Book Review | I Was Here by Gayle Forman

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.

Review

Gayle Forman has been a little bit of a hit and miss author for me. If I Stay. I wasn't a huge fan. Where She Went. I loved it. Just One Day. I had issues with it. Just One Year. I liked more than the first one. 

So when I started this, I wasn't really sure what I was going to get. For the most part, this was a hit for me.

One of the things that I found so interesting about this novel, was its unflinching honesty. It didn't back away from the hard subjects, and try sugar coat anything. The story line isn't a light fluffy one, and there were definitely tough moments to handle.

The emotion portrayed in this novel, was spot on for the type of story that was being told, and I really liked that. The characters were all interesting, and realistic, and I felt the way they responded to things was believable.

I liked that it wasn't all full on dark stuff, and there were some lighter moments interjected into this.

There are moments in this book, that truly scare you because you know things like that can actually happen, and it's chilling. The way the emotion of that is captured is great.

What I would say, is there were just a few moments when the story felt as if it were progressing a little slow. However, overall it was a really good book.

Rating

8/10