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.
Told from 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.
5 STARS out of 5
TITLE: Where She Went
AUTHOR: Gayle Forman
GENRE: Young Adult
WOW. I would give this sequel gazillion stars if I could! I can't help it. I didn't know it was possible for me to like Where She Went more than If I Stay, but I did.
Remember from the first book how Mia always want to know what was so special about her that she was chosen by a highschool rockstar like Adam? Now this, being at Adam's point of view, I could now fully understand how he chose Mia. I would too, if I was a guy.
Mia was just so special, so reserved and so real that you can't help but be drawn to her.
I applaud the author for writing this in a man's point of view in a very convincing way. I could feel the angst, even the pent-up desire to win Mia back. Even though at first, I emphatize with the man and it made me somewhat angry at Mia for leaving him.
And Zizz wasn't kidding when she said that the lyrics here are better than the poems at Slammed.
I mean, it was like comparing oil and water, but the lyrics here definitely pulled more emotions out of me. It's like, can someone please make songs out of this in real life so I could play them when I re-read this sometime?
The lyrics are THAT good! It hits you, in a good way, everytime. Even though I don't know much about songwriting, I bet the author could make a career out of it! The words are interwoven beautifully. Just look at this:
The boogeyman sleeps on your side of the bed
Whispers in my ear: "Better off dead."
Fills my dreams with sirens and lights of regret
Kisses me gently when I wake up in a sweat
-"Boo!"
Collateral Damage, track 3
And my favorite of them all was the chorus from Animate, the band's official anthem and the first track of their initial album Collateral Damage (I actually tried singing it on my own weird angst version):
Hate me.
Devastate me.
Annihilate me.
Re-create me.
Re-create me.
Won't you, won't you, won't you re-create me.
You know, wow. Just wow. I could go on and rave about how good this book really is. Like how the words flowed smoothly, and I savored, really savored, every chapter. But it will possibly drown you out so I will end my review with this:
If you're a big fan of emotional, angsty reads and had this seating on your TBR pile for awhile.. PICK THIS BOOK NEXT. You will probably love this! Because I really do.
Long after I turned the last page, I knew that this book will stay with me for a really really long time.
Mia Hall and Adam Wilde. I'm so gonna miss you both.