Title: If I Stay
Gayle Forman
Genre:
YA, Contemporary
Series:
If I Stay Duet
Published By:
Dutton Books for Young Readers/2009
Pages:
201 pages
Why this book:
A friend recommended it.
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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.
My Review:
Did you ever have one of those bad dreams where your whole family dies in an accident or gets killed or simply fades away like they never existed before and you find yourself on your own. Then you wake up and realize that everything is okay, that it was just a nightmare and your family is perfectly fine, you thank God and pray hard for their safety but deep down you know that no one is safe. You might lose everyone you love in the blink of an eye, you'll watch as everything around you collapses and falls apart and you won't be able to fix those scars no matter how hard you try.
Mia, the talented 17 year-old cello player has it all; a supportive family, a loving boyfriend, a caring best friend, an ambitious dream and her whole life in front of her. Until one day she gets into a car accident and witnesses the death of her parents and later her little brother's. However, she doesn't get out of it fine, she falls into a suspended coma. Mia finds herself detached from her body and torn between choosing to stay in a world without her family or allowing herself to die and leave the person she's in love with -and her dream- behind.
Oh man, this book got me right in the feels. I always tried to avoid reading such genre but I thought it was time for me to get out of my comfort zone. 'If I Stay' is such a heartwarming story, it will make you cry then giggle then cry again and so on. I was in love with Forman's writing, she managed to deliver the emotions to us in the most perfect way. It wasn't an over-dramatic book, I always thought tearjerkers would be very depressing but not this one, it's light but still deep and captivating. The story-line is devised into two combined parts, the day of the accident and the flashbacks. These flashbacks are mainly about her parents, brother, her best friend Kim, her passion for the cello, her love for classical music and most importantly her love for Adam. The romance isn't over the top or forced, Forman informs us on Mia and Adam's relationship in a beautiful way without shifting our attention from the actual events.
The characters:
Mia, the talented 17 year-old cello player has it all; a supportive family, a loving boyfriend, a caring best friend, an ambitious dream and her whole life in front of her. Until one day she gets into a car accident and witnesses the death of her parents and later her little brother's. However, she doesn't get out of it fine, she falls into a suspended coma. Mia finds herself detached from her body and torn between choosing to stay in a world without her family or allowing herself to die and leave the person she's in love with -and her dream- behind.
Oh man, this book got me right in the feels. I always tried to avoid reading such genre but I thought it was time for me to get out of my comfort zone. 'If I Stay' is such a heartwarming story, it will make you cry then giggle then cry again and so on. I was in love with Forman's writing, she managed to deliver the emotions to us in the most perfect way. It wasn't an over-dramatic book, I always thought tearjerkers would be very depressing but not this one, it's light but still deep and captivating. The story-line is devised into two combined parts, the day of the accident and the flashbacks. These flashbacks are mainly about her parents, brother, her best friend Kim, her passion for the cello, her love for classical music and most importantly her love for Adam. The romance isn't over the top or forced, Forman informs us on Mia and Adam's relationship in a beautiful way without shifting our attention from the actual events.
- Mia: Mia is a loving daughter, a passionate cello player, a hardworking student and a caring girlfriend. She's also an introverted person, doesn't express her feeling that well to others and likes bending certain rules in her own shy way. But did I find myself relating to her? In a way or two. I am very timid and i when i put my mind into something, i do it. However, I found myself sympathizing with her more than trying to find what we have in common. If there's one thing I really liked about Mia, it would be her unconditional love for classical music, she inspired me to play an instrument even though i'm not a huge fan of 'Do's and 'Re's and 'Me's.
- Adam: Adam is your typical bookish boyfriend, he is handsome, popular, talented and good-mannered. So what sets him apart from other male contemporary protagonists? If you think about it, nothing actually. Like I said he is typical but we can't not love such typicality, he remains a sweetheart who truly loves his girlfriend even though they don't have that much in common.
- Mia's family: Her parents are a work of art, they're open-minded, caring and supportive. They really remind me of my own parents, their open-mindness and the way they encourage me to persuade what i love makes me feel so blessed to have such great parents. (Mia's parents also remind me of Olive's in Easy A). Her brother is so adorable and sweet and he really loves his sister. The grandparents are very understanding (specially her granddad) and they're aware of her situation in the hospital that's why they don't push to make a decision she's not happy with.
- Kim: Kim is Mia's bestfriend, what I like most about her is her strong-willed nature, the way she wants people to see her as a strong individual, she seems fragile in certain situations but that's only because she's a human being. You can tell she really loves and cares about Mia but it's something you read between the lines. Even though, the book is not written from her perspective, I enjoyed her character far more than Mia's. That's the thing about me, I always find myself relating to people who have traits in their personalities that I want so badly.
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Pros:
Beautifully written, straight to the point, a tearjerker without being too depressing, unique plot, interesting characters and it teaches you a beautiful lesson.
Beautifully written, straight to the point, a tearjerker without being too depressing, unique plot, interesting characters and it teaches you a beautiful lesson.
Cons:
A shocking lack of emotion: Her whole family died and she's wandering around the hospital like it's the most normal thing to do, like nothing happened at all.
Too much flashbacks: I wished the author would focus more on the day of the accident than on the flashbacks, some were unnecessary.
A shocking lack of emotion: Her whole family died and she's wandering around the hospital like it's the most normal thing to do, like nothing happened at all.
Too much flashbacks: I wished the author would focus more on the day of the accident than on the flashbacks, some were unnecessary.
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Quotes:“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.”
“I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard.”
“If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. I'll quit the band, go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too. I was talking to Liz and she said maybe coming back to your old life would be too painful, that maybe it'd be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I'd do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay.”
“Love, it never dies. It never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang on to it. Love can make you immortal”
“Don't be scared...Women can handle the worst kind of pain. You'll find out one day.”
“Girlfriend is such a stupid word. I couldn't stand calling her that. So, we had to get married, so I could call her 'wife'.”
“She didn't care that people called her a bitch. 'It's just another word for feminist,' she told me with pride.”
“You can have your wishes, your plans, but at the end of the day, it's out of your control.”
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Movie Trailer:
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz (Mia), Jamie Blackley (Adam), Mireille Enos (Kat), Liana Liberato (Kim), Joshua Leonard (Denny) and Jakob Davies (Teddy).
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz (Mia), Jamie Blackley (Adam), Mireille Enos (Kat), Liana Liberato (Kim), Joshua Leonard (Denny) and Jakob Davies (Teddy).
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Other Book Covers:
I so so cried reading this book! You should totally start reading the sequel, it's not as moving and touching but it's a lot more tense, like, it got me grumpy faced the whole day hehe
ReplyDelete@Nessie: (still can't figure out how to 'reply' *sobs*) Ouuh I'd love me a grumpy face! Thanks~ I'll read it asap ;)
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