IF I STAY and WHERE SHE WENT by Gayle Forman

Look at that!  A Two-fer!  Since I read these both together and it's important to read the first one first...here's both reviews at once. WHERE SHE WENT comes out on April 5th, so go pre-order it!

Publisher:  Speak (Penguin Group)
Publish Date:  April 6, 2010
ISBN:  978-0-14-241543-6
Pages: 234
Cover Design: Monica Benalcazar

Mia lives with her parents and younger brother,Teddy.  Her parents were total punk rockers when they were younger, but that's not Mia's scene.  She's a classical girl and plays the cello.  So it's even more surprising when she falls for a rocker.  Everything is great until...

Mia's family is in a terrible accident - her parents are killed immediately, she and Teddy go to different hospitals.  Mia's left between life and death, with a decision to make, stay or go.  The story goes back and forth between the hospiatl - what Mia sees and hears - and her life before.

I love Mia.  She's dedicated to her music, yet has a well-rounded life.  She's fun, spontaneous, selfish, worried...all the things that real girls are.  This isn't just a story about Mia and her choosing to stay or go.  It's a love story.  See, her boyfriend, Adam is at the hospital and he's begging her to stay.  Can she leave Adam behind? Adam, who understands her and her music?  Adam, who truly gets her?  It's a difficult choice and she doesn't have long to decide.  This book made me cray.  Not just cry, but actually sob.  Just writing the review made me cry.  An absolutely stunning book, NPR's The Roundtable said it best, "This is an achingly beautiful story."

Publisher:  Dutton Juvenile (Penguin Group)
Publish Date:  April 5, 2011
ISBN:  978-0-525-42294-5
Pages:  208
Cover Design:  Abby Kuperstock

While IF I STAY was Mia's story, WHERE SHE WENT is Adam's story. 

It's been three years since Mia recovered from the accident and left for Julliard...and Adam hasn't seen or heard from her since.

Adam's band, Shooting Star, has taken off and is touring internationally.  Not bad for a small-town rocker, eh?  But Adam is having a rough time - he takes anxiety medication, barely talks to the band and doesn't even stay in the same hotel or travel with them anymore.  He thinks about Mia all the time - how she left, what went wrong - even though he's dating/living with a high-profile actress. 

A chance sighting of a poster on the streets of NY will change everything for Adam.  He doesn't know it yet, but he's getting ready to make one of the biggest decisions of his life.

While this book didn't make me cry like IF I STAY did, it made me look at the relationship from Adam's point of view.  I found myself thinking "Dammit, Mia, what was wrong with you?!"  There's always two sides, y'know?  This was an amazing sequel and I can't imagine it any other way.  Gayle Forman definitely captured my heart with Mia and Adam!