If I Stay

If I Stay
by Gayle Forman

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen ­year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. (description from Amazon.com)

Oh! This is one of those books that I'm really kicking myself for not having read *ages* ago!! Not only was every review I ever read positive, but I got several personal recommendations (shout out to, hmmm...let's see, Danielle, Kim, the Roecker sisters, and Melanie!!) that couldn't stop crowing about how good it was...

I really need to start trusting my friends more.
Well, that and I really need to get over my *thing* about sad, contemporary fiction. 

It's true. I tend to knowingly stay away from really great books like If I Stay or Before I Die because I can't stand the idea of choosing to read something so realistic and heartbreaking.  And, yet, every time I do, they turn out to be fantastic reads!

Well...enough of that. On to this specific book... what can I say? I loved it.  It was sad. Heartwrenchingly sad.  I listened to the audio version of this and basically cried my way to and from work for three days.  Sucky on the makeup, but totally worth it!

I hadn't realized that this book takes place so much from Mia's point of view as she's in a coma.  It reminded me of The Lovely Bones, another *great* book.  I love getting to experience that kind of outsider perspective, but with tons of insider insight. It's a really neat device in stories.

Plot-wise, obviously this book is terribly gutwrenching.  I think that Forman managed to make the whole scenario even more devestating after she solidly introduces Mia's fantastic family.  They truly are one of the coolest families I've read about in YA in quite a while.  It was so sad to think of the tragedy that befell them. 

My one and only complaint about this book was how abruptly it ended.  Now, don't get me wrong. It was beautiful. It was right. *BUT* I immediately wanted more!! Thank goodness, not only do I know there's a sequel, but it's already out so I can read it ASAP!!