If I Stay by Gayle Forman
Series: If I Stay #1
Published by Penguin Teen on April 6, 2010
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 259
Format: Hardcover
Source: Bought
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads

On a day that started like any other,

Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, admiring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. 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 left. It is 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, dying, loving.

Wow!  If I Stay left me completely speechless.  Gayle Forman is one amazing writer and If I Stay is a beautiful book.

Mia Hall though it was going to be a good day; no school and a family outing.  What could be better?  Things take a turn for the worse though when Mia and her family are in a devastating car crash and Mia is left in a coma.  Life doesn’t look so great for her anymore.  Things will never be the same.  Still, she has a choice to make.  Should she stay or should she go?

If I Stay is probably one of the saddest books that I have ever read.  I knew when I started it that it wasn’t going to be your happily-ever-after but I had no idea how much I would cry.  Still, it is one of the most beautifully written books that I have ever read and I can’t help but recommend it.

The way it’s written is different but it was a great way to show all the characters, not just Mia.  Stories are told through flashbacks of Mia’s memories and every memory showed something new about Mia and her loved ones.  It wasn’t hard to get drawn into the story.

Overall, If I Stay is a book that I highly recommend to everyone, young and old.  I know for a fact that my mom loved it too and she is a very picky reader.  I just know that everyone will find something to love about this book.  I can’t believe I waited this long to read it.

What others are saying about If I Stay:

The Book Parade’s review: “If I Stay was a relatively short read but it was packed with emotion and beautifully written.”

Finding Bliss in Books’ review: “While this story was set in an insanely short spanse of time, Gayle Forman still manages to create a beautiful novel so effortlessly that I grew to love.”

The Streetlight Reader’s review: “I desperately wanted to like this book since so many of friends have loved it, but I just couldn’t bring myself to like it or love it.”