Where She Went - A 2012 Teens' Top Ten Nominee

July 18, 2012

It seems like stories always end with a happily ever after, right? The rebels win the war, and the survivors live happily ever after. The lovers overcome the odds set against them and live happily ever after. But what happens after that? Does happily ever after last forever?

In Gayle Forman’s Where She Went, the sequel to If I Stay, we get to find out what happens to Mia and Adam after he convinces her to fight to stay alive following the horrific car accident that killed her parents and little brother. Happily ever after? Not exactly.

Where She Went is a surprisingly real look at how a catastrophic event transforms lives even years after the fact, and how even the strongest love can be broken and walked away from. Adam’s tale of the three years following Mia’s accident are full of the darkest depression, grief, heartbreak, denial, and the worst kinds of coping (including drugs, alcohol, and a string of meaningless hookups). Readers will feel his despair so deeply that they will almost be afraid to hope for even a glimpse of happily ever after when he and Mia meet again by chance in New York City for the first time since she left him.

Erin’s Bonus Features for Where She Went

Genre: realistic fiction
Mood: desperate
Song: "Out on the Town" by Fun.
Readalikes: Looking for Alaska by John Green; Fat Kid Rules the World by K.L. Going
Website: Where She Went book trailer

This blog is part of a series on YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten 2012 nominees. Voting for TTT starts in August; more information can be found here.

~Erin D.
Parkville Branch