Book Review – If I Stay (If I Stay #1) by Gayle Forman

Almost 4 stars.

“If I stay. If I live. It’s up to me.
All this business about medically induced comas is just doctor talk. It’s not up to the doctors.
It’s not up to the absentee angels. It’s not even up to god who, if He exists, is nowhere around right now. It’s up to me.”

I have to say this book was not what I expected it to be….

One completely normal, happy day, Mia’s world is shattered when a truck hits the car she was in killing her family and putting her in a coma. The book follows the course of one full day while she is in the hospital having an out of body experience, seeing herself, seeing the aftermath of the accident and the effect it has on the lives around her but unable to directly do anything. The story is almost told in reverse with snippets of memories from her life adding weight to every scene in the present.

I know a lot of people told me that this book was a real tear-jerker but for some reason, I didn’t connect very intensely to the characters in that way. I teared up twice but never actually cried. The story was good, and kept me turning the pages, but I still never fully connected. Maybe it was because the accident happened so early in the book that I didn’t feel a strong enough connection with the characters to be moved to tears, it kinda of just felt like a tragic situation where I was sad it happened, but didn’t know enough about the people involved to feel shattered by it.

If you are a musician or a big fan of music, you will probably connect a lot more to this book. Music is a huge part of Mia, Adam (her boyfriend), and her parent’s lives and plays a big part in their world.

I think honestly, by the end of the book, the characters that I felt closest to were Mia’s parents. I loved them!! They were just so awesome! I actually would love to read their love story despite the tragic ending.

I was also under the impression that this was a romance, but it’s not one exactly. Its more of a YA story with some romance but without it being the focus of the book.

I heard somewhere that it was going to be made into a movie. I do think it would make a beautiful movie!! In fact, in many ways, it almost felt like I was reading a movie if that makes any sense lol.

I’m going to read the sequel next and see how it goes… stay tuned 🙂

READING ORDER

Book #1: IF I STAY

My Review | Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback

Book #2: WHERE SHE WENT

My Review | Buy on Kindle | Buy in Paperback