If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Series: If I Stay, #1
Published on April 2, 2009 by Dutton Books for Young Readers
Genre: YA/Romance/Contemporary
Pages: 201
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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Get it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3woqorU
Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.
I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.
Stay, he says.Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?
Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it’s the only one that matters.
If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.
Review
Well, what can I say? This book is truly heartbreaking. And I am glad I saw the trailer of the film adaptation of this book. Yeah, you heard I mean, you read it right. If you are a constant reader of my blog, you’ll notice that this story is not my forte. I am more into suspense and mystery thrillers. So why read this book in the first place? Well, there’s always a first time for everything, *wink.
So back to the story. A dying girl who’s detached from her body and seeing how things happen while she’s in a coma is not new to me. I’ve seen a Korean show just like it, so this story didn’t really intrigue me that much but what really intrigues me is the love story between these two main characters who shares a love with music but with two different tunes, the one with rock, while the other one with classics.
I really like the story. I love how it started very light and a scene of a happy family always cheers me up. But I was saddened and shocked because in its first chapter, it has to stop. Too soon eh? Mia and her family met with an accident and that’s why Mia is faced into another situation wherein she has to make a choice. I know it’s a spoiler, but don’t worry, I’ll never add more.
I liked the story. I like how Adam loves Mia, and how her parents’ loves Adam. I couldn’t complain about the characters. All of them are just so perfect! I also like how it doesn’t just center on Mia and Adam’s love story, but it also talks about family and the true meaning of having them.
I know I said that I like the story, so why give it only 4 stars? Well, I’ll tell you: The first one is that it is more on talking and with only little dialogues, and I’m a kind of person who loves to read dialogues. So there was some part of the book that I skipped just to get to the dialogue part. And the second one, which I am very annoyed about, was the words used by the author. I know you’re already tired of hearing this from me, but I would say this again, the word used in a story is what makes that story great for me. I can’t recall how many times I’d stumble on my Merriam Dictionary. I’ve been reading the ebook edition of this story, so going from the ebook reader to the dictionary app makes me understand the story less than expected.
This is actually my first book from the author, Gayle Forman, and I would say that she got my attention. This is a cliffhanger story and I am dying to read the second book.
Final thoughts
This book will make us shed a tear or two. A story about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.
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