Review: Where it Began

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.

Gabby wakes up at the hospital with no memory of the events leading up to the car accident that got her there. All she remembers is starring up at the sky from the side of the road with the car keys of her boyfriend's BMW in her hands.

The story this book offered had me itching to read it as soon as possible. I went into it fully expecting a captivating read, and I liked the book but the thing is that I didn't connect with any of the characters. Gabby is piecing her life back together and is constantly depending on her boyfriend Billy. I couldn't stand  Billy. Throughout the entire book I felt like he didn't truly love her. In the instances she remembers before the accident I liked Billy. He seemed sweet and nice and bad boyish but from the moment I first heard him talk after the accident I felt something was off. He was nice but I didn't like his attitude.

From very early in the book I began to piece the true story behind the accident together. I continued reading the book mainly to see if what I thought was correct. Not a lot happened between Gabby waking up at the hospital and Gabby finally realizing what was before her all along. The middle was the average life of a screwed up teen trying to round up the pieces of her past life to create a semi normal life. And don't get me wrong. I did enjoy reading those parts but I wish I hadn't been able to guess from the beginning what the true story was because through the book I found myself wanting to scream at Gabby to open her eyes and see what was really there. What we all knew and were just waiting for her to realize too. Maybe that is how the book was supposed to be. This girl living in denial after the accident not wanting to see the truth. The ending left me completely satisfied. I loved how Ann Stampler tied things up at the end.

I recommend this to people who love a good, solid contemporary. Even though I knew what was going to happen early on I enjoyed the story and being there to see Gabby put everything together in her jumbled mind.

3.5 stars