Review; If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Grade: 4.5 Butterflies
Name: If I Stay (If I Stay #1)
Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: Hardcover, 201

Goodreads Summary

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 heart-achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make, and the ultimate choice Mia commands.

    I've heard so many things about this book. It is so hyped up, almost everybody who read it, love it. And I stayed away from this book for two reasons. A) Because it was so hyped up and almost all the hyped up contemporaries I've read disappointed me. B) because I am not a big contemporary fan, because I don't like books where all it is is the main character thinking. Which this book sounded like. Why I finally read it, because it was a surprise gift from my Mom. So, I finally read this and boy am I glad I did!! It was great!!  it says something about when I fall in love with a contemporary. That happens once in a blue moon.

   I am not going to lie, the first half was a little boring. All that happen was Mia shell shocked of what happens, then flashback, then her looking at everybody,Flashback, her sitting in th-Flashback! It was basically flashback with flashback and her sitting in the hospital wondering what the hell was happening. And at one point I almost put this down, I didn't feel infested in the story at all, but I kept reading and I am glad I did.

    Right before the half way point is when the writing got emotional. Of course it was emotional in the beginning, I was crying when the tragic thing happened, but the words themselves didn't have that tragic emotional tone to it. And right when they did, It got so much better and conveniently this is also where Mia starts thinking about the choice she has to make. This is where I fell in love with this book, you could feel, not only Mia pain, but everybody else. Their pain for losing them and their fear of losing Mia. And I didn't care about the flashbacks anymore, because I liked how they told the story of Mia's life. I loved how the story was Mia in the hospital, but it was also the story of her life. And the author write it perfectly. I loved it!!!

    The characters themselves where great. You got so connected with them through the flashbacks. And I think that's also why the first half was boring, was because I didn't know these characters, I didn't care, really. However, as the story went on, you got to see more of Mia's life and you got attached with these characters. So, then you cared about their pain, you cared about whether or not Mia lives.

    And the ending was perfect. The author wrote it perfectly, the last two pages where full of so much emotion and you could feel everything Mia was feeling. And the author wrote it so you respected Mia's choice at the end. You where sad, but at the same time you where happy of the unknown. Like Mia was.

    Why I am giving this 4.5 Butterflies instead of 5 is because of the first part. It didn't have the spark that the second half does. So, I couldn't give it 5. Even though at the end I really wanted to. And I need to get my hands on the next book!! I need to know what's in Adam's head and how his life is after this.

    I am so glad I read this!! It was great, it takes you on a rollercosters of emotions, right when your sure you know her choice and your heart starts breaking the author gives you a nugget of hope that makes read faster, because you need to no what happens. And if you don't want to read this because of the hype, just throw all you expectations out the window, because the plot isn't what you think it will be. I thought that this book was going to be completely different then it turned out to be. Even though with all the hype surrounding it, this book took me by surprise. Just read it, It is great and wonderful. Read it. Now.

This book got...

4.5 Butterflies

Beautiful, this is a great book. 

Recommended if you like: The Perfect Chemistry series, Emotional stories, Contemporaries.


That's my review.
Happy reading.