I Was Here by Gayle Forman

     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’m honestly not even sure what rating I want to give this book. I think a four, but it could be a five, and I just haven’t had time to really process the book yet. It’s not that the book leaves you wanting or needing more, it’s just kind of a heavy book, which feels heavier at the end. The story was a really good one. There were a lot of parts where I wasn’t sure what I really expected to happen, and a lot of parts that I never expected to happen, that did, either. This book was emotionally tolerable, until the ending. I don’t think I came to terms with Meg’s death until Cody did. It wasn’t easy either. I’m not entirely sure where I got the idea that maybe she would magically come back to life, but *SPOILER ALERT* she doesn’t. This book feels pretty morose throughout, but I think that’s kind of the point. And while it does have somewhat of a happy-ish ending, it’s not all sparkly and happy ever afters. It’s kind of a perfect ending. I think, in the end, this book is more than worthy of a five. It’s definitely one I’ll find myself rereading again. 

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