Review – If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Posted July 15, 2014 by Emily in review / 1 Comment

Review – If I Stay by Gayle Forman
TITLE: If I Stay
AUTHOR: Gayle Forman
SERIES: If I Stay #1
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
RATING: 5 Stars

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen ­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.

REVIEW: I have no words that I can use to describe this book. It was that good. Even better than good. It was one of the few books that was written well enough to make me cry. If I Stay is about a girl who plays the cello, Mia, whose life is affected by a devastating car crash. With all her immediate family members no longer alive, she debates if she should stay or leave everything, including her devoted rocker boyfriend, Adam, and best friend, Kim, behind.

If I Stay is written in chapters that transition from the past to the present and back which kind of causes a confusing and slow-ish start. But after the first few chapters, I was addicted. That being said, if I’m being honest, I did DNF If I Stay the first time I read it because I found the flashbacks too confusing. They weren’t really specified as flashbacks and I didn’t realize that they were flashbacks, not some alternate universe until later. After that you get used to the flashbacks, the book is a really enjoyable read – something I realized when I decided to give it another chance.

I really, really loved the characters in this book. Well… maybe not everyone (I’m thinking of you, grumpy nurse). The main characters were easy to connect to and feel for. The characters have the ability to pull at your emotions and I won’t lie, I may or may not shed a few tears every time I read it. And I have reread it a LOT of times. I loved the friendship between Mia and Kim. I wish they were real so I could be friends with them too. Plus, Adam and Mia have this really adorable romance going on. The best part about it is the fact that the book doesn’t center around the romance, but there was still enough to satisfy me.

If I Stay is definitely one of my favorite books of all time. I recommend it to anyone who is in need to a nice realistic fiction / unrealistic realistic fiction (there is a wee bit of supernatural stuff going on… so little, you’ll only see it if you squint). Especially to those who liked reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (they’re both tearjerkers – to me, at least…)

Final Rating
Characters
5 Stars
Pacing
5 Stars
Plot
5 Stars
Romance
5 Stars
Writing
4.5 Stars
Overall: 4.9
Emily

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