Review: If I Stay (If I Stay #1) by Gayle Forman

Book Title: If I Stay (If I Stay #1)

Author: Gayle Forman

Published Date: April 2nd, 2009

Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Genre: YA Contemporary

Series: Book 1 in If I Stay duology

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Links: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:

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.

Disclaimer: Library book.

Review:

Oh boy, this book has been so hyped up recently due to the movie that is coming out very soon. I've watched the movie trailer about half a bazillion times and I knew I wanted to read the book first to decide if I really want to see the movie. I liked the book overall, but I didn't love it the way I wanted to.

Normally I don't like the lyrical writing style, but in this book it was effectively used and I found myself really liking the writing style. It was beautifully written throughout the entire book, which really made me happy. Beautiful writing both excites me and scares me because sometimes the writing is beautiful in order to cover up a book that is not very interesting overall. Yet it can also be a tool used to draw the reader right into the world of the book that's being read.

I craved just a little more character development. It was decent but it wasn't amazing like I was hoping it would be. Mia's character development overall was stronger than Adam's which bummed me out. I wanted to know more about Adam, but I really didn't get what I wanted. With Mia, we knew what made her tick, who she spent most of her time with and what her passions were. We got some of that with Adam, but not as much.

I gotta say that I didn't cry as much as I was expecting to. I got teary eyed a couple of times, but the time that really broke me is when Mia's grandpa was sitting with her and telling her it was okay if she wanted to go. Full. On. Sobs. That absolutely broke my heart and I wanted to reach through the book and hug her grandpa.

I did enjoy the book and I'll most likely be going to see the movie at some point. It was a quick read, but it was not at all, an easy read. If you haven't read it yet, you definitely should. I'll be giving this book 4 stars.