Jilhaju Leon Leon itibaren Köyceğiz Köyü, 73300 Köyceğiz Köyü/İdil/Şırnak, Türkiye
Prep was one of my favorite books ever. It's up there with one of my favorite books, I coveted every word - and so I don't know why this wouldn't appeal to me - same author of a beloved book and all - but it just didn't. To be fair, I don't even think I managed to bypass 50 pages into this thing. But what I did read seemed trite, pedestrian, and even somewhat patriarchal. Forgive me if it was a snap judgment and this novel improved over time, but I'm usually one to stick it out and rarely give up on a book or walk out of a movie. Could not get into this one, which consequently turned me off to wanting to read American Wife (supposedly a loosely-based parody of Laura Bush), which might have actually been good. I guess the sophomore slump is not applicable to musicians alone - authors can fall prey as well.
Oh my god, this book. If I Stay was one of my favourite ever books. It was so sad and beautiful and sometimes just thinking about the events of that book (TEDDY!) will make tears spring to my eyes all this time later. So when I heard that Gayle Forman was writing a sequel, I was at once thrilled and also nervous. I knew I'd love returning to Adam and Mia's story, but I was also really scared that Where She Went wouldn't live up to the huge emotional impact that If I Stay had on me. If you have that same worry, don't. Put that thought out of your mind forever. Where She Went is absolutely captivating and is filled with such heartbreak and sadness but also the same beauty and hope that stole my heart with If I Stay. Once I'd picked up Where She Went, I knew that I wouldn't be capable of putting it down until I'd finished it. Gayle Forman has done it again. In some ways, I sort of love Where She Went more than If I Stay. I just loved coming back to Adam and Mia and exploring their lives and their relationship in more detail. Where She Went takes place three years after Mia's car accident. Adam gave that beautiful, heart-breaking speech and Mia stayed. But they didn't stay together. In fact, they've barely spoken in the three years since. Mia went off to Julliard and Adam's band really takes off and Adam is always in the press with his new rock-star lifestyle. One night in New York, they bump into each other and come to terms with what happened to them, what's happened since and if they have a future together... I love that this book is told from Adam's perspective. He has no idea why Mia broke up with him and never returned his phone calls. He's been holding onto his grief and confusion and channelled some of it into his song lyrics. He should be really happy that his music career has been so successful and with his famous girlfriend, but he isn't. The whole experience has changed him and he's no longer that perfect boyfriend from If I Stay. The tension between Adam and Mia as they spend this one night wandering around the city just crackles off the pages. There's so much left unsaid between them. And as they visit some of Mia's favourite spots in the city, we see flashes of Adam's life in the last three years. How he reacts when Mia dumps him, how his band become so famous, how he meets his celebrity girlfriend. And we get to know slowly the things that Mia has done and is doing at Julliard, who she spends her time with. But as the reader all I wanted to know was WHY, WHY, WHY?! did they break up? And my need to know the answers to solve that mystery is so large and the build-up towards it left me breathless with anticipation. And I wasn't disappointed. Everything from Adam's thoughts and his actions are just so believable. His pain is very real and when Mia opens up and starts explaining the reasons she did the things she did, I was completely behind her as well. In fact I love how strong Mia turns out to be and the lengths she's gone to in order to move on from the accident and not let that one event in her life define her. Such a beautiful book with wonderfully flawed characters in a heartbreaking situation. I can't recommend Where She Went enough. Adam and Mia have stolen a piece of my heart. Please visit my blog to see my interview with Gayle Forman