Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

Title: I Was Here
Author: Gayle Forman
Publication Date:  January 27th, 2015
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
Source: Borrowed from family friend
Where to find: Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository

Summary: 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.

“How can you not know that about your best friend? Even if she doesn’t tell you, how can you not know? How can you believe someone to be beautiful and amazing and just about the most magical person you’ve ever known, when it turns out she was in such pain that she had to drink poison that robbed her cells of oxygen until her heart had no choice but to stop beating? So don’t ask me about Meg. Because I don’t know s**t.” 

I find this book to be really important. It is similar to All The Rage in that it tells the story of an issue society tends to shy away from. This is the story of Cody and how Cody moves on and deals with the death of her best friend, Meg. And it isn't simply Meg's death, but Meg's suicide. This is the story of how Cody tries to piece together why Meg did this when there were no clues.

I love Gayle Forman's writing and this book was no exception to that. Gayle Forman has a way of just pulling you into this heart-wrenching story and captivating your attention as you read. While I still prefer If I Stay, this book was still an fantastic read. The characters and the story are so real.

For me, the true issue with this book was the romance, I did not care for it and would have preferred a story without it. Yes, this was Cody dealing with the loss of her best friend and she needed someone to lean on, but I'm not sure I agree with having that then turn romantic. It would have been sufficient to have them be friends rather than turn it into something more. 

After finishing this book, I'm left with this feeling of disappointment that this story is true for so many people. It is highly disappointing to me that there are people who experience what Cody went through every day. I think it is important that stories such as Cody and Meg's continue to be told and that society continues to address these issues. 

Let me know in the comments your thoughts on the book or if you plan to pick it up?