I Was Here by Gayle Forman

I Was Here

by Gayle Forman

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay comes "a heartbreaking novel about coping with loss" (People).
 
When her best friend, Meg, commits suicide by drinking a bottle of industrial-strength cleaner alone in a motel room, Cody is understandably shocked and devastated. She and Meg shared everything—so how did she miss the signs of Meg's depression? 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, and some secrets of his own. 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 a pitch-perfect blend of mystery, tragedy, and romance. Gayle Forman has given us an unflinchingly honest portrait of the bravery that it takes to live after devastating loss."
Stephen Chbosky, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Reviewed by Alexandra on

4 of 5 stars

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Good. Probably more like 3.75 stars. Definitely not as good as If I Stay/Where She Went and Just One Day though. Forman always writes characters in a quite believable manner and I did like her characters in I Was Here quite a lot, but I didn't really connect to the narrator (Cody) as much as some of her other books. The main idea for the plot wasn't particularly original but honestly it didn't feel tedious or particularly cliched while I was reading it so I can't complain. The writing was good, as always I enjoyed Forman's style. Some parts of the book were definitely better than others but overall it was definitely very good.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 4 March, 2015: Finished reading
  • 4 March, 2015: Reviewed