Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

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 one decision she has left—the most important decision she’ll ever make.

Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, and dying.

Right away, I found a few problems with the book and I was afraid that they would last throughout the story. Fortunately, though there were moments I didn't like, integral parts of the book that weren't my favorite, there were also so many things that were good within this book.

The first thing I noticed was the writing style. I didn't like the writing style, how it described action, and I really really didn't like the dialogue. It wasn't a realistic type of speech and it really made it impossible to get into the story at first. It got a lot better when the storyline focused on the past and near the end.

But that wasn't the only thing that I felt off about in the book. I felt the same when the story focused on Mia's relationships - in the past. When the development of her friendship with Kim was being development, it felt so cliché and it was something I've seen hundreds of times. Her relationship with Adam, I also found just weird. I especially found Mia, her past self at least, very annoying in her relationship with Adam. Every romantic memory just seemed forced to me. I didn't see a romantic spark in them at all. When we were back in the present time, though, I definitely loved the portrayal of their romance a lot more than when we reminisced about it.

The book follows two timelines. The present one, after the tragedy, and the past where she thinks of what her life was like. I really enjoyed the jumping from present to past. I think the scenes that were in the past fit perfectly with what was happening in the present so it wasn't confusing and instead gave an even more complete image of what was happening, who we were seeing, etc.

I really loved the family, both related and not, characters. They were so layered and just so good. I loved how you could see what family and friends added to Mia's life and experiences. They were also there own people. They weren't just added to revolve their own lives around Mia's. They had their own family, their own dreams, their own reactions and it was amazing to see. Though I had issues with Kim and Adam and their connections with Mia, I really loved them on their own.

I think characters were definitely a high point in the book but unfortunately, there was also a low point in them. Though I definitely enjoyed them, I didn't feel very connected to them. Obviously, I felt heartbroken about the situation but, especially with Mia, I was only interested really in her perspective of life and family. I didn't really need her to choose life. I would've been fine with either choice she made. She didn't grip me. I just felt distant. This might've been because the book was short.

Near the end, there was something mentioned that had a bit more of a supernatural element than the rest of the story. I felt that it could have been so important and changed the book a lot. I think it would have been better to be talked about throughout the book rather than to be mentioned briefly in a few sentences. If Forman didn't want to because it would have altered the book too much, it shouldn't have been mentioned at all, in my opinion. This wasn't so much of a downfall but something small that I noticed.

Gayle Forman manages to fit so many beautiful themes and stories within this book. The integration of music was such a nice touch and without it, I don't think this book would've been the same. Even just the mention of some songs that I could actually listen to made me feel more connected to the story and world Forman is creating. Emotions were so good throughout the book. Especially when Mia goes through realization of what's going on in the world around her, especially after the tragedy.

I also loved seeing the choice between giving up and gaining faith. It was so realistic, powerful and, honestly, heart wrenching to think about. Loss is portrayed so perfectly, especially in the second half of the book. The book was very simple. But I think its this simplicity that made the book what it is. It made the story more powerful. This story is so heartbreaking but in such a good way.

The cliffhanger at the end of the book was so good! I usually don't mind cliffhangers at all and this one was so powerful and important and made me want to read the sequel. Which is something I plan on doing.