I Was Here by Gayle Forman - Review

Book: I Was Here
Author: Gayle Forman
Pages: 270 
Read: 7 March, 2016
Rating: 3/5 Stars

Goodreads 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.

Plot: 4

Characters: 3

Writing: 3

Review:

I Was Here is my first book by Gayle Forman, i heard good stories about her books and when i saw this book at my local bookstore i bought it just to see for my self. 

This book is different from any other book that i have read, i have never read any contemporary book about suicide before. And i think that Gayle Forman has done it in a very beautiful way.

The plot is different than other books that are out there, the book doesn't follow a love story about a boy and a girl, but rather the love of friendship and family. Meg has comittied suicide and Cody didn't see it coming, see never knew her best friend was even capable of doing such a thing. Cody can;t shake the feeling of that there is more to the story of Meg comitting suicide all on her own. She starts digging on her computer and finds a file where Meg planned everything. Togheter with Megs old roommate Harry, she start investigating Megs death. In the proces she meets Ben who also has a history with Meg.

The Characters have not a lot of depht, eventhough you get to know more about Meg, her life is still not that obvious. Cody also doesn't have much of a story to her, Gayle tries to give Cody a little bit of a story but it feels sloppy. When Cody is investigating Megs death, Codys father is trown into the mix and it feels a bit random, also her father doesn't add anything to the story... it doesn't really serve a purpose. You don't know Megs roommates that much, but they are a big part of the story and also the mysterious Ben doesn't really have a personality. The characters are a bit too bland and superficial for my taste, i would have liked to see a bit more too the characters..

As for the writing, Gayle her writingstyle isn't really my taste. Mayby its this specific story/book but i felt bored sometimes reading it. To story didn't have to be any longer, because than i would have dragged on to long. It was fine being only 270 pages long. I will try another book by her, just to see i've i like any other books by her and to see if it's just this story that didn't really do it for me. Eventhough Gayle did a great job delivering to message and writing an intresting story, it wasn't all that for me.

Love, Hedi