I Was Here by Gayle Forman

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Publication date: 2015
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 270
My rating: 3 stars
Ages: 17+

Cody's life turned upside down the day she received an email from her best friend, Meg. Trying to figure out what would cause Meg to take her own life, Cody starts on a journey that she can't seem to stop. Her only companion is Ben, someone who has his own history with Meg.

Before I start, I feel like I should issue a trigger warning for this book. If you have depression or have ever had suicidal thoughts, I'd recommend caution before reading I Was Here. Not only does it deal with things, but there are some details within the book that could bring up feelings or thoughts that it would be better to stay away from.

This is very different from Forman's other books. It's grittier and doesn't focus so much on the romance aspect (though that is still there); instead, it focuses more on the "finding yourself" part that all of Forman's books contain. The grief that Cody and Meg's family are going through are real and difficult--when someone you know ends their own life, it can make it difficult to continue, more so than with any other death. Because of this, Cody does some really stupid and outrageous stuff. She becomes obsessed with trying to understand Meg. If the book had been longer, this would have gotten annoying, but the pacing of this book is phenomenal. All the characters are well developed, even the secondary ones, and each change and grow throughout the story.

There is a lot of hard swearing and some sexual situations.

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