Chrissy’s Review: I Was Here by Gayle Forman

I Was Here
written by Gayle Forman
published by Viking Juvenile, 2015

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble (Nook) (print), Amazon, iBooks, Book Depository, Goodreads

Did I enjoy this book: Can you say that you enjoyed a book about overcoming a loved one’s suicide? Well, I did enjoy this book. Yes, it was sad, depressing. and emotional. But it was also raw, interesting, and un-put-downable. I started it and I had to finish it.

Cody is struggling to come to terms with her best friend’s suicide. The friend who seemingly had everything. It is told from Cody’s perspective, trying to figure out why Meg killed herself. That journey was a hard one. I admired Cody’s courage to do what she did, but I also worried about her safety–both mentally and physically. She did some dangerous stuff to get to the bottom of things. There were times that I just didn’t like Cody. And there were a few things I didn’t quite understand, but those things were minor and didn’t affect the story for me. The story, for me, was more about Cody than Meg. Part of me wishes it was called “I’m Still Here” because that’s the sentiment I imagined Cody, Ben, Meg’s family–especially Scottie–Meg’s roommates, and even All_BS felt throughout the book.

Would I recommend it: Yes, it was a good read.

About the book – from Goodreads: 

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.