Where She Went (If I Stay, #2)
Author: Gayle Forman
Rating: ā 1/5
Date Read: 2014/06/17
Pages: 264
Remember when Lana Del Ray came out with Video Games as a single and we all got super excited because it seemed like the harbinger of good things to come? And then she came out with an LP and we were all like, yeah, no.
Also, remember when The Hangover came out, and it was a seriously excellent and hilarious movie, self-contained and in no need of a sequel? Which means, of course, an unnecessary sequel came out a few years later and it sucked and we all rolled our eyes.
In the grand tradition of taking a good thing and screwing it up completely, Where She Went takes a good thing and screws it up completely.
Where She Went is what happens when you take something that was polished, finished, and overall pretty good, and try to milk it for all it is worth. If I Stay was one of the rare young adult novels that didnāt suck: it was good for Young Adult Fiction (ah, that fun little qualifier), and would have been an interesting if decidedly mediocre offering had it been marketed towards adults. Though it was sometimes maudlin, at points it made me feel some actual emotion. I didnāt hate it and, coming from me, thatās not faint praise.
The best thing about If I Stay was the ending, which succeeded in its ambiguity. One of my major issues with Young Adult novels is that they tell the reader what to think, and I liked that If I Stay invited the reader to think for themselves. Where She Went removes the ambiguity and throws the thoughtfulness out the window. Instead of dealing with themes of loss and grief, it turns into a celebrity-ridden wish fulfillment fantasy. Unlike the first book, which could easily be enjoyed by adults, this is firmly targeted at the tween crowd.
My advice to those who liked the first book: stay away from this one. Itās really not worth your time.