if I stay by Gayle Forman

Goodreads Summary:

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it's the only one that matters.

If I Stay is a heartachingly beautiful book about the power of love, the true meaning of family, and the choices we all make.


My Thoughts:
I read this book because I was interested in seeing the movie. I found it to be an interesting way to talk about being a teenager and everything that comes with that. Insecurities, figuring out who you are, and all of the other things that come along with being a teenager. 

Mia is that black sheep in her family by being into classical music and being overly responsible. I think at some point everyone feels like the odd man out in their own family. I certainly have more than once. It is hard sometimes to find your place in your family and the world. Mia tells her story from the bed of an ICU after the rest of her family is killed in a car crash. Mia is both ready to leave and wanting to stay to be with her friends, boyfriend, and remaining relatives. That struggle between fighting for your life and letting go isn't one that most of us really experience and then talk about.

The teen romance is a little over the top but I think that is accurate for teen romance. I know all of mine were ridiculously over the top. It is part of how we grow up and figure out what love actually is and isn't. I haven't decided if I am going to read the second book or not. I liked this one well enough but it wasn't amazing.

Overall I would recommend this book for those looking for an easy and fast read without a lot of expectation.

While writing this review I was listening to Yo-yo Ma.