[Book Review]: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Speak - Penguin Group
Format: Compact Disc, Hardcover, Paperback, Paperback, eBook, Digital Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Year: 2011
Page Count: 260
ISBN: 9780142420898
Find it at: Official Website of Gayle Forman
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My Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
It's been three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life.

And three years he's spent wondering why.

When their paths cross again in New York City, Adam and Mia are brought back together for one life-changing night.


Adam finally has the opportunity to ask Mia the questions that have been haunting him. But will a few hours in this magical city be enough to lay their past to rest, for good - or can you really have a second chance at first love?

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Opposite from the first book, Where She Went is narrated by Adam Wilde. The book takes moments in one day. In one day, like any other day, Adam wakes up, goes through her daily routines as the frontman of a bona fide rock group and deals with the emotional breakdown when Mia left her after her accident three years ago and thus he never sees and hears about her again.

In one day, the book recounts about Adam and Mia at the beginning of their relationship, a little about how he was coping when Mia was still in comatose condition, how the accident affected their relationship until Mia decided to one-sidedly end their relationship.

In one day, after a small fuss with a reporter, with his band manager's approval, he goes out for a walk to clear his head, surrounding the New York city. And there he sees an advertisement with a picture of her, telling him that there is to be her concert that night. In that one day, he will see her. Will Adam gets the answers to his questions all this time? Will Adam get a clear disclosure of their relationship? Will Adam be finally healed with his eventual encounter with Mia? Those all are to be answered in one day.

Where She Went is the sequel to If I Stay. To read my review for If I Stay, please click here.

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As I recall, there are not too many young adult books out there with male as its main character, or at least I haven't read them in a significant number.

I know that men have emotion too. They deal with happiness and sadness in quite different ways with women. Before I read this book, I could not believe or at least, haven't witnessed emotional breakdown on men. I don't believe that they will feel and hurt that deep.

But Gayle Forman fights against all my perceptions. She spells every little detail about Adam's emotional struggle amazingly that I sometime found myself agape when I read it. The first point of view the author adepts on If I Stay was awesome, it made me know how Mia feels and think. But in Where She Went, I could understand and felt in behalf of Adam. The narration in the whole book, made me like I was in Adam's head for real, and I was the one who experienced it all as Adam. The angst, depression, and tension Adam felt, I could feel it too.

Near the end of the book, I was already too depressed that I could only hope that Adam ended it all up with Mia, even I hoped that he would yell, shout and went mad at her, made her know how she had broken him down to the point he did not know who himself was anymore.

Apart from that all, I'm glad now that I've been over all that agony as the book was finished. And I willingly give this book the highest available rating in my standard for all the feeling experience the author rendered to me.

[Book Review]: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: Clockwork Prince

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Format: Hardcover, Unabridged Audio Download, eBook, Trade Paperback, Unabridged Compact Disk

Source: Loan

Genre: Young adult, Fantasy, Romance
Year: 2011

Page Count: 502

ISBN: 9781416975885

Find it at: Official Website of Cassandra Clare

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My rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street—and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, but her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will—the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart.

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There is no personal summary from me as the Goodreads' blurb above is more than enough to explain what is needed to know for peekers. This second book is absolutely much better than the first installment. In Clockwork Prince, I get to know the more profound yet dark secrets entangled each character, and encounter the fact that one of the Institute occupants betrays them (but I think you can already guess who it is).

The book also lets various point of views than the previous one, which almost majority is occupied by Tessa Gray, e.g. there are of Will Herondale, Charlotte Branwell, Sophie Collins, etc and that enables the readers to comprehend each character's trait more. I'm glad that the author finally reveals what is more to Will's self-destructive and provides a well-enough closure even though there is a really startling news that is going to complicate his relationship with Tessa. This is one of the causes I can't wait to read Clockwork Princess.

Clockwork Prince is the second novel in the Infernal Devices trilogy. The first installment is Clockwork Angel (click here to see my review for the book) and the last one is Clockwork Princess.

[Book Review]: Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Image Source: Goodreads

Book Title: Clockwork Angel
Author: Cassandra Clare
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Format: Hardcover, Paperback, Electronic Book, Audiobook
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Year: 2010
Page Count: 476
ISBN: 9781416975878
Find it at: Official Website of Cassandra Clare
Add to your Goodreads shelf.
My rating: 4.0 out of 5.0

Goodreads' Blurb:
In a time when Shadowhunters are barely winning the fight against the forces of darkness, one battle will change the course of history forever. Welcome to the Infernal Devices trilogy, a stunning and dangerous prequel to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.


The year is 1878. Tessa Gray descends into London’s dark supernatural underworld in search of her missing brother. She soon discovers that her only allies are the demon-slaying Shadowhunters—including Will and Jem, the mysterious boys she is attracted to. Soon they find themselves up against the Pandemonium Club, a secret organization of vampires, demons, warlocks, and humans. Equipped with a magical army of unstoppable clockwork creatures, the Club is out to rule the British Empire, and only Tessa and her allies can stop them....

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Taking place in London in around 1878, Tessa Gray flees to the city in order to seek for solace and shelter from her brother, Nathaniel Gray, after their aunt passes away. Once she arrives in the dull city of London, she finds no brother comes to claim her. Instead Tessa encounters two women who declare that Nathaniel sends them to fetch her up.

However the reality hits her when apparently the two women who call themselves as the Dark Sisters deceive her. Under order from The Magister, the Dark Sisters forces Tessa into a training to bring out and maximize her unknown potential of transforming perfectly into someone only by holding their possession.

Tessa then is rescued later by the Shadowhunters; William Herondale, Jem Carstairs and Henry Branwell. They bring Tessa under the sanctuary of The London Institute. Being clueless about everything before when she is a hostage of the Dark Sisters, she then learns about what her power really is.

Will Tessa be able to control her unique power is? Will she find her brother again?

Clockwork Angel is the first book of The Infernal Devices series. The next two installments are Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess.

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My first sources of recommendations for books are my friends and book bloggers. I was intrigued to try reading one of Cassandra Clare's works when they all were worked up about The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments series. Sometimes their recommendations did not work for me, but it does this time.

I honestly admit that I was totally clueless about what happens at the first two chapters. I did not get why Tessa is suddenly captured without any complete explanation. I even got a bit anxious and wondered if I needed to read The Mortal Instruments series first before did this one. But after doing some research on the internet, I concluded that it was safe to continue turning the pages. After some patience, everything begins to make sense.

The most favorite things from the book for me is the characters Will Herondale and Jem Carstairs. Among any other character relationship, the author seems to have done the best and real portrayal at their brotherhood. I love how the author describes that Jem is the only person whom Will treats differently from any others, even Tessa; and how Jem never fall out of temper with Will, when no one else can barely stand at him.

A few things that annoy me is that sometimes the author does not seem to be innovative at words management and there are much of phrase redundancy. I'm also a bit disappointed at the publisher since I got a few pages out of order at the end of the books. But over all I am excited to continue reading the next series for the sake of them. I'm particularly curious at Will's secret of why he left his families.

If you like fantasy genre, this book will be the one I recommend to you.