Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Book Review: If I Stay by Gail Forman

Title: If I Stay
Author: Gail Forman
Enjoyment Rating: ****
Source: Kindle
Content Alert: Swearing, sex, and a grisly accident that may upset some readers

If you're like most of America, you probably saw a preview for the upcoming movie If I Stay when you went to see The Fault in Our Stars. And if you're like me, you bought the book based on the movie preview. Mia is seventeen, and her biggest conflict in life is what will happen if she gets into Julliard and has to leave her boyfriend, Adam, whose band is starting to make it big. Then, in a second, life changes when a truck runs into her family car, and her parents and only brother die. Mia is at the precipice of death, and she has to decide whether to follow her family or stay and fight.

If I Stay is the kind of book your teenage daughter will love. Annie read it in about a day, and I think we'll probably go to the movie. But it was also a book written by someone who knows her stuff. While Mia was an engaging character, I loved her parents, the aging punks who managed to keep their cool as they raised their kids. In fact, I think Forman does a great job with characterization throughout the novel, the story is paced well, and even though it's fairly apparent from the title of the novel what will happen at the end, it felt fresh and not expected.

1 comment:

Gerbera Daisy Diaries said...

In the movie...the actress who plays the mom, Mireille Enos, is a BYU grad. Totally random comment.