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If I Stay by Gayle Forman

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If I Stay by Gayle Forman was actually more meaningful and emotional than I initially thought it would be. I borrowed this book after reading the synopsis and found the idea of experiencing life through a comatose state intriguing.

Mia Hall has a promising path ahead of her filled with Julliard, standing ovation, and her skills as a cellist. After a terrifying car accident occurs and leaves her all alone in the world, she is able to see her own life unfold from afar—as a spectator.

She sees her body transported to a hospital and all the aftereffects of the traumatic event. Her friends and family are all there to support her as she remains in a hospital bed, broken and unconscious.

The times where she goes back into her memories and rediscovers the moments that she had forgotten made me realize just how fleeting life can be and how we must treasure what we have in the present with the people around us.

There were a few sections of the novel that made me tear up, because the encouragement and understanding that her friends and family showed her during their visits made me feel for them, too.

I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for Mia to lose touch with reality and to watch as the people she loves will her to keep living. She has to make a difficult decision: to stay in the world, where she doesn’t know if she can manage every day, or to let herself go and let down everyone she knows.

If I Stay was an eye-opening novel that made me see life differently. The unexpected can happen at any time, and I now know that one should not let life pass them by.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.

Would You Stay?

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Here’s the secret, baby: if you live, if you die, it’s all up to you. So whatever fight you got in you, you gotta pull it out now.” – If I Stay.

if_i_stay_posterWhen I first picked this book up I could not get past the first chapter, and left it on my book shelf. Fast forward three or four years after seeing the movie trailer, which took my breath away and left me in tears, I had to pick up the book again and give it another shot. I am more than happy that I did, because I could not put the book down.

Multiple times I would lose myself in the book and by the time I looked at the clock I had ready four hours. I found myself constantly thinking about the book and counting down the days till the movie was released, re reading the book multiple times just to get that feeling again. I even got the chance to see that movie, another time that I shed my fair share of tears.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman is the story of Mia, an average seventeen-year-old girl who has a lot to love in life; she is a cellist with a chance at making it into Julliard. Her family and friends give the story an added bonus with their loving, caring, charming, and lively qualities. And Adam, her perfect boyfriend– their love makes the story and makes it that much better. But after a car accident takes away her mom, dad, and brother, she is forced to make the choice between life and death.

I always put myself in the character’s place, when reading, and after I found myself constantly wondering what I would do if I had to make the decision.

Before even starting the book my decision, was without a doubt I would stay. But about half way through the book I changed my mind. During one of the many flashbacks, this one in particular was when Mia’s dad quits his band so he could make a better life for Mia and her brother soon to be born.

This brought into play my sister, and how I could not imagine living without her, how I would never be able to call her, or sing songs with her. So the choice seemed again, easy.

But that was leaving a blind eye to the fact that I would be giving up everything that I had already worked for. And all the dreams I had, and the thing that I had not been given the opportunity to do. The friends I have not made, the books I have not read, the music I have not heard. And was I really willing to give all that up?

So I was stuck again just like Mia, thinking about all the things that would be keeping me from making the decision either way.

The perfect was to describe it is a part in both the movie and the book where Mia and her mom discuss the in convinces of falling in love at seventeen and how she is torn in half over a decision. She explains, “Either way you win. And either way you lose. What can I tell you?”

This seems small when in the book, just something a parent says, that we would probably ignore. But after thinking about it, those fourteen words split into three sentences describe the whole book and was genius representation of universal theme. That conveys all the emotion and the hard truth of the book.

Which is why this became a big changer for me again, and I realized that either way I would never be completely happy with the decision. So I end this with my favorite quote of the book, one that I believe is different for everybody and describe the choice perfectly.

“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.” – Gayle Forman

-Shelby B., 10th grade

Book Review: If I Stay, by Gayle Forman

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if_i_stayIf I Stay is one of my all-time favorite novels. This piece of literature is one of the few that I actually take the time to read over and over again. The story is simply intriguing. And now that the movie is coming out next month with some great actors seen previously, I just can’t wait to experience the touching story once again.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman is a novel about an average teenage girl who just happens to be an amazing cello player. Mia, the cello player, is dating Adam, another musician. They both have a good life, when on one of the weekends, Mia and her family go on a drive. During the drive, Mia’s family gets into an accident where all of them end up dead, including Mia. However, Mia is a “ghost” and literally spectates her family and her getting taken away by the paramedics. The harsh and tragic journey Mia has to face while Adam and her best friend Kim mourn over her is astonishing. As readers, we get to experience Mia’s heartbreak’s and sadness, through watching her loved ones miss her and join in unity due to her tragic situation.

I am extremely excited to watch the movie made based on this book! I am intrigued to see what they make out of this amazing novel, and how well the actors play their character’s roles. This is by far, the best novel I have ever read. If I Stay takes you through a journey with Mia, with sadness and love joining to fine a perfect medium.

-Nirmeet B., 10th grade