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, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. Now a major motion picture starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.
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I am not normally a fan of books without a “proper” ending, however this book finishes in the perfect place.
It follows Mia after a terrible car accident when she then has to decide is she wants to stay. The book is written very well between what is happening now and previous events from Mia’s life.
This book will make you think about life and death and how you would cope with certain situations.
Very exciting, it would appear there is a sequel set a few years later.
I think I was emotionally stumped in relation to this book. I felt nothing at all. In fact that's a slight lie, the last two or three pages were quite emotional. I think this is something I'd prefer to watch as a film than to read as a book.
The hype was far too much for me. I went into this book hoping for amazing things and it fell rather flat. I don't know if because of my age this book was too young for me, I just didn't feel I could relate on many levels. I liked the way it was written, I liked the going back and forth between the time periods but I didn't feel connected to the story in anyway. The one thing I did love about this though was how real it was,it wasn't love can conquer all, it wasn't well as long as I have another half in my life I shall be fine. It was real,and I loved the relationship between the main character and her parents.The whole plot completely threw me I was not expecting that at all, so I did love how different that was. I think someone who is 14 would enjoy this book I at an age of *coughs* almost26* *coughs* didn't find it that enjoyable I'm afraid.
This book has been on my shelf for awhile. I've also been wanting to read it since I first got it, but due to other commitments, I had never got around to it until now. This turned out to be a really touching book.
I think the title suits the book really well. Mia is trying to decide if she should live or just give in to death. She thinks about what her life was like before and what would happen if she decided to stay and live.
The cover is a little bit boring, I think. There's just not really anything going on. I don't know what I'd like to see on the cover, but this cover is too plain.
I did enjoy the world building very much. It made me wonder what happens when we're barely hanging on to life. Forman did a great job of making this sort of limbo, so to speak, feel like that's exactly what happens when someone's life is hanging by a thread. I, personally, felt as if Mia didn't really do too much grieving for her family. However, maybe this was just due to shock or because she was a sort of a ghostly like presence during the majority of the book.
The pacing was a bit hit and miss. I found some of the memories Mia had to be a bit boring thus slowing down the pacing a bit. I realize the memories were crucial to the book though, but I just felt that maybe they could've been written in a more interesting way if possible. The pacing doesn't stay slow all the time though, and a lot of the time, it does stay at a decent pace.
The plot of someone stuck outside their body while they are in a coma has been done many times before. Saying that, Gayle Forman did an excellent job of making it interesting for her book. Her lyrical writing helps the plot a lot and makes for an interesting read.
I thought the characters were very well written and well developed. I felt like Mia was a very down to Earth girl. Her emotions felt very real, and I sympathized with her. I did like Kim although I felt that she was a bit too disrespectful towards her mother. Kim was a great friend to Mia. This is made very obvious in the book. I felt bad for Kim when she finally saw Mia laid up in the hospital bed. Adam seemed like a really sweet boyfriend, and it was obvious how deeply he cared for Mia. He was willing to do whatever it took to visit Mia in the hospital, even if it meant going to jail.
The dialogue flows freely and smoothly, never disjointed. For the most part, the dialogue fits in with a young adult novel. This book is a tiny bit gory at the beginning of the book so be warned about that. There are a few swear words within the book.
Overall, If I Stay is an emotionally charged and intriguing read. The plot is interesting, the world building is fantastic, and the characters are lively!
I'd recommend this book to those aged 15+ who are after an emotionally captivating read.
<b>I'd give If I Stay by Gayle Forman a 3.75 out of 5.</b>
(I won a copy of this book from a giveaway. I was not required to write a review).
Had the hardest time putting the book down twice. But I ended up finishing it in under 24 hours. It was that good! I absolutely cannot wait to see the movie now, since I told myself I had to read the book first. Heart-wrenching and beautifully written!
This was one of those rare times where I watched the movie before reading the book. Even knowing what was going to happen didn't detract from the beautifully written and well thought journey. Full of entirely relatable feelings of not belonging, young love, heartbreak, the heart wrenching battle with tragedy, and more. Mia's battle with choosing to live on or to succumb to the tragedy that is thrown upon her is a worthy one to experience. Highly recommend.
Mia is a typical 17 year old girl. She has a great family, plays the cello, has good friends and an incredible boyfriend. On a very non-typical day in her home of Oregon, a dusting of snow keeps the whole family home from work and school. Her family decides to take a drive and visit some family and friends. Unfortunately, on this journey, tragedy strikes. Mia's family is involved in a car accident. As Mia's life hangs in the balance, she reflects on all that has happened in her short time on earth and what would or could happen if she decided to stay.
I thought this was going to be a tear-jerker, but it wasn't so much. The events that took place are sad for sure, but I didn't find myself crying like I thought I would. Imagine if everyone in your immediate family is killed in a car accident and you are the only survivor. What do you do? You watch your whole family laying in pools of blood and then you watch yourself being operated on and see the looks in the eyes of your friends and family as they try to make sense of it all as well. In the book, the movie Ghost is referenced, and this book does remind me a bit of that movie. Patrick Swayze is dead though, and Mia is just trying to figure out if she should stay with the living, or go and be with her parents and her brother. It's a hard decision to make and I'm not sure if it is one that I could make. For me or for any other member of my family. How can you make the decision to let someone live or die? How do you make that decision yourself? Are we really able to make that decision?
My favorite part of this book, is looking back into Mia's life. Getting an understanding of who she is and who her family was. I love the fact that her family was so close and most of her life treated her like a little adult instead of a child. They were encouraging and always there for her. Her boyfriend and her best friend were the same way. They may not have always agreed on everything, but they were always understanding and willing to give a listening ear. I'm not sure if the series follows Mia along the rest of her journey, but I would like to know what her decision was.
Ow. Just ow. This story was so beautiful and sad to read. I really enjoyed how Gayle Forman was able to break up the more sad parts of the story with happy flashbacks on Mia's life. This had a perfect ending. The cello was such a huge part of Mia's life, and it showed very much through out the story. What a magnificent piece of literature. I am so glad they made this into a movie. I am really excited to be able to see it. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves stories about love, life, and what it means to live.
Gayle Forman
(Author)
