If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay (If I Stay, #1)

by Gayle Forman

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make—and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

Reviewed by anastasia on

3 of 5 stars

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Full Review on my blog!

After a disastrous car accident, Mia finds herself looking down at her own battered body, barely alive. This is one case where, immediately, you get a feel of who these people are, their realness, the love they have for each other. With only a few minutes of getting to know them before the accident, I already felt a connection with Mia and her whole family, turning an already emotional novel into a gutting one. Mia’s loss and grief is tangible through Gayle’s effortless writing style. It’s a tragic tale of unimaginable life changing loss that will make you thankful for everything and everyone you have in life.

I really did love reading If I Stay, but for the most part I felt like I was forcing myself to get through to the ending. There were certain aspects of it that drew me to continue reading, but really I was expecting more. I think the back and forth from the present to the past was what threw me off. I definitely was more interested in reading about what was currently going on rather then anything from the past.

The ending is also something that makes me want to rate this book higher than I did. For some reason it just hit me in a way that I needed to buy the second book to this series right away, which I didn’t think I was going to because of how I felt during the majority of this book.If I Stay shows us the importance of family and friends that, together, make up our lives. I recommend it!

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 14 February, 2017: Finished reading
  • 14 February, 2017: Reviewed