99 problems, and a book ain't one

  Where She Went was the sequel to If I Stay. I really liked the first book, and was pleasantly surprised with this second book! It had been some time since I had read If I Stay so it did take me a little bit to get right back into the story. Especially with Where She Went picking up years ahead of where we last saw these characters, and in much different circumstances.

  I love that this was told from Adam's point of view. His heartache, even years later, was so apparent and truly ruled his life. I was shocked by this. It was not at all what I had hoped for a young Mia and Adam. It seems that he took that tortured promise he made Mia back in the hospital in If I Stay to heart.

  "If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. I'll quit the band, go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too. Maybe coming back to your old life would just be too painful, maybe it'd be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I'd do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay."

Well, at least in a physical sense. Emotionally I don't know if it would have even been possible for him to do so. It was so hard to see how Adam had become, and what had ultimately lead him there.

  I was grateful for the jumps between past and present. It quickly assimilated me fully into the continuation of a story I hadn't read in some time. It also enlightened me to how Mia and Adam came to be estranged and were on the paths they were. It was perfectly done.

   I was absolutely in LOVE with the lyrics from Collateral Damage at the beginning of most chapters. It gave such insight to just how Adam was feeling after all he'd been through, and in such a beautiful way. I couldn't even imagine being Mia, out there in the world, hearing these heart-wrenching songs and knowing that it was all about her, or because of her.

   I don't want to say much more about this book because I truly feel that it was so emotional that I just wouldn't even be doing it justice. It was a beautiful ending to an emotion filled journey. I am glad to have read it, and only wish that I would have read it closer to reading the first book so I could have experienced the effect of them both together fully.