I was lucky enough to win this book in the competition held by dovegreyreader, I loved her review of it so I was really looking forward to being able to read it myself. The book revolves around 17 year old Mia, she has a loving family; great friends and a boyfriend who she truly loves. Mia has decisions to make about her future; she is a talented cellist and there is the possibility that she will have won a place to study at Julliard in New York, leaving her life in Oregon behind. However, Mia's choices are vastly compromised by a cold February morning and a snowy road; she is left having to face an even harder decision all on her own.
I don't want to give the story away in my review but I do want to stress that I thought that this book was amazing. I literally couldn't put it down, I read it in one ago as I was totally absorbed into the story and the characters. I think that it is possibly one of the best young adult books that I have ever read; so many sensitive subjects are explored to their very limits. I loved how Gayle Forman painted the picture of Mia's relationship with her parents and also her boyfriend Adam. By building this up gradually the reader is left knowing how hard it is for Mia to make her decision at the end of the book. Ultimately this is a tale of love and loss; it really does make you take a step back and realise just how lucky we all are and how many things we take for granted every single day.
This review in no way does this book justice; there is so much that I would like to talk about further but I think that I would end up giving the story away. Gayle Forman has a wonderful website which probably describes the book in a much better way then I have; I thought If I Stay was a wonderful book though and I'm still thinking about it days after finishing the last page.
15 comments:
Sounds like a good one. I am finding that YA fiction has a lot of good stuff to offer. I don't remember it being the same when I first discovered it.
Nicole- I agree, I think that YA fiction has definitely improved from when I first read any of it. I thought this book was excellent!
Dot, I read this after reading dovegreyreader's fabulous post and loved it. It really was an amazing book and a complete surprise.
Here's my review:
http://paperbackreader2.blogspot.com/2009/05/if-i-stay.html
I was hoping to win this at dovegreyreader, too, and have added to my wishlist. I'm so glad to find another positive review! :)
I've this book in my pile! I really look forward to reading it soon after reading so many good reviews on it!
This sounds like a great story, Dot, lovely review! I will look out for it. It seems there are lots of really good young adult books around these days, I was surprised to learn that The Book Thief was also originally published for young adults, too.
Paperback Reader- I have just read your review and I totally agree, it is a very sad book but it is so uplifting too, I thought it was really good!
Claire- I don't think that I have come across a bad review for this book, it's definitely worth reading!
Melody- I hope you enjoy it, I warn you though that you will need to free up a few hours as I couldn't put it down once I had started reading it!
Kim- I know, I was quite shocked about The Book Thief being a YA book, I'm not sure if it would have had as big an impact on me when I was younger?
I have had this one on hold at my library ever since I read Dovegreyreader's review - and now you are making me want to read it even more!! Hurry up library!
Karen- I hope your library gets it in soon, it really is good!
Great review and thanks for not giving away too much plot!I've come across this book several times and it does seem really promising, plus everyone is praising it - so it looks like this is yet another book that I just *have* to order! :)
ps: Great blog - I hope you don't mind if I add the link to it in my sidebar. ;) You seem like a lovely person and judging by your things from Library Thing, we have a rather similar taste in books! :)
Suzana- Thank you for your lovely comments! Of course I don't mind you adding me, I have just popped you in my blog list- your blog is lovely! I look forward to hearing about what you read next!!
Thank you! I've just finished The Wedding Girl, which I will review soon. Unfortunately, I'm veeeery busy atm and don't get to read as soon as I'd like to, but I'm totally planning to go on a reading marathon in July, yay!
I'll soon post a list of books I've read in the past couple of years and you'll see how similar our tastes seem to be, hehe. That's why I'm sure that I'll enjoy If I Stay too - I've already ordered it online, can't wait to read it. :)
Hmmm this sounds very good. I may have to check it out! Another book that seems to have this 'dont tell anyone the ending' is the Chris Cleeve book 'The Other Hand' (please say I have got that right) whihc is awaiting reading on my TBR!
Simon- I shall have to check the Chris Cleeve book out, hope that you had a good weekend!
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