I received this ARC from Publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I Was Here by Gayle Forman Published by Viking Juvenile on January 27th 2015
Pages: 288
Source: ARC from Publisher
Goodreads
Cody and Meg were inseparable.
Two peas in a pod.
Until . . . they weren’t anymore.When her best friend Meg drinks a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how was there no warning? But when Cody travels to Meg’s college town to pack up the belongings left behind, she discovers that there’s a lot that Meg never told her. About her old roommates, the sort of people Cody never would have met in her dead-end small town in Washington. About Ben McAllister, the boy with a guitar and a sneer, who broke Meg’s heart. And about an encrypted computer file that Cody can’t open—until she does, and suddenly everything Cody thought she knew about her best friend’s death gets thrown into question.
I Was Here is Gayle Forman at her finest, a taut, emotional, and ultimately redemptive story about redefining the meaning of family and finding a way to move forward even in the face of unspeakable loss
My Thoughts:
Gayle Forman is an author I know and trust. If I Stay, Where She Went, Just One Day, and Just One Year are books that are just as powerful upon re-reading as they were the first time I read them. Needless to say I was thrilled to get an advanced copy of I Was Here at a book conference I went to earlier in the year. However, I was also a little apprehensive. I heard many people saying it wasn’t what they expected. I need not have worried. Gayle Forman is an extremely talented writer. Her stories are real and raw and get to the heart of whatever issues are addressed. I Was Here is no exception.
Following Cody as she tries to piece together everything that led up to Meg’s suicide is such a heartbreaking journey. I just wanted to hold both girls close and get them the help they needed. Cody was blindsided by Meg’s actions and really has no clue how to cope. Her grief and anger and confusion are so well portrayed. As I reader I felt all these things with her.
And then theres’s the way Forman changes how I feel about the characters. There was more than one character I didn’t think I liked at the beginning of the book, only to fall for them as the book went on. I really love it when an author is able to do this. It makes a book so much more powerful to me.
I Was Here deals with a number of sensitive topics. Topics that can be really hard to read (and I imagine write) about. What I appreciated most about this (and the book overall) was the way it got me to think about these things and examine my thoughts and preconceived notions. The story stuck with me long after I turned the last page.
Authentic and thought provoking and, I Was Here by Gayle Forman is sure to remain on my list of top books for 2015.
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