A teen’s world comes crashing down in this compulsively readable YA debut that’s as literary as it is commercial.
Gabby Gardiner wakes up in a hospital bed looking like a cautionary ad for drunk driving—and without a single memory of the accident that landed her there. But what she can recall, in frank and sardonic detail, is the year leading up to the crash.
As Gabby describes her transformation from Invisible Girl to Trendy Girl Who Dates Billy Nash (aka Most Desirable Boy Ever), she is left wondering: Why is Billy suddenly distancing himself from her? What do her classmates know that Gabby does not? Who exactly was in the car that night? And why has Gabby been left to take the fall?
As she peels back the layers of her life, Gabby begins to realize that her climb up the status ladder has been as intoxicating as it has been morally complex...and that nothing about her life is what she has imagined it to be.
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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
AMAZING!!!
By Nikki Wang
Orignally from Fiction Freak ([...])--*Complimentary copy provided. This does NOT affect my review in any way.*Yeah, basically. Anyways...this book is so similar to Stolen in so many ways, but so different in so many other ways. It warmed my heart. It broke my heart. It made me cry and made me smile. Gabby's the kind of girl who just wants the perfect, the safe, life to live. And so she becomes the picture of perfect and catches the eyes of Billy Nash. Or does she? Because when things are getting tough, when she can't remember anything about the accident that crashed Billy's car and took her memories, he's not there. And he only communicates with her through Instant Messaging. And in public? He's once again the boyfriend of the slu* of the school. But it's just an act, right? To protect her. That's what it is.As much as I could connect with Gabby, I really didn't like her. She was blind in some situations, desperate in others, hostile when she shouldn't be, and consenting when she should've fought back. These were the things that stuck out, the things that I didn't like much. The things the irritate me. But then, how would you react if what happened to her happened to you? So I can't very well judge Gabby (especially since we were seeing things in her POV).I can't say I was all-knowing when it came to the ending of the book, but I did suspect a few things. What actually happened though, shocked me out of my mind. It made me think. What happened in that book should never happen to anyone, but that stuff happens almost everyday without us knowing. It makes me think that sometimes the "perfect" life is the "fake" life, that there's not one single person who is perfect in all ways. But that's my philosophical side talking.To be honest, it wasn't the summary that got my attention. It was the cover. I know, I know, we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but who hasn't? I entered the giveaway, not really expecting to win. But I DID!!! And I am so grateful that I did. So if you see this book in the bookstore and you don't think it sounds that great, read the first few pages, then judge. The blurbs don't always give you the full blow of a book.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler
By Amber @ Down The Rabbit Hole
Where It Began weaves an emotional tale of healing wrapped in the pleasantly sarcastic voice of Gabby as she relives that last few months of her life leading up to the accident that put her in bed in the first place. Gabby's strong personality and sad home life made it easy to feel for her plight and the re-examination of the things she held dear is interesting as it is entwined with her new life after the accident. I really enjoyed the mixture of the two time lines.Gabby's one of those girls that really doesn't see how special she is because no one else around her sees it. Her parents are too busy pretending to be rich to care and since she doesn't feel like she excels at anything, she doesn't have a lot of validation accept for when her mother gives her a make over that turns her into the girl her mother always wished she could be. Suddenly, Gabby is sky-rocketed to the new "it" girl and is on the arm of the hottest guy in school. Gabby's charm and whip sharp tongue color her voice as she tells her tale and make for quite a few laughable moments. Her sarcasm covers up for some of her deeper insecurities which changes depending on her mood at the time. Though I'm not sure I'd want her to be my friend, I did love hearing her uncensored thoughts about things.The other characters were really wonderful too. Gabby's parents were deliciously evil as they flit around trying to figure how to go back to the way they were while still dealing with Gabby's slew of problems. Gabby's mother, in particular, was a wonderfully complex woman. Her simultaneous inner turmoil to fill her own needs while not thinking about anything else wars with her general want to be there for Gabby. And I really felt that her mother did want to help Gabby in her own way. Her dad played less of an active role. Gabby's friends were also great. I loved trying to separate who was really there for her and who wasn't. Huey and his mother were fun characters and I'd have liked to see more of them throughout the story. Even Billy and his mother made the story all the more full.Being in this world of the uber rich just reminded me how lucky I really am not to have to deal with the superficial crap that so many people have to put up with. Ms Stampler did an excellent job creating a sufficating atmosphere for Gabby so we can see her fall and was masterful at adding in little hints for the reader to catch onto if they looked hard enough. My only two compliants are that sometimes Gabby would lose me in some of her sarcastic rants and I had a hard time figuring out what she was talking about. The other thing, for me, was that this story felt a little too long in the middle. I was happy Gabby had plenty of time to begin healing but I felt like she was stuck too long in the process of figuring out that she needed to heal.The plot had plenty of surprises along the way to keep me interested. I was truly surprised what was confirmed in Part 2 (I'm not saying it because I don't want to ruin it for you guys!) and was interested to see how Gaby's future would turn out since all signs pointed (too neatly for my taste) to her being the drunk driver. The combination of heresy, dialog, text and ims were a great mix to tell the story in and I loved Gabby's eventual growth. Stampler was masterful at giving us just the right technique at the right time and letting to story form organically.Where It Began starts at the ending of one thing and the beginning of something new and a whole lot scarier. Gabby is smashed into pieces so that she can rebuild herself if she can just find the energy and drive to do it right. Beautiful writing, complex characters and a heartbreaking situation make Where It Began a wonderful read perfect for all contemporary fans.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful.Where It Began
By Melanie McCullough
Gabby Gardiner has been in a terrible car accident. It has scarred her face and broken her body. Worse than that however is the fact that she can't remember a single thing about the accident or the events leading up to it. Her life seems to be falling apart as she faces potential jail time for driving under the influence, not to mention the loss of her looks, her status, and her boyfriend.Gabby is an incredible protagonist. She is whip-smart and snarky, lending a humor to an otherwise horrific situation. But she's just like pretty much every other teenage girl in the world. She wants to fit in, and she wants the super cute/popular boy who was her boyfriend before the accident to want to be with her again. In fact, she'll do pretty much anything to ensure he continues to want her.We've all done it. We've lied and told ourselves whatever we had to in order to pretend things were the way we wanted them to be. We've ignored everything else. Even common sense. But Gabby seems to take this almost to the extreme and I spent a lot of the book wondering when she was going to wise up and face the truth.Ann Redisch Stampler's writing style is superb. It's fresh, exciting, and takes a story that could have been predictable and turns it into something unique. She perfectly captures the naivety and angst of a teenager who considers herself sub-par and unworthy, living in a world populated by the arrogant and over-privileged.And in Where It Began she delivers a compelling story and a captivating protagonist. Gabby's story will hook you from page one and will definitely appeal to fans of the contemporary genre.
