Where It Began by Ann Redisch Stampler

Where It Began
By Ann Redisch Stampler
Published by Simon Pulse
Read on PulseIt
384 pages

"Sometimes the end is just the beginning.

Gabby lived under the radar until her makeover. Way under. But when she started her senior year as a blonder, better-dressed version of herself, she struck gold: Billy Nash believed she was a the flawless girl she was pretending to be. The next eight months with Billy were bliss...Until the night Gabby woke up on the ground next to the remains of his BMW without a single memory of how she got there.

And Billy's nowhere to be found.

All Gabby wants is to make everything perfect again. But getting her life back isn't difficult, it's impossible. Because nothing is the same, and Gabby's beginning to realize she's missed more than a few danger signs along the way.

It's time for Gabby to face the truth, even if it means everything changes.

Especially if it means everything changes." -Goodreads

Where it Began has a big message and a lot of heart. It lives up to its genre of contemporary, with its characters facing emotional, yet realistic situations.

When reading Gabby's story, I was compelled to feel the need to help her and try to work things out for her because........she didn't have a brain. I got that she had an accident and had a head-closed-injury but she recovered well enough to get some common sense, right? I wanted to slap and scream at her for being so naive. It doesn't take a genius to see that somebody has something to hide and that somebody is clearly not good for you and somebody should be listening to their friends. What I did enjoy was the way the author brought out her insecurity - many girls today are trying to please parents/boyfriends. As the reader we see how how Gabby is always trying to please someone, somehow, and is always afraid of doing something wrong. I would have liked to see more of her friends because I really enjoyed their presence in the book, and how much they stuck by her.

The plot was a bit frustrating. I loved the concept and I was always trying to figure out the mystery of what actually happened on that night (I had an idea but not the details). The last few pages of the book were the best for me. Why it was frustrating was because all Gabby talks about is Billy, Billy, Nash, Billy Nash. Arrgh, it drove me crazy. I get all the blind devotion and stuff but how about focusing on other friendships or her art? The writing was unique, I loved Gabby's overall voice. The author threw in some [ ] with little humorous things, which gave Gabby personality. It made it fun and there were plenty of descriptions.

I'd recommend this book to contemporary lovers and readers who enjoy slower paced books. It does have a strong message and the characters are realistic in the fact that you will find teenagers like them in the real world. I did feel that it was missing something and that it dragged on a bit but in general it was a good read.

Excerpt:

By now I am overwhelmed by the mystery of the situation. Although, I am in command of several key facts:
1. My name is not Bunny.
2. I have ten fingers, or at least I have six, and none of them actually seems to be missing.
3. I might or might not be in a hospital somewhere.

******

"Gabby," Vivian whispers, "do you remember what you did? Even the tiniest, teeniest detail?
Nope.
"Well, the doctor says that with this kind of head trauma and all those, um, substances, you might not remember... I guess you might not remember yet."