Chic Lit Friday-Insurgent

Posted on May 18, 2012 by amy

Three adult chics talk YA lit! Thank you Linda and Chrissy for starting this virtual book club with me! I hope others will join!

Insurgent, by Veronica Roth
***THERE WILL BE SPOILERS OF INSURGENT AND DIVERGENT HERE.***

I’ve answered the question before, but I’ve never asked you guys. For what faction do you think you have the most aptitude? I’ve been a student pretty much my whole life, so I think it’s safe to say I’m Erudite, sans evil, but I so wish I could be Dauntless. I have a tattoo. Does that count?

Chrissy: Probably Erudite since I love to learn and know how things work (as demonstrated by my continual enrollment in school!) 

O.K., Chris, I totally did not read your answer before writing mine. Love how similar we are.

Linda: I thought about this all day. I don’t think I would last in any of them. I am not completely selfless, I have a temper, so I wouldn’t last in Amnity for sure. I have a little of all of them in me… Maybe I’m Divergent?

Ha ha, Linda! Totally! You are so Divergent, and I am totally with you when it comes to Amity. I am way too quick tempered. Plus I look horrible in red or yellow! Ok, so I already told you for which faction I wish I was well suited. How about you?

Chrissy: Dauntless, of course (and not just because Four is there).  I’d love to have more courage and be brave in intense situations (which is why I also gravitate toward spy and medical TV dramas.
Linda: Dauntless for sure!  First of all, Tobias is there. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to be brave in every situation and be the hero?  Definitely Dauntless.

Dauntless it is then. Initiation begins at next month’s dinner! And you both bring up a good point. Four/Tobias is there. Why oh why do we crush so hard on Four?

Chrissy: He’s strong, smart, good-looking, and cares for Tris the way that we all wish someone cares for us!!
Linda: Again, I agree with Chrissy. I love Four for the same reason I loved Alex in Delierium.  He loves Tris and she is just a regular person. We all want someone tall, dark, handsome and strong to love us that way.

Falling in love with a fictional character is a well-known side affect of reading YA lit, especially those like us who are no longer YAs but get to relive the best part of being a teen, first loves. And Linda, don’t even get us started on Alex from Delirium right now! That’s a whole other book club waiting to happen! Ok, speaking of the fictional swoon-worthy teen, which name do you prefer, Four or Tobias?

Chrissy: I have to say Four.  I feel like Tobias (besides not really loving the name in the first place) is the damaged guy – the one who was beaten by dad and left by mom.  Four is the strong, silent guy that everyone looks up to as that’s the only way he’s known to them.  
Linda: For the first time I have to disagree with Chrissy. I like Tobias. I don’t think it represents his weakness, more like his vulnerablility. He was too “tough” when he was Four; he wouldn’t let anyone in. When he let Tris into his fear landscape and showed her that side of him is when you really fall in love wih him.

Seriously, Linda. I think you just changed my mind. Maybe. I love what you said because you’re so right. When we really fall for him is when he lets Tris in, and that’s when he becomes Tobias. Ahhh, but I love the strong silence in Four too. Oh well. What’s in a name, anyway?

That was quite an ending. Insurgent was non-stop action right up until that crazy ending. We are left with many questions. We have to wait to find out what exactly is beyond the fence, but right now I want to ask you who you trust. I am having the hardest time figuring Marcus and Evelyn out. As of right now, Tris trusted Marcus, and it seems as if he was telling the truth. Four/Tobias trusted Evelyn, and she did not prove to be as trustworthy. As for Caleb, is he really putting faction before blood?

Chrissy: I don’t really think I trust anyone but Tris (but that’s because the book is in her perspective).  But although I might not trust everyone, I do believe that most (okay – except Peter) have honorable intentions, even if they might be short sighted and not looking at the global piece (although we’re still not 100% sure what that global piece is).  The factionless have been left to “rot” for years, so I don’t blame them for wanting to be part of a government where they have control or at least a say in how they obtain resources. I think in the end Caleb will turn out to be “good,” but again, his justification coming from another perspective.  I really don’t trust Marcus nor Evelyn and do think if they were trustworthy, they’d at least explain what their end goal is.
Linda: I want to trust Caleb, and I don’t know why. I know he left Tris to die but there is something wrong with that whole situation.  I know Caleb is good.

Well, I guess we’ll leave it at that. Thanks, ladies! Even if it’s just us out here on my little blog, I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am! And if you are not me, Chrissy, or Linda and are reading this, please join the conversation!

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Insurgent, by Veronica Roth (HarperTeen, 2012)

Posted on May 9, 2012 by amy

A review, student connections, and release week signing!

The Review
As I’ve mentioned before, I seem to be on a pattern of punishing myself by reading trilogies that are still in the making, thereby causing me to wait in anguish for the next book in the series. For me, the most highly anticipated book this year was Insurgent. I read Divergent soon after it hit shelves last spring. I loved it, and I was blown away that Veronica Roth was so young,  a recent college graduate at the time.

As a big fan of dystopian YA literature, Roth’s world building in book one is so well done. As a Chicago suburbanite myself,  it was thrilling to see the transformation of a city I’d known for decades into the world of Divergent’s five factions. Though we only get to see two of the factions in book one, Abnegation and Dauntless, as well as the ever-running L trains, Roth makes the world as much of a character as Tris and Four. Divergent ends, appropriately, on the train, so we begin Insurgent still immersed in the world Roth has created.

I can’t say too much about Insurgent without spoilers, but I’ll do my best. Let me start by saying that it was NON-STOP ACTION! Divergent spends a lot of time, and rightfully so, letting us get to know Beatrice Prior, watching her transform into her Dauntless alter ego, Tris. In addition we have to unravel the mystery of what is really going on with Dauntless and Erudite, and as Divergent ends, we think we have things semi figured out as far as good guys vs. bad guys. That could not be further from the truth.

Insurgent keeps readers guessing all the way to the last page. Who should we trust? Where do characters’ allegiances really lie? What are Jeanine and Erudite really up to? What does the ending mean? Why are there so many serums? Why do I have a crush on a fictional character named Four?

The pace is great. Mystery provides incessant curiosity. Relationship issues offer emotional highs and lows for the characters as well as the readers. Above all, Roth has written a great story that will have us pre-ordering by the thousands again when book three comes out.

How Divergent has made me younger…in the eyes of my students
When I began the school year back in August, I raved to my students about Divergent. But to my surprise, none of them went out at bought it immediately upon my urging. I recently understood why. A librarian at a conference I went to a couple of weeks ago imparted some very wise words to us. She said that we should never tell a student to read a book because WE loved it. Why? Because it doesn’t matter if we are 27 or 57 (I’m somewhere in between). We’re teachers, so we’re old, and old people don’t know what kids like. I totally get it. She’s totally right, and one of my students who read Divergent and wrote a review of it on our ning corroborated the notion. In her review she said she was reluctant to read it because I recommended it. It wasn’t that she didn’t respect me, but she didn’t trust my taste because (to her) I’m, well, old. So I did what any good teacher who knows she’s right would do. I read my class the first 100 pages of the book aloud and then left them hanging. It worked, and to this particular student’s credit (who had to finish the book), admitted I was right, for all the world to see, on our ning.

These days, despite my geriatric state, many of my students do not head to the library without asking me for a book suggestion. When I pull out the latest YA novel I’m reading, students come up to my desk to see what it is. When I finished reading Insurgent, I had to conduct a lottery to see which of my students would get the honor of borrowing my signed copy. Thanks, Veronica Roth, for at least putting my good opinion in a younger age bracket.

Did she say signed copy?
I’m not a speed reader. I’m a teacher and a mother of two who does not get the chance to sit down and read until long after half the household is sleeping. So forgive me, students who came into class on May 2nd having finished Insurgent. It took me three days to read it, but that was ahead of schedule. My goal was to be done by May 4th, and I’m happy to say, mission accomplished. Why the deadline? Because Veronica Roth’s release week tour included a stop at Anderson’s Bookshop, which is only an hour from where I live, and I wanted to be done with the book so I could gush about it to the author.

Though Anderson’s has quite an organized system for book signings (you receive your number in line when you buy your book), I don’t know if they (or Veronica Roth) anticipated the hundreds of fans that would pour into the store for this event. After Roth did a short Q and A, I was lucky enough to be #43 in line along with my friend, Linda (That’s her–>). I’ve met Veronica Roth a couple of times, once at the NCTE convention and again when she was a guest at our school’s Writers Week. You’d think that would cancel out me being star struck especially since this talented writer could have been one of my students had she lived just a few minutes in another direction. That doesn’t change the fact that authors are my rock stars, which is why I’m so appreciative of Veronica remembering me as I approached the signing table. She was as gracious and friendly as she was when hundreds of students swarmed the stage at our high school to have her sign each and every book or program or Nook case…you name it. And here she was after an exhausting release week for Insurgent, probably at Anderson’s until well after I made the hour drive home, giving her time to hundred of readers (many much younger than me) who also look at authors as rock stars. Thank you, Veronica Roth, for including your readers in Insurgent‘s release. We can’t wait for Detergent!

*Currently reading Twenty Boy Summer and Anna and the French Kiss

 

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Between Shades of Gray, by Ruta Sepetys (Philomel Books, 2011)

Posted on May 1, 2012 by amy

It is books like this that make me thank my lucky stars that I am in an MLIS program with other librarians or student librarians who read and discuss fabulous YA. I just finished a class on young adult literature, and each week book talked a YA novel that we read. My fellow cohort member, Kristen (of The Book Monsters) talked about Between Shades of Gray. I had not read it but felt compelled to do so once I heard what it was about.

The book begins: THEY TOOK ME IN MY NIGHTGOWN.

Lina is a fifteen-year-old girl in Lithuania. The year is 1941. The book begins  immediately with Soviet officers bursting into Lina’s home and giving her, her mother, and her brother twenty minutes to gather their belongings before they ripped from the only life they’ve ever known. One minute Lina is writing a letter to her cousin Joanna, and the next she is shipped off in a filthy, overcrowded train car (normally used to transport animals) and forced into a life of unbearable servitude in the far reaches of Siberia.

Lina recalls the events of the evening, realizing she should have noticed the signs, such as her mother burning family photos and sewing valuables into the lining of her coat. Only later did I realize that mother and father intended we escape. We did not escape. We were taken.

We learn much about the Holocaust in schools, as well we should, but I’m ashamed to say that I did not know much about Stalin’s annexing of nations like Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, which meant the deportation of many “enemies” to brutal work camps in Siberia. That’s why Ruta Sepetys wrote this book:

During a trip to Lithuania I visited my father’s cousin. I asked if she had any photos of my father or grandparents. “Oh, no,” she replied. “We burned them all.” (www.rutasepetys.com)

Sepetys found that her father’s family thought he was dead for a decade. Many lives were interrupted and taken during the Soviet occupation, but education about this time in our recent history is not as mainstream. If we bring this book into our schools, it would be a great first step. Because this is written from a YA perspective, it’s the type of historical fiction that offers immediate connection for teens because the protagonist is one of them. Though our narrator is female, Lina is joined by an ensemble of both men and women…even a teenage boy, Andres. The community formed by the strangers who are deported together is one of beauty, as is the way Lina uses her art to try to survive while also recording her experience.

Ruta Sepetys has given us a beautiful, heartbreaking, yet hopeful story that must go on everyone’s TBR list this year. Between Shades of Gray

 

***Currently reading Insurgent, by Veronica Roth

 

 

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Chic Lit Friday!

Posted on April 27, 2012 by amy

So, I’m trying out a new installment on the blog here…a book club of sorts. No, we aren’t discussing chic lit as in the genre. We’re chics who enjoy reading and talking YA literature, and we want you to join us on the second and last Friday of each month (if we can keep this up).

One of the most rewarding aspects of writing this blog is not just that I get to acquire all of you wonderful cyber friends who love talking YA lit along with me. It’s not just that in the short time I’ve been blogging, I’ve been able to make contact with some of the fabulous authors of the books I read. But it’s also that reading books I love and recommending them here has actually strengthened friendships I didn’t even know could get stronger.

Enter my great friend Linda, a fellow mom and educator, and a woman who almost two years ago didn’t think she enjoyed reading. So I handed her what, then, was a YA series I thought she’d enjoy–Twilight. That’s all it took, folks. She was hooked, and now she’s a reading machine. The best part about it is that if I love a book and tell her to read it, she does…and she loves what I love! So now we have this virtual book club going on via the blog, and Facebook, and texting. We’re always talking about books, and they are conversations I thought you other YA lit lovers would enjoy too…and maybe you’ll even join us. So, we’ll start today and see how it goes. Today we will talk briefly about Lauren Oliver‘s Pandemonium. I already posted a review of this book. It’s book two in a trilogy that starts with Delirium, so if you have not read either, then you’ll have to rejoin the conversation after you do because we don’t want to spoil these wonderful books for you! I’m going to try a question and answer style to start. We’ll see how this evolves as we go on. Thank you, Linda, for our Google doc discussion!

Pandemonium, by Lauren Oliver

We’ve talked about Lauren Oliver’s pacing and how it’s slower than other YA books we’ve read. Her attention to detail is beautiful, but her books are not for those with a short attention span. Now that you’ve made it to her crazy cliffhanger ending, do you feel the pacing was appropriate, or do you still wish it went faster?

I do understand the pacing. It made me fall in love with both Alex and then Julian.  I feel though, that I have to add a disclaimer when I recommend the book to other people: “Keep with it. It is a little slower, but so worth it.”  

Totally agree! Oliver develops her characters so well, and her world building is extremely vivid. You have to appreciate the pacing because it’s that pacing that brings Lena’s world to life and allows us to experience it with her.

What is the worst part, in your opinion, of a world where falling in love is obliterated?

Something that sticks with me is  the  lack of love the parents have for their children.  I love my children more than anything else in the world and would do anything for them, just like my Mom was/is with me.  What happens if you don’t have that person in your life?  I think that would be the biggest loss for me.

When I first read Delirium, that aspect was so unexpected. I knew the book dealt with not being able to fall in love, but I was shocked when I learned that the procedure basically took away the ability to love or feel loved by anyone. Devastating. I am consumed with love for my children and can imagine nothing but emptiness without getting to experience that kind of love. Not getting to fall in love is unthinkable as well. Speaking of which, one of the best experiences of reading Lauren Oliver’s novels is that she creates these forbidden experiences for Lena and allows us to get so immersed that it almost doesn’t feel like a vicarious experience at all, which brings me to my next question…

Why do we fall in love with Oliver’s fictional characters…Alex, Julian, both or either?

They love Lena for who she is, even if she doesn’t think she deserves it.  With Alex she said she could understand if he liked Hana; Hanna was beautiful, but why her?  I think we all have that insecurity about what we look like or think why would anyone like us.  And to see someone, just like us, have these beautiful men fall in love with her makes us feel like we are worth it too.  We fall in love with Alex and Julian because  when they fell in love with Lena, it felt like they fell in love with you too. (a little)

You are making me want to go read these books again. Stop it. My TBR pile is too big! Ok. One more question, and then we’ll call it quits because I have to go attack that pile.

In general, why would you say that YA literature is not just for young adults? Why do we love it so much?

I said before, when I was reading Twillight, that I think the best audience for YA Literature is young adults and women over 30 that are married.  The young people are reading about what is yet to come, anticipating what their first love will be like , imagining what it will feel like.  Women my age, although happy with the life they have created, are reliving their first love or living that part of their life over again through the characters in the books.

Ahhh! That is so it for me! Even though not all YA deals with romance, I gravitate mainly to novels that do because falling in love, for the first time, there’s nothing like it. It’s an experience that is nearly impossible to replicate…unless you are a great writer who lets us come along for the ride. Thank you, Lauren Oliver, for letting us ride along with Lena. We cannot wait for book three.

And thank you, Linda, for doing this virtual book club with me! I’m looking forward to many more to come (and live ones too…where the discussion happens over a plate of fried green beans)!

***Join us on Friday, May 18th for the next Chic Lit Friday. We’ll be discussing Veronica Roth’s Insurgent, of course! And you don’t have to be a chic to join in. Non-chics are welcome too.

 

 

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Insurgent Countdown!

Posted on April 24, 2012 by amy

In less than a week (May 1st to be exact), I will be clearing my schedule (as much as humanly possible for a mother of two and a teacher trying to prepare her students for the AP Lit. test). I will be staring longingly at my mailbox waiting for my mail carrier to arrive carrying a book-sized Amazon box. Inside said box will be Veronica Roth’s second book in the Divergent trilogy–Insurgent. 

You pre-ordered your copy, correct? Thanks to you and me and 35,000 plus others, we have a little treat to tide us over until Tuesday. Veronica Roth and Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins imprint) have Freed Four! It’s ok. Click the link and come back. We can talk when you’re done.

Here we get a short chapter of Divergent from Four’s perspective. Seriously, I have such a ridiculous crush on Four that I would probably read the entire book again from his perspective. Who am I kidding? I’ll read it again regardless. Immediately upon finishing Divergent last June, I went back and reread my favorite chapters. I continued this for a few days, simply because I didn’t want the story to end.

I’ve been patient. I’ve waited the requisite year between new installments of a trilogy. I’ve purchased my paperback and read the first two chapters of Insurgent. I was one of the more than 35,000 who pre-ordered the book to help “Free Four“, and because the only place I’ve seen an ARC of Insurgent is in a dream (yes, I’m dreaming about ARCs…don’t judge), I’ve got nothing left but to finish the two books I’m currently reading ( and grade some student writing), stare at that mailbox, and then read.

How are you spending your countdown?

***Need a Divergent recap! Veronica Roth gives you one on her blog right HERE!

 

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The False Prince, by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Scholastic, 2012)

Posted on April 16, 2012 by amy

Today, during the ten minutes of independent reading I do with each of my classes, I used every second to devour the last couple of chapters of Jennifer A. Nielsen’s first book in her Ascendance Trilogy.  When you are done reading this review, please drop whatever you are doing and get to the nearest book store so you can buy The False Prince. Yes. This is one of THOSE books–the kind you can’t put down; the kind you don’t want to end; the kind for which you thank your lucky stars because it is a trilogy, so there is more to come…eventually.

Carthya, a kingdom on the verge of civil war, is in the hands of Bevin Conner, a nobleman of King’s court. Conner’s solution to Carthya’s trouble is to commit the worst kind of treason for the best possible reason–to save his country. How? He will collect four orphan boys to compete for the role of Prince Jaron, the long lost son of the royal family who, after his parents send him off to further his education, is killed when pirates attacked his ship. Because his body is never found, Conner plans to bring back one of the boys as the prince, to claim the throne and keep it out of the hands of greedy regents. The novel is told from the point of view of one of the boys, Sage, who wants nothing to do with Conner’s plan, yet he knows only one boy can be prince. The others can’t be allowed to live knowing a secret that could unravel the kingdom.

Deceit, lies, and then a little more deceit and lies will keep you hooked until the final pages where the twists and turns culminate in an unforgettable ending.

Sage is great fun but also quite complex. Conner trains the boys in every aspect of acting like a true royal, from table manners to sword play, at the same time treating them like servants. Keeping them submissive means whoever becomes the prince will bend to Conner’s will, yet Sage pushes every possible button to get himself in trouble and lessen his chances of getting chosen. “He doesn’t own me,” is what Sage maintains, even at his lowest point. But won’t Conner own the prince he chooses?

I’m so sad that this book is over and even more so that I will have to wait until next year for book #2 of Nielsen’s Ascendance Trilogy, but it will be so worth the wait. Masterful storytelling and one of my favorite protagonists, The False Prince is a MUST read.

 

*Currently reading Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

 

 

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Pandemonium, by Lauren Oliver (HarperTeen, 2012)

Posted on April 14, 2012 by amy

I blame The Hunger Games for my heartbreaking relationship with trilogies. I read the whole trilogy last summer. Yes, I jumped on the bandwagon a year after Mockingjay hit shelves, but it was to my benefit because I devoured all three books in a week. No cliffhangers to keep me waiting for a year.

Enter Lauren Oliver and the Delirium trilogy. SPOILER ALERT. Do not read any further if you have not read Delirium. I will do my best to keep this spoiler free for Pandemonium, but since this is book two, I will assume that if you are continuing to read this post that you have read Delirium (book #1) and will not berate me for ruining it for you.

There we go. Disclaimer stated. Butt covered. Now we can discuss the pain of having to wait another year to see how it all ends!

I sobbed at the end of Oliver’s beautifully written Delirium. I fell in love with Alex along with Lena and then again when he sacrificed himself for her freedom. A world without love is painful, but is the alternative better–freedom to love but also to lose? Absolutely, and this is what Lena has to learn throughout Pandemonium.

I enjoyed the pacing of book two. Oliver alternates between different periods in Lena’s life as an invalid. The Then chapters chronicle her experience of making it over the fence and into the wilds while the Now chapters follow her in her attempt to become part of the resistance. Even in freedom, there is still a price to pay; there are still losses to bear. Lena often shows regret for her decision to run to the wilds. After all, she’s only seen pain and loss since making it to freedom, but Oliver’s build-up to a fabulous cliffhanger continually uncovers the hidden ugliness in a world without passion. Parents have obligations to their children but do not love them or mourn their deaths. Husband and wife kiss for the first time at their wedding, the  one time it is legal to kiss in public. Attraction is a non issue, though, once you are cured, so there is no danger of illegal PDA. Every time Lena comes face-to-face with the truth behind a deliria free world, she becomes stronger in her resolve. She becomes stronger physically. She becomes strong enough to open her heart again to the possibility of love even if it means the possibility of loss.

There. Spoiler free. If you loved Delirium and the beauty of Oliver’s writing, she offers nothing less in Pandemonium. This time there is more action, more twists, and GAH! An ending that will drive you crazy for a year! In a good way…really. Much to discuss if you’ve read, but please no spoilers in comments!

Currently reading The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen, which shows I’ve learned nothing because this book (fantastic so far) is, you guessed it, #1 in a BRAND NEW trilogy.

 

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Starters, by Lissa Price (Delacorte, 2012)

Posted on April 9, 2012 by amy

I was really excited for Lissa Price’s book. I received a preview from NCTE and was immediately taken with the book cover as well as the concept.

Cool cover, right? Here’s the cool concept: Starters starts after the Spore Wars, Callie and her younger brother, Tyler, lost their parents because the only ones vaccinated were the senior citizens and children. The result is that parents were wiped out leaving only kids, known as Starters, and the old folks who now live well beyond 100, known as Enders. Callie and her brother, along with their friend Michael, have no grandparents, so they are unclaimed minors who live as squatters, constantly on the run from authorities lest they end up in an institution. Things get rough enough that Callie succumbs to the body bank, a place that will pay her handsomely for renting out her body to Enders who just want to experience youth again. Tyler is sickly and needs a roof over her head. Callie does this for him, but things don’t go as planned. Callie’s renter is not just an Ender who wants to relive her youth. She has an agenda, and this agenda could be much more dangerous for Callie than just being a squatter.

It’s a great concept, well thought out, with plenty of twists to keep the plot moving. In fact, the twist on which the novel ends (this is book 1 of 2) may have me hooked for more. But I just didn’t connect with Callie, the protagonist. I’m usually able to see some of myself in a YA protagonist, but where Callie has the perspective of an older sister forced to grow up and take care of her little brother, I looked at her decisions through the eyes of a mom with a child of my own right around Tyler’s age (he’s seven). I would do anything to protect my children. Anything…but not if it would put them at any sort of risk, and Callie puts Tyler at risk by leaving him and trusting Enders who give her no reason to do so. I understand that her motives were in favor of her brother’s safety, but I just couldn’t see it through her eyes, and that’s what made reading the book difficult for me, a disconnect with the main character. Younger readers probably feel differently, and I’m ok with that. The book is meant for their perspective, not mine.

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Motivation from The Book Monsters!

Posted on April 8, 2012 by amy

I admit it. I’ve been dragging on reading and reviewing. At first I thought it a good idea to read more than one book, in more than one format, at a time. But, alas, it has just gotten me behind. Now I’m in the middle of two books, one that I really like but is slow going, the other that I’m not at all in love with, but I have this nagging internal obligation to see it through to the end (and to start/maintain a good reputation on Net Galley). … Continue reading » »

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Where She Went, by Gayle Forman (Dutton, 2011)

Posted on April 4, 2012 by amy
***Spoiler Alert!!!*** Other than knowing that I LOVED this book, do NOT read this post if you have not read Gayle Forman’sIf I Stay. In fact, go now and read that one! Hurry! Then come back here.
****************************************************************************
Ok. So now it’s just us, right? We read and loved If I Stay, and now we are the lucky ones who get to follow it up with Where She Went! Gayle Forman, I am in love. With Adam and Mia. And the role that music plays in both books. And your writing. Yes, that’s right. I am gushing over  books. How I do love to do so.
Where She Went is quite possibly one of my favorites in the heartache/love story category. Forman catches up with Adam three years after the crash. Shooting Star is huge mainly because Adam wrote the album that sky rocketed them to fame. The title of the album is Collateral Damage. The inspiration–Mia.
***
The catalyst for this book comes from a promise Adam makes to Mia in If I Stay:
If you stay, I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll quit the band,
go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I’ll
do that, too…maybe coming back to your old life would just be
too painful…maybe it’d be easier for you to erase us. And that
would suck, but I’d do it. I can lose you like that if I don’t lose
you today. I’ll let you go. If you stay. (231)
***
I’m almost sobbing now as I reread that page, as the whole first book comes flooding back and as Where She Went still lingers as books do just after you’ve finished them. Where She Went is Adam’s story, and it starts three years after the accident. Adam and the band, Shooting Star, are huge. Adam penned their album, Collateral Damage, and the book starts with Adam right in the midst of the damage that he’s been living through for three years. Mia was the muse for Adam’s musical catharsis because three years ago she left for Julliard and never came back.
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The opening paragraph of Where She Went is all the exposition you need:
Every morning I wake up and tell myself this: It’s just one day, one twenty-four-hour period to get yourself through. I don’t know when exactly I started giving myself this daily pep talk–or why. It sounds like a twelve-step mantra and I’m not in Anything Anonymous, though to read some of the crap they write about me, you’d think I should be. I have the kind of life a lot of people would probably sell a kidney just to experience a bit of. But still, I find the need to remind myself of the temporariness of a day, to reassure myself that I got through yesterday, I’ll get through today. (1-2)
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I fell in love with Adam in If I Stay, and in this first paragraph of Where She Went, my heart already aches for him. And though this early on we don’t know what happened with him and Mia, we find out soon enough later in the chapter. The book takes place over a period of one night where a chance meeting between Adam and Mia brings them together one more time. Told much like the first book, Where She Went alternates between the present and recollections of Adam and Mia’s past as both we and Adam search for answers as to why Mia left the way she did. And much like If I Stay, music plays as much of a part in the story as do Adam and Mia. Whether you are a fan of classical or, as Vanessa puts it in Chapter 1, “agita-rock,” you will connect to the music as much as the characters. Me? I’m a fan of Where She Went.
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Currently reading Starters, by Lissa Price, and Pandemonium, by Lauren Oliver
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