I hope you guys are having a great Friday so far. I’m kicking off this Friday with a book review of If I Stay by Gayle Forman, the book that you guys voted for us to read for the May PBF Book Club.
Brief Summary
Mia, a 17-year-old girl living in Oregon, has a bright future ahead of her, a boyfriend who adores her and a supportive and loving family. In an instant her whole life changes following a car accident that kills both of her parents and leaves Mia and her brother Teddy clinging to life. Following the accident, Mia realizes that she is watching herself being pulled from the scene, flown to the hospital and moved into surgery. She knows she’s not dead, but understands that she’s not exactly alive either. Mia observes everything after the accident and watches as her boyfriend, extended family and best friend visit her in the hospital. If I Stay follows Mia’s thoughts as she realizes that she has a choice: Does she stay on earth and live her life, or decide to leave her life behind?
My Review (With Spoilers)
When I first bought If I Stay and a quote from USA Today on the cover said that the novel would “appeal to fans of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight,” I assumed this meant the main female character would be a lot like Bella, who frustrated me like crazy. Thankfully Mia, the 17-year-old girl who narrates If I Stay is nothing like Bella. Mia is deeply in love, but has goals and dreams that are important to her. (I haven’t read the sequel to If I Stay Yet, but I’m really hoping she goes to New York!) She’s an accomplished cellist and bonds with her boyfriend initially over their love of music. Music plays a big role in If I Stay and I found this theme really unique and beautiful.
The author immediately made me fall in love with Mia’s family. Her quirky father, stubborn and passionate mother and adorable little brother, Teddy. Within the first 20 pages, I already adored the family and mourned for Mia when her parents were killed in the car accident. I rooted for Teddy to pull through. But for as much as I loved these characters, I never felt that emotionally invested in this novel.
To me, If I Stay fell a little flat in some ways. I felt like I was reading the words on the pages, willing myself to feel more, and while my heart broke for Mia, I wish I could say I felt more invested in the characters. The book is really short, so perhaps more character development would’ve helped? I read it in two days and it kept me entertained, but it left me wanting more.
I liked the way the author switched back and forth between scenes at the hospital and flashbacks to Mia’s life before the accident and enjoyed getting to know the characters more and learning more about Mia’s relationship with Adam. I enjoyed the second half of this book more than the first and found myself more interested in the story toward the end. As for the ending itself, I really, really liked it. Though I know there’s a sequel, I’m not sure I will read it because I like the way the author ended this book in a way that allowed me to know that Mia would live, but let me form my own conclusions about the direction her life would take after the accident.
Blogger Link Up
You can find additional reviews of If I Stay on the following blogs:
- Just A One Girl Revolution
- Chilli Chocolate Love
- Life, Fitness and Me
- For Love and Travel
- Kristina Masten
- Ready. Set. Breathe: A Balancing Act
- Steph’s Miles
- Run, Eat, Play
- Sprouts ‘n’ Squats
- Chelsea Eats Treats
- Hungry Healthy Girl
- Ashley Unfiltered
- Sugar Coated Sheridan
- PNW Runner
- Sarah’s Book Shelves
- Quarter Life Love
- Run With Perseverance
- I Like Big Books
Discussion Questions
- Were you rooting for Mia to stay or to go? How did you feel about the ending?
- Did you find yourself more interested in the present-day scenes where Mia is in the hospital or the flashback scenes that reveal more about Mia’s life before the accident?
- How did you feel about Mia and Adam’s relationship?
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
I would definitely recommend reading the sequel!! It was one of those books I couldn’t put down.
Really hoping Mia goes to Juilliard! 🙂
I was rooting for her to stay, but at the same time, I can’t say I would’ve blamed her if she didnt. I think I will read the sequel soon.
I really loved the way we learned more about the family, but jumping back and forth between the present and the past always bothers me a little bit and I was trying to figure out what was going to happen so bad, I felt like I FLEW through the book and probably missed some of the best parts. I don’t know if I want to read the sequel either, especially after I read the synopsis of it….We’ll see!
I describe the book as an “easy read”. Like you stated, I didn’t feel emotionally connected to the characters. I love when a book makes me feel like I am living that story right along with all the characters and I didn’t get that. At first, the picture perfect family seems far too unrealistic for me. Each character gets along perfectly and that just doesn’t happen in real life. I am glad she decided to live at the end though.
I totally agree with this: “I love when a book makes me feel like I am living that story right along with all the characters and I didn’t get that.”
I have this book on my Amazon wish list… I can’t wait to read it! I skipped over the review, since it said that it had a few spoilers. I can’t wait to read the book and come back to read your review.
I didn’t read this book but I’m currently reading The Fault In Our Stars. Have you done a review on that one? I didn’t see in it your book section.
Yes! Here’s my review: https://www.pbfingers.com/2013/04/04/the-fault-in-our-stars/ I’ll add the link to my Books page now!
Thanks! I thought I remembered seeing it at one point. 🙂
I felt the same way at the ending of this book. Totally forgot to write a review. Oops! Although I went through the book pretty fast, I found myself content with this ending as well. I didn’t have the urge to go buy the second book which means I really wasn’t fully entertained throughout the book. I felt like things were really dry sometimes, and you said it write when I felt I could be feeling MORE from it. It was a good read but definitely not too memorable!
I feel exactly the same way..just meh. I thought the accident scene was a little graphic. I wasn’t compelled to read the second one. And I agree the music theme was really unique.
I really enjoyed this book. I was hoping she would stay, and loved the flashbacks. It made me connect to her family. It made me feel for her and why she would want to leave. I recommend the sequel and “Just One Day” by the same author. It will also have a sequel.
Haven’t read this yet! but looking forward to it, I’m on the kindle wait-list at my library!
ps. Had to share something funny. I notice you make a lot of stir fry type dishes with chicken sausage, well last night a whipped up a sorta kinda chicken sausage stir fry. My boy friend asked “This is good, is it from the PB Finger blog you’re always reading?” You’re a household name. 😉
I haven’t read this book. But recent reads that you might truly enjoy are:
– On the Island (quick, light summery read)
– Gone Girl (excellent)
– Before I go to Sleep (I didn’t want it to end)
I have not been a part of the book club, but reading this review reminded me a lot of the book “Before I Fall” by Lauren Oliver. It is a longer book, and its honestly the best book I have ever read; I stayed awake for 36 hour straight to finnish!
Maybe if not part of the book club, I would recommend anyone who even slightly enjoyed this book to read “Before I Fall.” You will not regret it!
I loved this book! I ended up reading the sequel, after having the same concerns that you did and I actually loved the sequel more than If I Stay.
I was hoping that Mia would stay too. It is hard when I begin reading a book only to find out its apart of a small series. Then it kind of is a spoiler. Are you going to read #2? Overall, I wish more would have happened in the book.
It was a great holiday read, but I agree it lacked that extra layer of substance. Still, as it’s aimed at young adults, I suppose this shouldn’t be a surprise. Part of me actually wanted her to go at some points, just because she’d had such a happy family unit, but I found I was glad she stayed in the end. I’m not sure I want to read the sequel.
And thank you, Julie, for linking to my review 🙂 !
I didn’t realize there was a sequel I kind of like how it eluded to what happened without being explicit so not sure if I would read the sequel or not but a lot of the comments describe how good it is.
I read it a couple of weeks ago while it went pretty fast, and shed my fair share of tears at all the sappy moments, it felt, as others mentioned, a little one-dimensional. At no one point did I think she was actually going to choose door #2 so the ending almost felt a bit anti-climatic. It reminded me a lot of Nicholas Sparks style novels where it’s just a sappy story with no real depth to the characters or their lives. Not that I didn’t like it, I did, but it had the chance to be a lot better.
I strongly encourage you to read the sequel. I find it way better than If I stay and it really develops Mia’s, but especially Adam’s character. I loved it!
I forgot to add that the new book of the Kite runner’s author Khaled Hosselini is out. It is called “And the mountains echoed”. I started reading and it is reaaaly good! How about next book club? 🙂
is this a Young Adult book?
Yes! Which I think explains why it doesn’t go too deep in to the issues.
The sequel is one of my all-time favourite books – definitely recommend!!!
Hello, Julie.
I try to read along with most of your books. I think it is a great way to find new reads. Have you read Born To Run? I don’t typically read running books. I find that they can be ‘I’m going to state my fact and this is why I’m right, however Born To Run is a great read. I offer refer to it often. Thanks for your blog-I truly enjoy it.
I always love seeing book recommendations – and I just ordered this one! 🙂 Thanks!!!!
I wanted her to stay, only because I was heartbroken for her grandparents. I felt like they had already endured enough so I wanted someone to stick around with them. I can’t imagine having your whole family gone in an instant. I didn’t really care about Mia’s and Adam’s relationship, though reading the sequel it is all about that.
I read this book after you mentioned that it would be the book for May and I breezed right through it like others have said. I have to disagree with you, though, about the emotional connection to the book. One of the main themes of the book is learning appreciation for one’s life. The narrator is very young and has only begun to realize how passionately she is loved by everyone around her, and I thought the way the author slowly rolled out Mia’s experiences and alternated them with her out-of-body observations allowed us to tag along on her journey of accelerated emotional maturity. I loved that she had a very simple, almost childish love for everyone in her life that didn’t really evolve until she realized that choosing to go on living would also require greater emotional investment in her remaining loved ones, made all the more risky by the loss of her immediate family to love her unconditionally. I think some of the complaints about lack of emotional connection with Mia stem from the fact that Mia herself, while very mature in matters of her future and goals, had not had to be emotionally mature because she really hadn’t been in an emotionally demanding situation until the events of the book.
I completely agree about loving the use of music as a common thread throughout the book. I love it when authors do that, I think it gives books a very interactive quality. And you can believe I was crying like a baby when Adam played that music for her. 🙂
i just got done reading it…gosh i was pulling both ways…totally wanted her with her family that you can’t help but fall in love with…yet to stay…her grandparents, her music…a boy and love…really interesting read.