Welcome to the first post in the WHERE SHE WENT read along, the third leg on the GAYLE FORMAN READ ALONG! A big thanks to Alexa at Alexa Loves Books for hosting this leg. You can find the schedule, questions, and chapter breakdown at her blog.
Week 1: August 15-21: Chapters 1-6
Week 2: August 22-28: Chapters 7-12
Week 3: August 29 – September 4: Chapters 13-18
Week 4: September 5-11: Chapters 19-23
We’ve just read the chapters for Week 3 of the read along and if you missed the questions or need help with any details, Alexa’s got it all for you!
Haven’t signed up for the read along yet? Don’t worry! You can still join us for WHERE SHE WENT or the other two books left on the GFRA!
QUESTIONS: WEEK 3
Adam’s craving for human affection leads him to various groupies. Does this affect what you think of him?
Hmmm. In a way, yes. But honestly, who am I to judge? Adam is clearly hurting and part of his way of coping is getting close to someone, even if it’s only for a few hours. He also isn’t allowing himself to get close to anyone emotionally so physically is all he has. Obviously the fangirl in me wants to say “Adam and Mia forever! Don’t go sleeping with other girls!!!” And I want to be upset with him for that, but that’s sort of what Adam needs to do at that point in his life. Okay, maybe NEEDS isn’t the right word, but so many people go through things like that as well — the “random hookups”, if you will — and they experience it, take a step back, and realize that’s all wrong. Sometimes you don’t realize it’s the wrong path for yourself until you go down that road.
Mia is able to feel and hear her family in her mind and heart. Have you ever felt that way about someone you’ve lost, whether from death or other means?
Not really in the sense that Mia does, no. But my mom and my sister and I all look for “signs” from our relatives who have passed away. Like my mom randomly finding her dad’s favorite album at a garage sale or seeing a truck that says “Bauer Power” (true story — and Bauer is my mom’s maiden name/my maternal grandparents’ last name). So I don’t actually ever “hear” them, but I do still look for them in uncommon places.
What do you think of the author’s transitions between present day Adam and Mia, and Adam and Mia in the past?
I actually really like the transitions back and forth. I feel like that’s something I usually don’t like in books because I feel like it can be explained in other ways than jerking us out of the present day, but Adam and Mia are SUCH different people than what they used to be. A lot of the same, yes, but I feel like it’s impossible to really get the stories of their past without doing “flashbacks”. I think Gayle does them extremely well.
The confrontation we’ve all been waiting for has finally happened! How did you feel when you found out Mia’s real reason for leaving Adam behind?
I cried. Not ashamed to admit that haha. That just KILLED me and reading this book from Adam’s POV for some reason just makes everything more emotionally raw. And I can totally understand how Mia feels. The realization that Adam goes through is just SO painful. It’s like he’s known it all along and yet not. That was a BRILLIANT scene, Gayle.
Do you think Mia and Adam will truly be able to let each other go? Are you rooting for their happy ending or do you think walking away from each other is their best bet?
Well, I know how this ends, so I won’t say anything! Not one peep!!
