One Book Down

I finally finished If I Stay by: Gayle Forman and I was overall happy with the book. I am very excited to read the sequel to this book, Where She Went. This book does leave off with a cliff hanger so I'm anxious to read on. I recommend this book to any romance fans who enjoy a typical love story with a sort of twist. I did think If I Stay was unique in the sense that Mia was ghost-like however, the aspects that included Adam was a common, young-adult love story. In the end though, I would rate this book: 4 stars. I also recommend that you read the book before you watch the movie (the book was a lot better).

I didn't want to jump straight into Where She Went but I did want to follow the same genre of romance so my new book is, At First Sight by: Nicholas Sparks. I am already a huge fan of Nicholas Sparks. I love all of his classics: The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, Dear John, etc. As you can probably tell from my book choices already, I'm very drawn to romantic stories that make you cry. I appreciate how an author can make you feel an intense emotion by a simple pairing of words. I am so excited to dive into my new book, At First Sight.

Adam

As I come closer to the end of my book, If I Stay By: Gayle Forman, I reflect on my rollercoaster relationship with the character, Adam. Adam is Mia's boyfriend, he is cool in the sense that he has his own style, he has his own band but he isn't necessarily popular. I like how the book describes him when they say, "He had a small group of friends and a large group of admirers." (Forman, 64) That's just how Adam could be described. As a reader, I found myself loving Adam along with Mia in the beginning. Was it his sweet gesture to take Mia to the symphony? Or his burning passion for music? Adam is just an overall lovable character.

Although, as the story progresses along with the flashbacks, Adam and Mia's relationship crumble as well as your admiration for Adam. I mentioned before that Adam was part of a band, a very small and not well-known band at the time he met Mia. The longer their relationship flourishes, his band does as well and he becomes popular. Adam starts becoming distant and spends more time with his band and now fans more than Mia. This upsets Mia, as well as the reader because Gayle Forman writes the story in such a way where you can feel the sadness. You feel disappointed in Adam. The conflict that rises between Mia and Adam shows a very bad side of Adam. It becomes clear that he values music over Mia. At that time, I hated the way Adam was acting.

Now that I am close to the end, I recently encountered (in my opinion) the best quote of the entire book. It is, "If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. I'll quit the band; go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I'll do that too...and that would suck, but I'll do it. I can lose you like that, if I don't lose you today." (Forman, 386) This is said from Adam to Mia while she sits in the hospital still in a coma. This quote reveals the Adam that I adored in the beginning. I loved the way Gayle Forman revealed Adam's personality. He first made you hooked on Adam and kept you reading because you want to know everything about him. Then, the fight occurs and you hate the true Adam. But in the end, you realize the sweet person he really is and fall in love with him all over again. This definitely is a rollercoaster relationship and as of right now, Adam has become a favorite character of mine.

If I Stay

I recently started reading If I Stay by: Gayle Forman and I'm already hooked. It actually surprises me how similar the book compares to the movie. Also, I didn't realize how the book switches perspectives. It goes from Mia's current point of view to various flashbacks. I really enjoy the way Gayle Forman structured the book that way, it helps the reader understand how the characters relate to Mia and their personalities. I think Mia's personality is very relatable and that's what makes me drawn to this book.

I said in my most recent blog post, that If I Stay and The Fault In Our Stars are similar in the sense that it makes you cry. I definitely predict that If I Stay will become even more tragic and sad than The Fault In Our Stars. I did see the movie, so I'm aware of the outcome but I'm still curious to see how Gayle Forman adds the sad tone to the words. It amazes me how an author can add emotion by a simple pairing of words. I can't wait to continue reading this book and I definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a great romance story.

Currently Reading

The book I have purchased and I'm about to start reading is If I Stay by: Gayle Forman. I am very excited to start this book, I had recently seen the movie this weekend. It's always common that movies turn out to be completely different than the book, so I'm curious to see how the book's plot compares to the movie. I received multiple recommendations from my friends, urging me to start reading this romantic story. I knew this book was right up my alley just from seeing it on screen.

If I Stay is similar to The Fault in Our Stars in the sense that it definitely causes you to cry. The story starts off with a young girl named Mia, who is gifted on the cello. She has a easy and content life. She has a perfect family, adoring boyfriend and an incredible career ahead of her in music. But one car crash washes all of that away. Mia finds herself stuck between life and death, watching as her friends and family visit her in the hospital. As she watches, more complications resurface into her life. Then, she has a critical decision to make. Should she stay and live her now difficult life or let go of all the obstacles and die? The genre of this book would be classified as romance and young adult.