This book review was originally published on The Wordy Nerd Books on August 22, 2014.

Where She Went is the sequel to Gayle Forman’s If I Stay.  I mentioned in my review of If I Stay, which you can find here, that I felt as though the ending was a bit abrupt and I would like some more information about Mia’s recovery.  I was hoping to get that with this sequel and I did get a little bit of it.  The first book really followed Mia and her plight over whether to stay alive or not.  The sequel is much more focused on her ex-boyfriend, Adam.

Rock star Adam’s band has made it big.  He is touring the country with thousands of girls swooning over him.  He has a famous actress for a girlfriend.  To everyone else, Adam has everything.  He should be happy but instead, he is miserable and heartbroken.  As Mia recovered from the fatal accident that took her entire family, things began to change between Adam and Mia.  Suddenly, Mia stops returning his phone calls and Adam is left without closure.  Where She Went chronicles Adam grieving over the loss of their relationship until one fateful night Mia and Adam run into each other in New York City.

I enjoyed this book almost as much as the first book.  As a narrator, Adam was not quite as likable Mia for me but I still liked the book.  While the story was fast paced and a pretty easy ready, I was blown away by the emotions that Forman is able to capture with her writing.  She did a wonderful job at articulating what it is like to be heartbroken.  The emotions portrayed in this novel are often raw and heartbreaking. I think that portraying emotions and putting them into words is one of Gayle Forman’s biggest writing strengths.

Overall, I liked this book.  It was a quick read and very easy to relate to the characters. I only wish that there had been more.  I always feel like I want to know more about Adam and Mia’s lives when I finished both the first book as well as this one.  I gave this book four stars. Check it out if you’ve read the first one and need a quick read.