If I Stay by Gayle Forman, published and available to purchase.
Read: September 2014
Genre: Young Adult/Romance/Contemporary
Source: Purchased
#Pages: 304
Get It Now: Wordery
Goodreads Synopsis: In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces – to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heart-wrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family.
The Review
This was an interesting read for me, and this review will likely be completely incoherent, because I don’t know what to make of this book. On the surface, yes – this was a good read, but when I try to pinpoint what I liked or disliked, I get kind of stuck. The relationship between Mia and Adam is thankfully not an instalove, and I adored the parentals and family dynamic. it was nice to see a family that wasn’t falling apart at the seams in a YA Contemporary, along with characters who didn’t have complete crises happening in their lives. Well, prior to the accident anyways. I guess this book is the “before” when it comes to damaged characters with issues in their backgrounds…
I know Jamie @ The Perpetual Page Turner absolutely adores this book, and everything else by Forman, so I went into it with pretty high expectations, which may have been my downfall. If you want to take a deeper look at this novel then it is a very poignant read, and I found some elements of it to be a trigger for me. Having had a mother who was in intensive care, and literally made it to the edge and back, I can tell you that those elements of the story were very real. Which is possibly why this book didn’t impact on me the way it did on others. You’d think it would be the other way around, right? I tend to block those thoughts and feelings a lot, not necessarily in a negative way, just in a “let’s not think about that sort of thing for too long” way.
Outside of the novel, the story really makes you think about those moments that seem insignificant at the time, but end up being the moments you dwell on most. It makes you think about those uncontrollable scenarios, that can be as brief as a few seconds, that really can and do change the rest of your life. And that’s a pretty big (and scary) thought to come from any novel, let alone a YA.
I enjoyed the flashbacks to learn more about the other characters in the story. Forman writes some great characters, who all have a unique voice, and not only did I love the parents (which resulted in just a smidge of heartbreak *sarcasm*) but I loved Mia’s best friend too. Oh, and her grandfather, some of his scenes with Mia were particularly gut-wrenching.
The Rating
3/5
Although there is little I would pinpoint as being “wrong” with this story, when I finished it I questioned if I really wanted to read the companion novel, Where She Went. I have heard that the second novel is even better but I don’t know if I would buy it, or loan it just so I can find out what happens in the story. Some mixed feelings on this one, that I find hard to put into words. I just watched the trailer for the movie having read the book, and it killed me. A two minute trailer. That song! I love that song!! If the movie is done well, it could really do the book proud.
Have you read If I Stay? Link me up to your reviews if you have!
Confessions of a Book Geek 
I actually loved Where She Went even more than I did If I Stay. And not only because it talks about the aftermath of that pivotal scene in the first book but also because it was for me, the fulfillment of the whole story line, who went in a direction that I really, really appreciated. I hope you’ll still be able to pick up the sequel. Thanks for the review, Rachel! 🙂
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That’s good to know. I wasn’t sure if Where She Went was a continuation of the story, or the same story from Adam’s perspective, so I checked it out and now I want to read it, just so the story-line is complete. I wonder does the movie handle book 2 as well?
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Yay, I hope you can read it soon so I can hear your thoughts on it. 🙂 I haven’t seen the movie yet but from what I know, the movie covers only the first book.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the book, I think once I finished I kind of expected to absolutely adore it like everyone else, and I enjoyed it and do tell others it’s good when asked, but it’s not a favourite it was just a good read. I finished Where She Went a few days ago. I’d avoided it because I wasn’t in love with this book, but I can tell you now it seems like a completely different book. It’s written in a similar way to If I Stay, but it’s from Adam’s perspective and there was just something about it that I enjoyed more. I would definitely say it’s a book you should read if you get a chance if you can borrow it whatever and thanks for the great review, always nice to see someone with a different opinion about such a talked about book.
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That’s exactly it, Becks!! If someone was to ask I’d recommend it, and I’m glad I read it, but it wasn’t “wow!”. I’ve heard a few people say they prefer Adam’s book, so I might try to get it from the library? I’m thinking of making the library a new years resolution for me, instead of buying quite so much, to read more from the library and buy only if I love it. I want my personal collection to be the books I adore, because I’m finding it hard to let go of the mediocre reads once I own them… what if I want to read them again?! Lol Thanks for commenting! 🙂
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I loved If I Stay and Where She Went. I thought they were both amazing but I was disappointed by the movie. I didn’t find it to be as powerful or as poignant as the book.
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I’ve heard a couple of not-so-great reviews of the movie, which is disappointing! Glad you loved the books so much, I think they were just over-hyped for me. You know when people go on and on about it, and you read it, and it’s good but doesn’t quite blow your socks off?? Though I have to say I read Throne of Glass this week, and oh my word! I’m in love!!
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See I’d never heard anything about the books before I read them, maybe thats why I enjoyed them so much. I was in your position when it came to We Were Liars – it was good but man was it over-hyped!
Throne of Glass can never be over-hyped. It is worth all the hype and more!
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I had heard a LOT of people had read We Were Liars, but no one spoiled it for me. I enjoyed it, and want to reread it to understand it more, but it wasn’t a 5/5 read for me (but then few are). I’m looking forward to writing my review for Throne of Glass, and when that happens you KNOW it was a great read. It was a slow burner though, until about halfway in I was a bit meh, as soon as I finished it I went online and ordered book 2 and 3, and the prequel novel. I usually buy all the books in a series to marathon them, but with Throne of Glass I thought I’d just try book 1 because fantasy isn’t a genre I read a lot of, but man I’m hoooooked!! R x
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I know and everyone says it amazing and I was just like, “It was alright, come on now lads let’s not exaggerate…” still likely to pick up more by E. Lockhart though.
Oh I was the same! When I started reading Throne of Glass I thought it was good but I wasn’t overly obsessed but the second I finished I bought the Crown of Midnight ebook and started reading straight away. I’m actually devastated that I don’t own a physical copy of it! It’s definitely on my to-buy list! The novellas are just wonderful too! The only dodgy one is the Assassin and the Healer but the last one if just heartbreaking…you’ll love it (You’re soul will be crushed but you’ll still love it.)
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I bought them all on The Book People, they were about £5 each after I used a discount code, and I got 12% cashback on my purchase too, with Quidco… lol I was never a big eBook fan, but I would buy the odd one cheap (I got We Were Liars for 99p in the Amazon Summer Sale), but since I read this article on eBook ownership and whatnot, it’s kind of put me off even more. I’m gonna post about it soon. R x
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I look forward to reading it and you’re Throne of Glass review!
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I wish I could remember this book – I read it a long time ago. I remember reading the second book, too and I wasn’t all that impressed with it. I would like to see the movie sometime. Glad you enjoyed it enough. Great review!
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That’s not a great sign! And that’s kind of how I feel already. I did this review about a week after reading the book, and while I enjoyed the book well enough at the time while reading it, there’s not a huge amount I think will stay with me in a year or two. Some but not as much as I expected. I think I’ll try to get my hands on the second book just to see where it goes, and I’m looking forward to the movie to see how the adapt it. Thanks 🙂
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I really enjoyed this book, but the first time I read it I had 0 expectations. I’d got it for £1 in Sainsburys and there was no hype surrounding it at all. I don’t know what my experience would have been like if I had read it after hearing all the hype. I did really enjoy the sequel too, it’s very different to If I Stay though.
Saw the movie and really didn’t like it. It was okay but it was nothing special and far too cheesy.
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Uhhh, such a deal!! I’m tempted to read the second one, and that’s such a shame, because the trailer looked good! R x
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[…] can check out my reviews of Louder Than Words (3.5/5) – Throne of Glass (5/5) – If I Stay (4/5), Far From You (4.5/5), We Were Liars (4/5) and my joint review with Brandie for Come Back […]
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