If I Stay & Where She Went by Gayle Forman | Review

Series: If I Stay

Published: If I Stay: 2009 by Dutton Penguin

Where She Went: 2011 by Dutton Juvenile

Pages: If I Stay: 210 

Where She Went: 304

Date Finished: If I Stay: September 20th, 2014

Where She Went: April 6th, 2015

Rating: If I Stay: 4/5

Where She Went: 4/5

Age Recommendation: -

If I Stay:

This book was absolutely amazing... I was completely dumbfounded at how utterly beautiful this book was. You felt like you were right there with Mia at all times and even though the car accident scene was a bit gory-sounding and the book could be really heartbreaking at times, so much so that it made me cry, I felt like I could really connect with Mia and understand where she was coming from. If I had to choose between my parents and my brother or my friends and my extended family when I had as great of a family as she did, I don't think I could do it.

If I Stay is the first in a series of two books by Gayle Forman about a teenage girl named Mia who gets in a car accident on a snow day. Her mother and father end up getting killed instantly and her brother is severely injured and Mia ends up having an out-of-body experience throughout the book where she can see and hear everything that's happening around her. Towards the end of the book, Mia has to make a life changing decision. Should she stay or should she go?

The thing I liked most about this book was the way Mia and her boyfriend Adam's relationship was portrayed. Gayle writes it in such a way that I'm pretty sure every teenage girl and young adult who has read this book are now setting their expectations higher than ever before in order to find their own little brand of "Adam."

I also loved Mia's grandparents. They seemed like a very homey couple who loved their grandchildren with all their hearts. They were always there whenever Mia or her brother needed them.

And finally the ending... The one that everyone either hates or absolutely loves. In my opinion, I thought it was a pretty genius ending. It certainly left me breathless.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman was definitely one of my favourite books that I read in 2014 and I couldn't wait to start the sequel.

Where She Went:

Where She Went was an amazing finale to the If I Stay series. It takes place three years after If I Stay concludes and Adam is now a big rockstar with multi-platinum albums and a killer record deal but ever since Mia left, Adam hasn't been the same. He's really depressed and angry and just can't stop thinking about Mia. Where She Went gives Adam a second chance. Will he be able to win Mia over or will she slip from his grasp yet again?

You could definitely feel Adam's pain in this novel and I honestly felt bad for him. I was extremely frustrated at Mia for being so ruthless and leaving him so abruptly so I was happy when I finally found out her reasoning. I was angry at the remaining members of Shooting Star for being so clueless to Adam's suffering and for being so insensitive towards him for a very unimportant reason, in my opinion. It's not like Adam asked for it...

I was aching for Adam to go after Mia so I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the book. I'm going to miss Adam and Mia so much...

Where She Went is definitely worth the read and if you liked If I Stay, you'll absolutely love this book.