IF I STAY
AUTHOR: GAYLE FORMAN
PUBLISHER: DUTTON PENGUIN
PUBLICATION DATE: 2009
GENRE: YOUNG ADULT FICTION
PAGES COUNT: 210
FORMAT: PAPERBACK
FOLLOWED BY: WHERE SHE WENT
GOODREADS RATING: 4/5
MY RATING: 3.5/5
OVERVIEW:
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 DIFFICULT CHOICE OF ALL.
PLOT:
After my 2nd year exams got over, I was in a dilemma which book should I start next as because, before my exams i was reading all the fantasy fiction books such as "The Hunger Games", "Trylle Trilogy", "Harry Potter" and etc. So one of my friend suggested me that I should read this book and so I read it and now I am here to share it's review.
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| When I Started Reading!😊 |
The story is about a 17-year-old girl Mia Hall, who is passionate about classical music, a very talented cello player and loves her family a lot. One morning while she and her family was going for a drive to meet her parent's old friends, they met with an accident. Mia's parents died on the spot, while she and her younger brother, critically injured were admitted to a hospital. Mia went into a state of coma, but, however, through this state, she had an out-of-body experience, where she could see all that was happening from the spot of the accident to around the hospital, where she was being treated.
The story is told from Mia's point of view about her past life in a series of flashbacks. In this flashbacks, Mia talks about her best friend Kim, her boyfriend Adam, who lives a very different sort of life from her and plays guitar for a local band 'Shooting Star', about the complications in their relationship, yet how much they love each other and how much she wants to go in the 'Julliard school of music' to fulfill her dreams of becoming a cellist. She was going back and forth thinking about all the happy memories that she had spend with her family and how difficult it would be for her to live without them. Later when, she got to know that her brother Teddy was also no more, she went into a state of dilemma, unable to decide, if she should not live without her family, or if she should live for the love of her grandparents and Adam, because to stay or not to stay would be only her choice.
The story is told from Mia's point of view about her past life in a series of flashbacks. In this flashbacks, Mia talks about her best friend Kim, her boyfriend Adam, who lives a very different sort of life from her and plays guitar for a local band 'Shooting Star', about the complications in their relationship, yet how much they love each other and how much she wants to go in the 'Julliard school of music' to fulfill her dreams of becoming a cellist. She was going back and forth thinking about all the happy memories that she had spend with her family and how difficult it would be for her to live without them. Later when, she got to know that her brother Teddy was also no more, she went into a state of dilemma, unable to decide, if she should not live without her family, or if she should live for the love of her grandparents and Adam, because to stay or not to stay would be only her choice.
MY REVIEW:
If I Stay is a very beautiful story written in a very quirky and cunning way by the author Gayle Forman. The book is like a roller coaster ride comprising of emotions, love, happiness and joy along with sorrow, loss and tears. But I would say i didn't find anything extraordinary and the story was certainly not that overwhelming. I felt it was very slow-paced and cheesy, (for example, a line like this-'He's such a cool guy with his pegged jeans and black low-tops, his effortlessly beat-up punk-rock tees and his subtle tattoos.'). Sometimes I found it little difficult to understand what the author was trying to say and had to re-read the whole line/paragraph just to understand it better. At times I find it really boring. The climax could have been better. Overall i would say it was just an okay read.
.
MY FAVORITE QUOTES FROM THE BOOK:
1. "I don't care," Adam responds. "I only need a second."
"Why? I mean what can you do in a second?"
Adam pauses for a second. His eyes, which are normally a kind of mutt's mixture of gray and brown and green, have gone dark. "So I can show her that I'm here. That someone's still here."
2. "Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you."
3. "Love, it never dies. It never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang on to it. Love can make you immortal."
HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT!😊
If I Stay is a very beautiful story written in a very quirky and cunning way by the author Gayle Forman. The book is like a roller coaster ride comprising of emotions, love, happiness and joy along with sorrow, loss and tears. But I would say i didn't find anything extraordinary and the story was certainly not that overwhelming. I felt it was very slow-paced and cheesy, (for example, a line like this-'He's such a cool guy with his pegged jeans and black low-tops, his effortlessly beat-up punk-rock tees and his subtle tattoos.'). Sometimes I found it little difficult to understand what the author was trying to say and had to re-read the whole line/paragraph just to understand it better. At times I find it really boring. The climax could have been better. Overall i would say it was just an okay read.
.
MY FAVORITE QUOTES FROM THE BOOK:
1. "I don't care," Adam responds. "I only need a second."
"Why? I mean what can you do in a second?"
Adam pauses for a second. His eyes, which are normally a kind of mutt's mixture of gray and brown and green, have gone dark. "So I can show her that I'm here. That someone's still here."
2. "Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you."
3. "Love, it never dies. It never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang on to it. Love can make you immortal."
HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT!😊
It's a beautiful start abhisikta.. and I enjoyed it a lot. I am looking forward for more reviews. 😗
ReplyDeleteThank you so much shreya 😀😘
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you started your blog..Grown up!All the best for ur upcoming works.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much 😘
DeleteI am so glad you started your blog..Grown up!All the best for ur upcoming works.
ReplyDeleteWonderful start! It was lovely reading, at one point I just felt I was in Mia's place. Good reviews indeed have the power to evoke an urge among readers to give it a read. Keep on reviewing!❤
ReplyDeleteThank you so much shreyo! 😘
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWow! Beautifully written abhisikta��
ReplyDeleteSimple and lucid. Keep up the good work. Be confident always. All the best��
Thank you so much dipuu😘
DeleteThank you so much dipuu😘
DeleteGood start. Loved it. Great Job dear!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Oindrila! 😘
DeleteLoved reading it. Beautiful expression of thought :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much 😘
ReplyDeleteThank you so much 😘
ReplyDeleteYou articulate your thoughts very well Abhisikta. Please do post more reviews! Did you see the movie version of "If I Stay"? Also, welcome to Millennial Book Club :)
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot, and no I didn't watch the movie adapation.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAdaptation*
DeleteAdaptation*
DeleteWow. This is so beautiful. Keep up the good work.❤️❤️
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