Thursday, August 21, 2014

Review: If I Stay (If I Stay #1) by Gayle Forman

I was lucky enough to go to an advance screening of the movie yesterday and it did not disappoint. My sister and I both cried :( I thought today, I would share the review I wrote when I read the book. I decided not to hide the spoilers because they're really very mild ones. 

*Review contains mild spoilers.

If I Stay cover
If I Stay (If I Stay #1)
by Gayle Forman
April 6, 2010
262 pages
 

Goodreads Summary:
On a day that started like any other, Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, admiring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. In an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has left. It is the most important decision she'll ever make.

Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting, and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, dying, loving.


 Review

If I Stay was heartbreakingly beautiful. I've heard of this book for a  long time but I finally decided to read it when I  watched the trailer for the movie. It looked so good I knew I had to read the book first. Even though this wasn't a very long book, it was loaded with raw emotions.

I was torn for Mia. On a normal day, to be happy one moment and then have the people you love so dearly ripped from you in the next is truly unbearable. Even more tragic is the fact that she was able to witness every moment after the accident unfold in an out-of-body experience. She knows her parents and Teddy are gone and she doesn't want to live without them. Yet it was extremely difficult for her to let go knowing how much her family, Kim and Adam loved her.

Every memory she revisited kept me turning the pages searching for more. There were good and bad ones but she treasured every one of them. Her relationship with her family was adorable. They were so loving and supportive of her. Even when she was in a coma, her grandfather understood she would not want to wake up to this harsh reality. I was tearing up when he told her it was ok to move on. She was unconscious but he still understood her. How hard it would be for her if she woke up. Cue the tears.
I struggled alongside Mia but every moment was worth it.

Gayle Forman's writing was beautiful. It really makes you think. I honestly didn't know what choice Mia would make until the very last few pages. If I Stay is a book with very rich and emotional impact. No words can easily translate those feelings so just go read it!

10 comments:

  1. Eileen, great review. I've seen the movie trailer too and you've made me want to read the book :)

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  2. Awesome review! This book sounds like it will make me bawl.
    Monique @ Mo_Books

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  3. This was my first Foreman book and I loved it. I can't wait to watch the movie and I am excited that you loved it so much. I just know I will need a box of tissues handy when I watch it.

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    1. Mine too! Yes, I definitely suggest having tissue handy :)

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  4. I loved this book soooo much. It's just one of those books that stays with you. I remember the first time I read it and I'll never forget :)

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    1. It definitely stays with you. I don't think I'll be able to forget it either ;)

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  5. I adored this book! The book was so sad and yet so beautiful at the same time. I really want to see the movie! Did the movie stay true to the book?

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    1. Agreed! It did for me but I read the book awhile back so I may have missed some things :)

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