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 #1New York Timesbestselling The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Forman handles a sensitive topic well, but still lacks emotional depth
By Cynthia Parten
It is hard to put into words how I feel about this book. Maybe underwhelmed would be the best one. The book starts right after Meg's suicide, with Cody trying to make sense of why her best friend would do what she did. When she discovers a mystery computer file that indicates there was more to Meg's life than Cody knew. The good thing about this book was that it dealt with suicide in a realistic way, in my opinion. I recently had someone who I used to be close to commit suicide. This person was a big part of my life growing up and we had chatted and kept in touch through Facebook over the years. I understand the feelings Cody was going through: the grief, the anger and the question of whether it could have been prevented. I even understand wanting to believe that someone else was responsible because suicide seems like such an unbelievable choice for someone to make. The mystery that Cody throws herself into is a result of her grief. Cody wanted someone to be angry at, someone to blame besides herself or Meg. Even though this mystery was fairly predictable, I think it was important to allow Cody to get to a point where she could properly grieve.One thing that was hard in this book was that I couldn't really connect to Cody. Yes, I understood what she was feeling but I think that is because I had been through something similar. But because the book was about Meg's life and her suicide, I knew more about Meg than Cody, even though Cody was the one telling the story. I also think the addition of the romance was unnecessary and it was a bit cliche. There were a couple of points during reading in which I wanted to stop just because it was getting a bit dull. I am glad I held out though because the ending was where Forman packed the most emotion. I won't give away any major spoilers, but Cody was finally able to grieve and forgive Meg. This is a good read by Forman and she handles a sensitive topic well, but it lacks the depth of If I Stay.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful.2 - "If that's what happens to normal, what hope is there for the rest of us?" Stars.
By Miss Claire L. Robinson
2 - "If that's what happens to normal, what hope is there for the rest of us?" Stars.I think I should firstly say that I am a huge fan of Gayle Forman’s books. She somehow manages to take a bunch of fairly unremarkable, usual characters and give them what starts out as an ordinary story, but with one unique twist, turns them into extraordinary books. I am guaranteed to need tissues and want a hug after finishing a book by her, but I always feel I am a better person for having read the story she has given me.You get all of the above with I Was Here with the exception of needing tissues and wanting a hug. This book left me cold; I know that is a pretty blunt summation, but that’s how I felt. I am not sure what went wrong but for me there was no emotion from me or the characters, I felt no empathy or sympathy for what any of them were experiencing, and I could find no real solid reasoning for half of the things Cody did, thought or said. I would go as far as to say disliked her, her mother, their attitudes and just them in general intensely.Ben didn’t evoke much from me either, in fact no one in the book did really, apart from Meg’s little brother Scottie. Meg’s suicide and the reasoning behind it, her family’s behavior in the aftermath, and the actions Cody took to try and get to the bottom of the mystery… nothing. I felt absolutely nothing, I kept reading as I was sure that at some point something would happen to give me that lump in my throat, bring on that lip wobble or just a slight tear to the eye.I have absolutely no doubt that I am probably in the minority with my feelings about this book, Gayle is, and will always be an author I am happy to read a book by. I guess that sometimes, some subjects and the story and characters an author chooses to build around them just don’t work for even their ardent fans. That is definitely the camp I am in on this occasion.”I have time.”ARC generously provided via Netgalley, in exchange for the above honest review.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful.
wow
By Katherine
This book is breathtaking, it draws you in slowly then spins you around till you don't feel you know anything for certain, then like it began it slowly puts the pieces back together and leaves you feeling breathless.
