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If I Stay (If I Stay #1)
by Gayle Forman
This book has left me...completely and utterly speechless. Gayle Forman has crafted a spellbinding whirlwind of emotions that left me breathless and dying for more.
Good girl and wonderfully talented Mia has almost everything destroyed before her very eyes in a life-changing accident that leaves her in a coma-like state. Through the course of twenty-four hours, Mia recounts moments and choices in her life that ultimately help her decide whether her place is among the living or if she should finally "move on."
When I first picked up the book, I'll admit that it didn't immediately grab me like I had hoped because I couldn't relate to Mia at first but that all changed almost instantly. As a musician myself, I completely understood the decisions and problems she went through and the feelings of not belonging. Her need to be successful and choose for herself felt very honest.
Adam and Mia's relationship was precious. Yes, it was more different than any relationship I've seen in YA but that's certainly not a crime. Throughout the entire novel, Mia constantly questions why Adam likes her and whether their relationship would ever work out in the future. But despite her constant doubts, Adam has surely proved himself to her when he tried over and over again to get in to see her in the hospital.
Even though the plot wasn't as original as I had hoped, this book sent me on an emotional roller coaster that left me crying, smiling, and a safer driver. Forman has left me itching for her next novel, the sequel to this book and it should be added to your to read list immediately.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
by Gayle Forman
Lindsay's review
bookshelves: books-i-own, tear-jerkers, cover-lust, all-time-favorites
Dec 28, 10
bookshelves: books-i-own, tear-jerkers, cover-lust, all-time-favorites
Read from November 25 to December 02, 2010
This book has left me...completely and utterly speechless. Gayle Forman has crafted a spellbinding whirlwind of emotions that left me breathless and dying for more.
Good girl and wonderfully talented Mia has almost everything destroyed before her very eyes in a life-changing accident that leaves her in a coma-like state. Through the course of twenty-four hours, Mia recounts moments and choices in her life that ultimately help her decide whether her place is among the living or if she should finally "move on."
When I first picked up the book, I'll admit that it didn't immediately grab me like I had hoped because I couldn't relate to Mia at first but that all changed almost instantly. As a musician myself, I completely understood the decisions and problems she went through and the feelings of not belonging. Her need to be successful and choose for herself felt very honest.
Adam and Mia's relationship was precious. Yes, it was more different than any relationship I've seen in YA but that's certainly not a crime. Throughout the entire novel, Mia constantly questions why Adam likes her and whether their relationship would ever work out in the future. But despite her constant doubts, Adam has surely proved himself to her when he tried over and over again to get in to see her in the hospital.
Even though the plot wasn't as original as I had hoped, this book sent me on an emotional roller coaster that left me crying, smiling, and a safer driver. Forman has left me itching for her next novel, the sequel to this book and it should be added to your to read list immediately.
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
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Quotes Lindsay Liked
“Losing me will hurt; it will be the kind of pain that won't feel real at first, and when it does, it will take her breath away.”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
“If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. I'll quit the band, go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too. I was talking to Liz and she said maybe coming back to your old life would be too painful, that maybe it'd be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I'd do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay.”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
“And that's just it, isn't it? That's how we manage to survive the loss. Because love, it never dies, it never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang on to it.”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
“I'm not sure this is a world I belong in anymore. I'm not sure that I want to wake up.”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
“It's okay,' he tells me. 'If you want to go. Everyone wants you to stay. I want you to stay more than I've ever wanted anything in my life.' His voice cracks with emotion. He stops, clears his throat, takes a breath, and continues. 'But that's what I want and I could see why it might not be what you want. So I just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go. It's okay if you have to leave us. It's okay if you want to stop fighting.'
For the first time since I realized that Teddy was gone, too, I feel something unclench. I feel myself breathe. I know that Gramps can't be that late-inning pinch hitter I'd hoped for. He won't unplug my breathing tube or overdoes me with morphine or anything like that. But this is the first time today that anyone has acknowledged what I have lost. I know that the social worker warned Gran and Gramps not to upset me, but Gramps's recognition, and the permission he just offered me--it feels like a gift.
Gramps doesn't leave me. He slumps back into the chair. It's quiet now. So quiet you can almost hear other people's dreams. So quiet that you can almost hear me tell Gramps, 'Thank you.”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
For the first time since I realized that Teddy was gone, too, I feel something unclench. I feel myself breathe. I know that Gramps can't be that late-inning pinch hitter I'd hoped for. He won't unplug my breathing tube or overdoes me with morphine or anything like that. But this is the first time today that anyone has acknowledged what I have lost. I know that the social worker warned Gran and Gramps not to upset me, but Gramps's recognition, and the permission he just offered me--it feels like a gift.
Gramps doesn't leave me. He slumps back into the chair. It's quiet now. So quiet you can almost hear other people's dreams. So quiet that you can almost hear me tell Gramps, 'Thank you.”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
“This is the you I like. You definitely dressed sexier and are, you know, blond, and that's different. But the you who are tonight is the same you I was in love with yesterday, the same you I'll be in love with tomorrow. I love that you're fragile and tough, quiet and kick-ass. ”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
“Adam is crying and somewhere inside of me I am crying, too, because I'm feeling things at last. I'm feeling not just the physical pain, but all that I have lost, and it is profound and catastrophic and will leave a crater in me that nothing will ever fill.”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
“Sleep would be so welcome. A warm blanket of black to erase everything else. Sleep without dreams. I've heard people talk about the sleep of the dead. Is that what death would feel like? The nicest, warmest, heaviest never-ending nap? If that's what it's like, I wouldn't mind. If that's what dying is like, I wouldn't mind that at all.”
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
― Gayle Forman, If I Stay
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David
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rated it 2 stars
Nov 25, 2010 12:13pm
Hey! I'm currently reading this too! Let me know what you think of it...
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I do like it, yes. Not excessively so since I don't find it very original, but it has a few nice elements in it. I think people younger than me (because I am pretty old!) will enjoy it and appreciate it more. But still, an easy, likable read.
