Book Review | I Was Here by Gayle Forman.

"From the bestselling author of If I Stay - this summer's YA blockbuster film.

This characteristically powerful novel follows eighteen-year-old Cody Reynolds in the months following her best friend's shocking suicide.

As Cody numbly searches for answers as to why Meg took her own life, she begins a journey of self-discovery which takes her to a terrifying precipice, and forces her to question not only her relationship with the Meg she thought she knew, but her own understanding of life, love, death and forgiveness.

A phenomenally moving story, I Was Here explores the sadly all-too-familiar issue of suicide and self-harm, addressing it in an authentic way with sensitivity and honesty." (synopsis and picture from (x)

I screamed when my old boss called me up and was like, 'do you want a proof copy of Gayle Forman's new book?' I wish I hadn't, but I did actually scream. Needless to say, my expectations were high. Unfortunately, I was left feeling a little disappointed.

Cody's been best friends with Meg since forever, and when Meg ends her life, Cody doesn't know how to cope. When she goes up to Meg's college town to pack her belongings, Cody realises that a lot remained unsaid between them. And she was going to figure out what.

I just want to start off this review by saying that I think this book might be perhaps a little more appropriate for an older audience. Now that that's out of the way, let's begin!

Like I mentioned above, I had very high expectations for this book. And while Forman does a good job with some elements of the novel, I found other aspects were severely lacking. But first: the good things.

I liked Cody. I liked her snark and sass and I appreciated that she was trying to mourn in her own way. Because mourning is a really personal thing, and nobody does it in the same manner. Likewise, I think the author did a great job with most of the secondary characters. She fleshes (most) of them out in a way that makes you connect to them quickly.

That's in part to the writing. I loved the writing. I can never fault Gayle Forman for her writing. The voice she created was clear and wonderful.

The biggest thing, however, that I think the author does the best - the most important thing - is how she looks at suicide and how it affects loved ones. Because that's what this story is about: it's about a girl who has lost her best friend and feels like half of her life has been lost and she doesn't know where to go. It's about her figuring out how to pick up the pieces and keep moving. And it's something I don't think enough people pay attention to. The what-happens-after.

There are, however, some not so great things.

Firstly, Ben. He didn't convince me as a love interest. He wasn't well-fleshed out and I felt like his and Cody's relationship was stilted at best. There just wasn't the spark between the two that I'd seen in her previous novels. Also, Ben tended to growl a lot. This was hugely amusing to me. Did anyone else pick that up?

I also wish we'd been able to see more of Meg and Cody's relationship. I understand that Meg is dead, so it makes things a little difficult, but. But. Because I didn't see a lot of their friendship on the page, I found it hard to believe that they were best friends.

More than anything, I guess I'm just a little disappointed. I Was Here didn't move me nearly as much as her other novels have. While some elements were wonderfully done, and Forman's portrayal of grief was exquisite, I found the lack of development in the key friendship stilted the book. 3 stars.

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia

Publication Date: 1st February 2015

Goodreads | Gayle Forman's Website | Twitter

Want to buy this book? You can get it here:

Book Depository | Fishpond | Bookworld | Amazon

Book Review | Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid.

"Five strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost.

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need most.

There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday-- and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings...until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love.

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth - sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for it to get lost along the way." (synopsis and cover from (x).

Let's Get Lost is an interesting, unique novel from a talented debut author.

The story focuses on five strangers. Four of whom have no commonalities whatsoever with the exception of the fifth person: a girl whose name is Leila. She is on a road trip and this novel is the misadventures and sidesteps along the way.

To be honest, it's a little difficult to review this one. Why? Because there's two ways of thinking about it.
   1) You can look at and review it in its entirety. Or
   2) You can look at each of the strangers as separate short stories.
Because that's what it is; with the exception of Leila, there are no similarities. They are literally snapshots of one characters life. Whether it's done successfully is something else entirely. I'll get to this in a little more detail later on.

Onward! The good stuff.

Number one: I love, love, love the concept. From the get-go, it's one of those novels that asks all the right questions. On this occasion: how can one person, one perfectly pleasant stranger, affect the life of others? I don't know about you guys, but that is something that I am utterly fascinated by, and I really appreciate that the author decided to explore this.

Number two: Distinct voices. All the characters were very separate from each other. This works well in terms of the reading experience. I never had to go back and double check who exactly I was reading, because it was very clear from the start.

Number three: The writing. Unsurprisingly, given how well the voices were written, the writing itself was very well done. There were definitely lines that I felt were provocative and thoughtful. I just really appreciated the tone of it.

Now, for the negatives. I want to warn you in advance that I'll be referring to things that I mentioned above. Like I said, the novel is fundamentally broken up into five short stories. This would be totally fine, but if we go with the idea to review them as separate short stories, I found them too broad in nature. Short stories are supposed to be a snapshot. However, the author attempts to include a lot of plot and a lot of development. I'd argue that perhaps it's too much.

I also think that it comes across as a little disjointed. The stop and start of the strangers' stories disrupted the flow of the full arc of the story (does that make sense?). Every time I started to truly get involved in it, we'd have finished that character's arc and be onto the next person.

Given this, it was hard to find a huge amount of development within the characters. Alsaid definitely attempted to show it, however I feel he might've failed in some regards. For instance, I wasn't a huge fan of Bree. She definitely was one of the more obvious cases of growth. I didn't particularly like her in the start, and I still couldn't feel for her by the end.

Let's Get Lost is a fascinating concept that has been solidly illustrated by the author. I look forward to reading more of his work. 3 stars.

Rating: *** (3 Stars)

Publisher: Harlequin Teen Australia

Publication Date: 1st August 2014

Goodreads | Adi Alsaid's Website | Twitter

Want to buy the book? You can get it here:

Book Depository | Fishpond | Bookworld | Amazon | Harlequin

Thank you to Harlequin Teen Australia and NetGalley for this e-ARC.

This review will also appear on Book Nerd Reviews