Title: If I StayAuthor: Gayle Forman
Pages: 210
Publisher: Dutton/Random House)
Release Date: January 1st 2009 US / May 6th 2010
Source: For Review (thank you :D )
Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars
What if you had everything:
A gorgeous boyfriend who was madly in love with you?
Quirky hip parents who totally got you?
A musical talent that could take you anywhere?
What if your biggest problem in life was choosing which path to take?
Follow your first love--music-- to New York City?
Or stay with your boyfriend, friends, and family?
What if one day, you went out for a drive...
And in an instant everything changed?
What if suddenly all the other choices were gone?
Except for one--the only one that truly mattered?
What would you do?
A sophisticated, layered, and heart achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.
What a beautiful and moving story. It may have been short but it definitely had an impact. There seem to be a lot of YA novels about death and making choices. Gayle Forman approaches it in such a respectful way. For me, death wasn't even the main point of the story. I felt it was about Mia finding herself and understanding how to be her one person.
Mia's narration through the novel was beautiful. It was so moving and so emotional. I could feel all her pain, all her happiness and sadness. Everything she felt, I felt. It felt so personal, like I was an onlooker into her life. She was a very easy character to like and despite her situation she seemed strong and I really liked her. I also really liked Adam. He was a great secondary character and really helped me to understand Mia more. He was so sensitive and he obviously cared a great deal for Mia, making her choice that much harder.
The relationship between Mia and Adam was very real. They were great together but faced a lot of hardships, like all couples do. it made it a lot for realistic and therefore I respected it more.
The use of flashbacks was incredibly effective. It brought light relief, intensified the present scene and just heightened every emotion I was feeling. It was a wonderful way of getting to know the secondary characters and how important they were to Mia.
The inner battle Mia faced was intriguing. I understood what a difficult choice and she had be constantly jumping back and forth until the end. I was never sure of her choice. I love that there was a little mystery in it.
The ending was sublime. I haven't read that good an ending in a long while. It was just perfect. It concluded beautifully and left no immediate cliffhanger, yet left some things to the imagination.
Overall it was a really moving book that I thoroughly recommend!
