double platinum albums, world tours, sold out arenas and stadiums, with thousands of adoring fans... So lets, be real - Who's never fantasized about the rock star life? Who never dreamed of owning a stage and being a total music goddess/god in front of thousands of fans screaming your name? Pretty sure we all have, and that's an epicly cool aspect of this book - we get to see that life; we get to vicariously live it! - and while it may not be the total happiness that we may or may not have associated with it - we may experience the self-destruction, loneliness, isolation, and panic along with Adam - we still get to see and experience it with him, and It. Was. AWESOME! LIVING LIKE A ROCK STAR BABY The main HUGE leap from book 1 to 2 was the owning of the music! If I Stay incorporated music and had a unique soundtrack that belonged to the characters and story and I LOVED IT! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! Now, the second book... OH MY GOSH!!! Adam's this professional songwriter and we get to read his LYRICS!! To me, it was MAGICAL!! The music in this book was so REAL, and the lyrics, Dear God, BEAUTIFUL, TOOK ME AWAY! WOW - WOW - WOW - WOW - Every lyric was Pure, Undulated MAGIC! The author did this book so well - she give birth to these characters and their lives, and she didn't just write an amazing book, she wrote an album, 2 ALBUMS, that were each so breathtaking and RAW and beautiful and heartbreaking! In conclusion, This book BLEW ME AWAY, TORE ME APART, and ROCKED MY WORLD, and I LOVED every second of it! This book was everything to me! It completely DESTROYED me!!! I'll never forget this story!

My daughter loves the book. Great delivery time

前作にあった「生きるか？死ぬか？」ほどの緊張感や、幽体離脱のようなファンタジー感はありませんが、 続編としてはよくできています。

“Once you had put the pieces back together, even though you may look intact, you were never quite the same as you'd been before the fall.” ----Jodi Picoult Gayle Forman, an award-winning best-selling author, has penned a heart-touching tale of young broken love, called, Where She Went which is the sequel to If I Stay. This book spins three years after Mia's accident and with Adam's POV who is a big rockstar in LA whereas Mia is finishing her graduation in Julliard. Not only that, we get to know who Adam really is and who he was when he met Mia for the first time. Synopsis: If you had a second chance at first love ...would you take it? It's been three years since Adam's love saved Mia after the accident that annihilated life as she knew it ...and three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever. Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard'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. Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, powerful 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. Three years after Mia's accident that killed her parents and her younger brother, Mia is in New York, finishing her school in Julliard. And she has broken up with Adam without any explanation. Adam is now a famous rockstar in LA, and is in a live-in relationship with a famous celebrity, Bryn. But Adam cannot forget Mia, and his sudden trip to New York leaves him face-to-face with the ghost of his past, Mia. Mia immediately asks Adam to come along on a New York tour before they both leave for tour. But will Adam be able to keep his undying feelings for Mia under control, who has changed so much since the accident? What was the reason that made Mia break up with Adam? This is the finale of Adam and Mia's story, of how one night into Mia's favorite places in the New York City gives birth to their hidden and lost love for one another. Read this final book to once again fall in love with Mia and Adam. I cried for Adam, I felt resentment towards Mia, I felt excited for Adam and finally I felt really happy for both Mia and Adam. And all thanks to Gayle Forman, for justifying and putting a really beautiful and satisfying end to her story of Mia and Adam. Honestly, Mia's story is heart-breaking and sad, but the love for family is highlighted in the first book, whereas in this book, Adam's irrevocable love for Mia is so true that it is evident from his POV, as everything he does, it is somehow connected to Mia. Even though Mia broke up with Adam with no explanation, he could never hate her. All the while I felt like reaching out to Adam and hugging him tightly. The writing is beautiful and laced with deep and painful emotions, the kind of feeling you will get if you have that "the one that got away" in your life. The narrative is nostalgic and evocative and flows freely. The story is engrossing as there is so much drama behind Adam's band members that kept me turning the pages till the end. There are some beautiful moments between Adam and Mia, written with so much passion and feels that I cherished them even after the end of the book. The pacing is really fast, as the story instantly pulled me into its depth. The characters are once again so well-developed and this time, the limelight is on Adam, who is a gem and I bet girls would kill to be with him. He is the most understanding person, who let Mia go from his life as he vowed when Mia was in the coma. And despite of so much glitters, money, cheering, Adam is not happy in his new life and that is happy from the opening sentence of the book that says that how he wants to get through a 24 hours in a day. Mia seemed bit mature and laid back but Mia was not that striking person who was once three years ago. There are some new characters and some old characters, that are well-built and keeps the story interesting. Overall, this short ending finale to Mia and Adam's love story is fascinating yet poignant. The love depicted between Adam and Mia is pure and with lots of hidden passion that made me fall in love yet all over again and it definitely moved me a lot. Their love is captured with realism, challenges, struggles and resolution and promises. It is amazing to feel that kind of love. Do read this book before the movie rolls in. I hear the movie adaption of this book is under shooting starring Jamie Blackley as Adam, and I really can't wait to see this movie, which I bet will be another major hit.

I waited and I waited and I waited some more and finally this book was released and to my delight arrived the day before I went on holiday so I got to read this lay by a pool in peace and quiet after I had re-read If I Stay. It really is a must for you to read that book first if you haven't already, you could still appreciate this book, but not nearly as much as you would if you know the back story. This book is set 3 years after If I Stay, Adma is now a famous rock star but can't enjoy the fame he once craved because Mia left him, walked out of his life with no explanation, never getting intouch again. Out feeling sorry for himself wandering around New York he stumbles across a Cello Recital at the famous Carnegie Hall by Mia. And thats where it all starts. After their meeting starts off tense and ends abruptly they end up wandering the city together for the night going over the past but at first Adam is still too scared to ask the quastion he so desperately wants the answer to. "Why?" I found this very enjoyable. Did it hit me the way If I Stay did, no if I'm honest it didn't, but then I wasn't expecting it to. I knew this wouldn't have the gut wrenching drama as the first book. But what it did have was heart. And a maturity, Adam has changed so much, its not surprising, he's had to deal with the grief at the loss of Mia's family too, but felt unable to express it, like he didn't deserve to, along with coping with losing Mia and his guilt about that, dealing with his fame and all the things that go with that and finding life in general a huge struggle, feeling completely out of control. Mia, is not the same timid girl with a silent fierceness we knew before. She has grown up so much. Mainly because of dealing with such a huge loss at a young age but also because of her experiences at Juliard. I was fascinated reading about Adams past, getting to know him better than we did in If I Stay showed us the other side to the story. Witnessing the events of the first book through Adams eyes was great too. We can fully understand what happened. I thought I would want the 2nd book to be from Mia's POV aswell but it really worked well with Adam as the narator, and it also helped me see a new side to Mia. I have to admit the book was a tiny bit slow to get going but once it did I could not put it down. I desperately wanted to find out what was going to happen, but at the same time I wanted to savour it for as long as possible. I didn't want it to be over. The only downside to If I Stay was that I desperately wanted to know what happened to Adam and Mia, and Where She Went did that for me. Did it all go the way I thought it would, No. But I felt things worked out the way they were supposed to and I was stunned at the ending. I'd sort of worked it out, but it still blew me away and now I am no longer left wondering what happens to them both. I just wish them well and hope that perhaps one day the amazing author Gayle Forman may like to enlighten us as to how the'r lives turn out....... but its not necessary, it can happily end where it has. A brilliant sequel to a truly exceptional novel.

Was wäre, wenn eine Nacht dein ganzes Leben verändern könnte. Was wäre, wenn du deinem Glück so nahe bist und was wäre, wenn du den Menschen begegnen würdest, der dich einst fast zerstört hat? Würdest du die Chance ergreifen, eher sie fort ist? Die emotionale Achterbahnfahrt geht weiter und rast auf ihren Höhepunkt zu. Wurde noch in 'Wenn ich bleibe' Mias Geschichte über Verlust und Ängste geschrieben, ist es diesmal Adam, der seine Zeit nach Mias Unfall erzählt. Die Zeit, die ihn fast aufgefressen und zerstört hätte, wäre da nicht seine Liebe zur Musik gewesen. Die Geschichte siedelt sich 3 Jahre später an; Mia und Adam haben das geschafft, von dem sie immer geträumt haben. Sie ist eine gefeierte Cellistin und er ein umjubelter Rockstar. Sie verbindet nichts mehr außer die Vergangenheit. Doch Adam stellt sich seit jeher die Fragen, warum Mia ihn damals verlassen hat und warum auf diese Art und Weise. Er quält sich mit den Fragen, während er tausende von Konzertstadien füllt, auf Partys geht und mit Frauen zusammen ist. Eines Tages läuft er in New York Mia über den weg und erkennen, dass sie endlich einen Weg finden müssen, um unausgesprochene Fragen zu beantworten. Gayle Forman hat es hervorragend geschafft mir Adams Gedanken ' und Gefühlswert näher zu bringen. Sie bringt seinem Schmerz überzeugend rüber und schafft es, seine Stimme in meinen Kopf lebendig werden zu lassen. Man merkt auch, dass die 3 vergangen Jahre nicht spurlos an ihm vorbeigegangen sind. War er in 'Wenn ich bleibe' noch ein junger, unschuldiger, musizierender Junge auf dem College, so ist er heute bitter, verletzt und gefühlskalt. Es war hart zu lesen, was Mias Verlassen mit ihm angestellt hat, doch machte es ihn umso realer, verletzlicher und liebenswürdiger. Adam war ein Charakter, den ich von der ersten Seite an geliebt habe (Er spielt Gitarre ' Hallo? ' dafür habe einfach eine Schwäche). Auch Mia habe ich neu kennen gelernt. Sie ist nun rationaler und erwachsener ' was die vergangene Zeit so mit sich bringt. Mit Mia und Adam sind Forman zwei so außergewöhnliche, authentische und verletzbare Figuren erfunden wurden. Gerade weil sie so verschieden sind, fand ich, dass sie perfekt zusammen passten und gut harmonisierten. Für Adam war Mia immer seine Vergangenheit, Gegenwart und Zukunft. Ich fand ihre Beziehung so liebenswürdig, dass ich Adams Sehnsucht nach ihr praktisch spüren konnte. Vor allem die Flashbacks machten mir immer bewusst, wie sehr Adam litt. Einen kleinen Abstrich muss hier aber leider machen. So sehr ich Herzschmerz und Tragik liebe - Adam erschien mir manchmal zu sehr das winselne Hündchen in der Geschichte zu sein. Ein bisschen mehr Rückgrat hätte ich mir gewünscht. Dennoch ist Gayle Forman mit "Where she went" ein herzergreifendes Buch gelungen. Mein Urteil: Ein würdiger Nachfolger von "Wenn ich bleibe". Ich habe alles bekommen, was ich erwartet habe. Eine Geschichte mit viel Herz und Gefühl, die einen in eine bestimme Stimmung versetzt und über das Leben sinnieren lässt. Daher 4,5 Sterne!