If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Publishing Info: Black Swan 13^th May 2010

Pages: 272

Star Rating: 5/5

Back Cover Summary:

Life can change in an instant.

A cold February morning . . . a snowy road . . . and suddenly all of Mia’s choices are gone. Except one.

As alone as she’ll ever be, Mia must make the most difficult choice of all.

Gripping, heartrending and ultimately life-affirming, If I Stay will make you appreciate all that you have, all that you’ve lost – and all that might be.

 

This book literally blew me away. When I spotted it on the shelf the main reason I decided to buy it was because I’d heard so much about it. I had high expectations for this book because I’d heard so much positive gushing about how amazing it is. I had my doubts, though. I wondered how a book set in such a short period of time would carry enough plot to keep my attention. But I really could not put this down. It only took me a couple of days to read (it would have been quicker if my schedule had allowed) because I was so caught up in the story.

One of the best things about this book is the connection I felt with the main character. For some reason, I don’t even know how to explain why, I felt like I really, truly cared about Mia. And that’s something I often find lacking in books. I felt such an emotional attachment to Mia throughout the book, almost from the word go which isn’t exactly easy to achieve. All of the other characters are wonderful as well and their personalities are presented so excellently.

Now, one thing some people might not like about this book is the massive number of flashbacks. I myself don’t particularly have anything against them, so long as they have a purpose and aren’t randomly thrown in to fill space. There are a lot of flashbacks in If I Stay but they aren’t boring at all and really help to connect with Mia as they help build a picture of her life before the accident. They help us get to know Mia so that we can sympathise with her more and understand how she is in the situation she is and who her friends and family are and the roles they have had in her life.

A lot of the book was set in the hospital and there is a section where she is in the operating theatre. This is not described in detail, however, and I managed to read through it without any trouble and I don’t really like that sort of thing. Mia does also describe her families’ injuries at the scene of the accident which isn’t all that pleasant but it’s not too bad and is only a very, very small part of the book so don’t let that put you off.

At times when I was reading this I couldn’t help but smile, and at others I thought my heart was going to break. And yes, I cried. Thankfully, though, I was curled up on my sofa at home and could weep to my heart’s content in peace.

This is a really short review because there is genuinely nothing I would change about this book. I loved it to pieces and I can’t think of anything bad to say about it. I can’t recommend it highly enough but tissues may be required at various intervals throughout the book.