I Was Here

Kind of bleak and depressing (in a good way) at the start, I think this was a huge success in Gayle Forman's part, especially in tackling the relevant issue of suicide and putting ideas that need to be said out there. The story opens, progresses and closes very nicely, and I think her writing has improved so much. I've been closely following Gayle Forman over the past few years, and she never fails to disappoint. Still up there with my favorite authors of all time. And of course, what's a Gayle Forman book without the perfect fictional male character, right? First Adam, and then Will, and now we have Ben McCallister, she made me fall hard for every single one of them. Definitely a must read! I look forward to another Gayle Forman novel, preferably soon (no pressure though.)

At the beginning I was quite sure what I would find between the covers of this book, a simple storyline with a mystery I already seemed to have uncovered...Man, was I wrong!! This had so much depth to it I couldn't quite believe it. I was captivated by Cody and her struggles to understand why Meg did what she did. Although the ending was kind of unnecessary in my opinion...

amazing!!!!

Trigger warnings: (view spoiler)[suicide, depression (hide spoiler)] As someone who has had first hand experience in depression and suicide I really appreciate this book. Unlike some books that tackle this issue for the YA audience, Forman clearly depicts the confusion of suicide for the survivors, and the impact the world may contribute. Also, the book deserves a standing ovation for it's ending - I think it is critical for such a topic to not leave a damaging impact on its reader and this book does it beautifully. The characters were developed spectacularly, as they struggle to come to turns with the loss of their friend/daughter/sister/housemate. The impact that such an event has on those who are not close, (view spoiler)[for example the development of Tree who was not even a housemate of Meg, but merely an acquaintance who may have recognised some symptoms (hide spoiler)] really won me over. The beautiful and true to life way that this book tackles suicide in so many outlets is a treasure.

3.5-4 stars. I don't really know exactly how I feel about this book. I think it's important: it doesn't idolise suicide or depression at all, its characters express loss in realistic and varied ways, it shows different sides of friendship. I did have my issues, but nothing too major. The romance was slow, which I think is realistic, especially in this instance. I was sort of dreading it to start with, but by the time it actually happened (a good two thirds of the way through) I thought it was pretty natural and not forced at all. Overall, a good read, as are all of Forman's books. (Let's not mention the Just One Day/Year/Night debacle.)

Actual rating: 4.5 I'm tempted to give this a 5 star rating, but the only thing holding me back from doing that is this book was too full on for me at some parts. I felt like Gayle Forman wrote such raw characters, such a raw storyline, that she didn't hold anything back. I definitely wasn't expecting that when i went into the plot. Regardless of that though, I enjoyed the story, enjoyed the characters, even enjoyed the romance (as many readers did not) and love Gayle Forman and her books even more.