If I Stay by Gayle FormanPaperback, 259 pages
Penguin Group
April 2010
On a day that started like any other...
Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, adoring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. Then, in an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has lefy--the most important decision she'll ever make.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I went in to this book not knowing what to expect from it. After the first few pages of reading it I was hooked. I loved how this book didn't just take place with her watching her body but it did flashbacks and showed what she was thinking in her mind as she tried to decide if she wanted to stay or die.
This book brought me to tears a few times. Having her flashbacks and what was going on in the present tense really brought you closer to her and her family. So as she realizes what's going and what is happening you begin to feel the same sad feeling she does.
This was a really good book. Even though I hate cliffhanger endings I got to say I am glad the sequel comes out soon. But the way it was ended was a good way to have a cliffhanger. You don't know what she decides. Even though you don't know that the ending could be easily taken both ways. She chose to stay or she chose to die. It really makes you look at your life and wonder if you were in her state and whether you lived or died was in your hands what you would chose.
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO THIS ONE ANSWER QUESTION:
If you were in the hospital having this out of body experience and if you lived or died was really your decision what would you chose? Why?
Great post!
ReplyDeleteWhat a good review. I'd never heard of this one.
ReplyDeleteHi Lesa! Just dropping by to return the follow. Great reviews you have here. Thanks for coming by my blog!
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of this book before your review but it sounds fantastic. It seems obvious to me now that I would choose to live, but it seems like the book will make that decision see not quite so simple. Adding this one to my list!
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog from ... somewhere. Ack! Can't remember, but I'm glad to have stumbled across it.
ReplyDeleteI started IF I STAY, but haven't gotten back to it. Looks like I need to get on the ball!
I LOVE this book. I was actually just rereading it yesterday because the teasers for Where She Went have been driving me crazy! haha
ReplyDeleteI can't wait.
As for the question, well, it's really hard to say.
Most people would choose to live, but it's easier said than done.
Like Mia says in the book, Dying's easy. Living is hard.
Great review, btw! (:
Depends, if I am lying there and am going to be paralyzed for the rest of my life, I might just let go. Everyone is already there and sad, so just let them get it over with then. If prospects are for a full recovery, I'd stay, at this moment, I have quite a few things I haven't accomplished that I'd like to do. I have a disease that sneaks up on me and makes me wish I were dead sometimes, so I choose life for all the times I couldn't get out of bed or didn't want to get out of bed.
ReplyDeleteGreat review. Makes me want to read it knowing there's a cliffhanger. In this type of book, I want a cliffhanger.