If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Series: If I Stay #1
Release Date: May 13th 2010Publisher: Black Swan
Amazon Book Depository
Goodreads Summary
Life can change in an instant. A cold February morning . . . a snowy road . . . and suddenly all of Mia's choices are gone. Except one. As alone as she'll ever be, Mia must make the most difficult choice of all. Gripping, heartrending and ultimately life-affirming, If I Stay will make you appreciate all that you have, all that you've lost - and all that might be.
17 year old Mia has enough choices in her life; college,
music, boyfriend. While on the way to visit Mia’s grandparents her family car
is hit by another driver and all her choices are put on hold while the only one
matters. Whether or not she stays.
I don’t really think I have an opinion on this book. The
book was neither great nor terrible. It was just okay.
I read that the book was heart breaking, and beautifully
powerful. I guess I can see where everyone was getting that from. I mean death
was involved therefore a lot of depressing emotions were stirred up. But not
for me. I’m a sucker for depressing books and I was really hoping that I would
be moved by this book! Unfortunately I wasn’t moved at all, there were times
when I thought that I might tear up but I didn’t. It’s not because my heart is
made of ice or anything like that I just didn’t find this book as moving as a
lot of other people did.
The idea for it is great, it made me realise how silly some
of my choices where when it came down to the big choice in Mia’s life. One day
she’s planning her future and the next she’s watching her family die and her
lifeless body be brought into hospital as all her loved ones wait to find out
whether or not she’ll make it.
I wasn’t at all surprised what happened in the book. For me
everything was clear from the beginning I just didn’t know her family was going
to die. I thought that this teenage girl who is a quiet geeky girl who likes
classical music will be in a car accident one day and will then need to figure
out if she stays or goes. I already figured out that there will be some form of
out of body experience. I was actually shocked by her family’s death however
and I was sad, I mean they seemed like a great bunch and it wasn’t fair they
had to die. But apart from this I pretty much knew what was going to happen.
The whole love story between her and Adam, the ending of the book was predictable
as crap (mostly because I know there is a second book).
The characters in this book were good. I loved Mia although I
didn’t click with her much. Her brother is super cute and I wanted to squeeze
him, her parents are seriously amazing. Might be the fact that I like punk rock
and not classical music. I didn’t feel like I had a connection with any of
these characters which was a real shame.
The book itself was a really pleasant read, the way it was laid
out was great. The flash backs to when Mia was a child and remembering all the
great memories was super effective. I think that’s the part that I love the
most about this book.
I wish that I got to enjoy this book more and that it wasn’t
just an okay book for me. I probably won’t read the sequel but I hopefully will
reread it again.
I read this over a year ago and I think that it was a 3 star read for me too, it did have some heartbreaking moments and I don't know why it was just 3 stars overall, it just is.
ReplyDeleteWhere She Went though, the second book that has Adam's POV is one of my favorite books of all time :) I hope you do read it Paulina, I was able to connect with both characters more than this one. It's funny, thr events that happened in the first book was heavier but I bawled my eyes out on the 2nd. Great review!
I was thinking of reading this because so many people seem to love it, but after reading your review, I'm not sure if it's for me. It does seem a bit predictable, so I probably won't enjoy it as much. Thanks for your review!
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how you're feeling because I felt similarly about a recent release as you did here - I thought I would cry upset but instead I felt almost nothing.
ReplyDeleteI remember loving this book but it was before I was a blogger so I'd love to re-read it, especially before the movie!
Mands @ The Bookish Manicurist
I picked this book up and I got about 50 pages in and I had to put it down. I could not get in to it at all. I had the same feelings as you right from the start. There was no way to describe it except for it was a bit meh.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you persevered with it and was okay with it in the end. I will pick it back up again one day! :)
Thanks for sharing & great review! :D xx
Alex @ The Shelf Diaries
I might check it out then! I read the summary and it didn't look like anything I'd want to read :(
ReplyDeleteIt is predictable but it's a nice read. If you ever find yourself with spare time and this book then give it a go :-)
ReplyDeleteI was so hopeful :( Which book did you read?
ReplyDeleteDo pick it up. It might not be amazing but it's worth some time :)
ReplyDelete