Contemporary February #5: Where She Went

 

*CONTAINS SPOILERS

Goodreads: It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever.

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.

Review: Okay, this has to be the best contemporary novel I've ever read. I never suspected a sequel to If I Stay. I mean, I was peeved that If I Stay ended the way it did, just leaving off with Mia waking up and after Adam pleaded with her to stay. I mean, who does that! Leaving off with nothing afterwards! Then I heard about a sequel, I was like: OMG! I HAVE TO HAVE THIS BOOK!

No, seriously, this was my face. Fortunately, other bloggers got the same feeling. Contest here and there. Did I win? No. It sucked. Then, when BN had their 50% off sale, I put that one in my cart, and a few weeks later, it was in my hands.

I wasn't disappointed. This book, though I did wish it was in Mia's view point, was perfect. I was a bit sad that it was in Adam's view, but after reading it, I thought he was the one to say it all. In the book, it switches back and forth between the aftermath of the accident and present day. Flashback books are always the best. :D

For three years, Adam drowned himself in his depressed self. Basically, Mia dumped him by not calling or contacting him after the accident and she went off to Julliard. It sucked reading about that. I wanted to punch Mia. Really! And because of it, a few things came out of it.

1. Adam wrote several hits and he and the band got back together and became rock stars.
2. Adam soon became the center of the band since he wrote the songs and tension between everyone grew, leaving Adam to stay in a different hotel than the band.
3. Adam gets very stressed out and has anxiety and has to take pills.
4. He smokes. Ew.
5. Mia became a success.
6. Both are going on tour.
7. Adam's dating some cougar that wants kids and he's not ready. Only 21!
8. They find each other again later on and get everything out.

Now, as much as I hate that Adam not only smokes and cusses and is with a woman he shouldn't be, I really felt for him. The girl he loved dumped him without telling him, and then one of his band mates doesn't like him, and the girl he's dating feels he still loves Mia, which he does. And then his fans, who he feels pressure from because of his anxiety. It's horrible.

Now, the book takes place over 24 hours, and in that time he meets up with Mia again by accident and they spend the night touring around New York talking about things and what happened before they both go on tour the next day.

One thing though that may make people veer from this book is the language. In the first book and the second, there is cussing. Adam loves using the f-bomb. In the first book, it was used in scenes like when Mia's mom was giving birth to Ted. I mean, giving birth is a pain. I have not seen one woman cry out in pain because of it yet. In the second book, he uses it to express his anger, and he has a lot of it. Some may say that it's not appropriate, but I think the cussing was appropriate in this case. I would cuss too if I kept all that anger in for three years.

One thing I did really love about this book was that when Adam was with Mia, he would have these moments when he wanted to give up and love Mia again. But then he remembers what happened and BOOM!--moment over. But then when Mia lets out why she broke up with him, I was shocked and at the same time not. If someone did that to me, I would be peeved too and relieved that I was away. Note: I am not going to mention what that thing is. :D

Future: This I believe is the end of the story for Mia and Adam. In the end, I was happy. If a sequel is in the works for this book, then it would probably about Mia and Adam grown up with a family telling them about what happened, accident, aftermath, and then the aftermath of the aftermath. I think it would be interesting.

Favorite Quote:

"We fall asleep, waking in teh middle of the night, ravenous. We order takeout. Eat it upstairs in ther bed. It's all like a dream, only the most incredible part is waking up a dawn. With Mia. I see her sleeping form there and feel as happy as I've ever been. I pull her to me and fall back asleep." Adam, pg. 243

This is a must read for any of you contemporary lovers out there. Heartache and repressed feelings of the past collide with passion and chaos of life. You have to love it.

 

Rating:

The Big Kahuna

Yes, this book was THAT good. I loved it!

Rereadable.

Cover:

I hate cover changes. I have the hardback of If I Stay and I love it, but when this one came out and the covers were totally different, I was peeved.

Ending:

 

*Bought this from BN

 

Keep On Reading!

 

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Actually, I'm almost done with it. It just took me forever to get this review up. :D