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If I Stay (Paperback)
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Short Description for If I StayA sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make, and the ultimate choice one teenage girl commands, this emotionally arresting novel is sure to captivate readers.
Full description- Publisher: SPEAK
- Published: 06 April 2010
- Format: Paperback 272 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Fiction | Family | Death & Bereavement
- ISBN 13: 9780142415436 ISBN 10: 014241543X
- Sales rank: 6,799
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Reviews for If I Stay
Beautiful
A deeply moving, heartbreakingly beautiful and wonderfully realistic look at family, loss, tragedy, grief and love. Both If I Stay and Where She Went, the follow-up are must reads. Come and check out my full reviews of them both at www.ourbookclub.net.au by Natalie Ward
Reviewed by Sarah Bean the Green Bean Teen Queen for TeensReadToo.com
Mia has a lot to love in life. She is a cellist who could be on her way to Julliard. She has a wonderful, loving, and supportive family. And she has a boyfriend who is perfect. But as wonderful as Mia's life is, she has choices to make. Should she go to Julliard and leave everyone behind?
When a terrible accident occurs, Mia suddenly finds herself with only one choice left - should she stay?
This book is just WOW! Do not read this in public because this one will bring tears to your eyes - I'm warning you! That doesn't mean it doesn't have humor though, because there were many times I found myself laughing out loud. This is an intense story that will not only appeal to teens, but have a lot of crossover adult appeal, as well.
Gayle Forman does an excellent job going from Mia's present to Mia's past and drawing the reader in so they truly understand her love for the cello, her family, and Adam, her boyfriend. As I was reading, I felt like I really got to know Mia and her family and found myself grieving along with Mia - the writing is just that powerful.
IF I STAY is a short read, but it packs so much in and I wanted to savor every moment. At times I found myself reading slower and drinking in the words because I didn't want the story to end.
The story centers around music: Mia with her cello, Adam with his band, and Mia's dad being a drummer, and Gayle Forman's writing felt lyrical. She was able to capture music and put it into a book. I don't know how to describe it, but it was like I was reading a song - hopefully that makes sense! Music is such an important part of the book, Gayle Forman has included a playlist for the book on her website. I loved checking out the songs that went along with the story and listening to them when Mia did.
IF I STAY is a must-read. The themes of love, loss, grief, and hope are so powerful and beautifully written that this story will stay with you long after you finish the last page.
*Gold Star Award Winner! by TeensReadToo- Top review
An incredible story
If I Stay is a beautiful story full of questions, hard decisions, emotions and basically soaked with sadness. Prepare the tissues because you are going to need them.
In the first chapter we meet Mia and her family. Due to a snowfall the classes are suspended and they decide to pick the car.
The result is obvious: they have an accident and her live is about to change forever. Mia is aware of all that happens around her and since she can still listen to the radio she thinks it wasnt very serious, she's wrong. She discovers her father, her mother and herself lying on the ground and they look really bad.
When the medical team arrive they move Mia to a hospital. But Mia is not really inside her body, she is a mere observer of everything that will happen around her.
Little by little we will see fragments of her past, touching little stories that will encourage or discourage her to stay alive. After all, she must decide whether to stay or not in this world. It's a tough decision to leave behind her friends and her boyfriend, but if she stays she will have to put up with the loss of her family. Will choose the easy way or the most complicated one?
It's a beautiful story despite being quite sad. The author has managed to blend perfectly the past and the present and even its a sad story i've smiled once or twice.
In general, it is a very delicate issue and I like the way the author has dealt with it in so few pages. She has managed to create a story that hooks you from the beginning.
If you want to read a shocking story, realistic and very touching, this book is made for you. by ambika If I Stay is a novel about choices, about decisions, about love
My thoughts: Even though tragedy strikes, If I Stay is not a novel about death but about life.
The story unfolds in two parallel levels: the present where Mia is in the hospital after the accident and the past, where through little snippets of flashbacks we get glimpses of Mia's life and memories. All the small, seemingly ordinary moments of her life, but which are truly the ones that one remembers when looking back on their life: the family barbeques, goofing around with her little brother, her first date and kiss and how she became best friends with Kim.
Gayle Forman's writing flows naturally and Mia's reminiscing has you turning the pages while losing all notion of the outside world and time.
One of the highlights of the novel are the strong characterizations: even the supporting characters leap off the page and the reader will remember even those minor characters who only made one chapter appearances (like Kerry and his unforgettable funeral memory).
The novel is narrated by Mia, who is a very serious young girl, more mature than her 17 years would let one presume. She is quiet but intense, focused and dedicated, loyal and genuine. She feels a bit out of place in her family as she has dark hair and eyes while her mom, dad and brother are all fair in colouring, they like rock and punk music while she is a classical music lover; but despite this sense of sticking out she deeply loves her family and feels best while with them. All the family scenes are fun and moving: the quiet affection and love shines through and it is clear this family has a great time even when doing mundane things.
Mia's parents are "cool parents": her dad was a musician and songwriter in a band until Mia's little brother was born and her mom was a rebel music fan/hippy, but even since they became "grown up parents", they kept this young, rebel, cool side of them and are still young at heart. All the light, funny banters in the car, at dinner, in the garden give a sense of this family better than any lengthy description could.
What I loved was how in spite of the shortness of the novel, If I Stay managed to show all the different facets of Mia's life: her life with her family, her grandparents, her best friend Kim, her boyfriend Adam and then of course with her great love: music. Mia's relationship to all these sides of her life was presented and laid out and the reader got a picture of what made Mia Mia. And I loved how these different facets of her life got equal importance and "screen time", that her friendship with Kim was not downplayed to leave more room for the love story with Adam, but rather how these different sides of her life were all interwoven.
I cannot highlight one part of the novel I liked better than the other, because Mia's love story with Adam was beautiful and touching, her friendship with Kim was funny and cute and her relationship with her parents and her little brother was heartwarming.
If I Stay is a wonderfully written and structured novel. All the flashbacks are meaningful and important, they have a role to support the present and show the reason behind Mia's indecision, feelings and doubts.
Verdict: If I Stay is a novel about choices, about decisions, about love. Because it is love that will ultimately sway the balance and make Mia decide either way. If I Stay is a moving and deep novel, and through the sad and heartbreaking loss of Mia it will still manage to make you feel alive and happy.
I absolutely loved If I Stay. It was a wonderful, emotional read, one I would definitely recommend for everyone. (It was also exciting to read that Gayle had no idea how If I Stay would end when writing the novel, that adds more to the thrill of the story.)
So imagine how happy I was when I saw that Gayle Forman is planning the sequel! Here is what she had to say about it: "It's called WHERE SHE WENT. It takes place a little more than three years later and it's told from Adam's point of view. And that's all I'm saying. It will come out in the spring of 2011 from Dutton."
Plot: 8/10
Characters: 9/10
Ending: 8/10
Writing: 9/10
Cover: 10/10 by Stella (Ex Libris)
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