If I Stay (If I Stay, #1) in Pop Sugar's Annual Ultimate Reading Challenge

Feb 16, 2013 Debbie (Doc) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-in-2013

If I stay by Gayle Forman
5 stars

Although this book explores death and dying, it is tagged as YA. Normally, I do not give a YA book 5 stars or do I read many books tagged as paranormal, but this one is the exception. I also never read a book in a couple of hours but again an exception. One minute the plot has you laughing and the next reaching for a tissue. The book is told through the eyes of 17 year old, Mia who has just been in a traumatic car wreck with her family. This is a bittersweet story If I stay by Gayle Forman
5 stars

Although this book explores death and dying, it is tagged as YA. Normally, I do not give a YA book 5 stars or do I read many books tagged as paranormal, but this one is the exception. I also never read a book in a couple of hours but again an exception. One minute the plot has you laughing and the next reaching for a tissue. The book is told through the eyes of 17 year old, Mia who has just been in a traumatic car wreck with her family. This is a bittersweet story of Mia and her family.

The first chapter begins with a lighthearted summary of Mia and her family. Both of her parents are eccentric and her home life is stable but is different than most of us have experienced. For instance, her dad played in a rock band and didn’t drive a car until her younger brother was born, many years after she was. Mia also experienced the birth of her brother at a birthing center and loved him as if he were her own.

After the crash, Mia sees her parents been transported into a Coroner’s van. Her brother was transported in an ambulance to a local hospital and she was airlifted to another. Mia is not dead but is having an out of body experience. She knows that something isn’t right because she doesn’t feel anything. She sees herself in surgery, hears the hums of the machines keeping her alive, and even sees her living family hovering over her. The social worker assigned to her case tells her loving grandparents that it is now up to Mia whether she stays or goes. Once Mia hears about her brother, she wants to go to be with her parents. The tables are slightly turned, when she sees her best friend and her boyfriend in the ICU and how upset that both of them are. Mia then has the ultimate decision to determine if she stays or if she heads towards the light.

There is no sex or foul language in this book; although, there are a couple of paragraphs where Mia is reflecting back on her and her boyfriend’s relationship. This book is definitely recommended for ages 15+. The plot is an excellent reminder of how you or someone you love can be here one minute and gone the next. It is also an excellent reminder of how one decision can change everything.
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Mar 25, 2013 Janet rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-lit, 2013

Mia is trying to figure out if she should go to NYC to attend Julliard or stay in Oregon to be close to her boyfriend, Adam. When she and her family are in a devastating car accident, she watches removed from her body. All of her previous choices seem less significant. Now she has to chose if she wants to live or die.

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Mar 21, 2015 Caroline rated it liked it

After a devastating accident that leaves a seventeen year-old girl an orphan, she finds herself separated from her body and watches her family and friends visit her comatose body. She must decide whether to stay with the people who love her or stop fighting and give in to death.

I think the best part of this book is the musicality; the descriptions and details of playing music and how powerful it can be was extremely meaningful for me.

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