Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman + Giveaway

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Published: April 2nd, 2009
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile

Series: (If I Stay, #1)
Genre: Young Adult, Romance

Purchase*: Barnes and Noble/ Amazon
Add on Goodreads

My rating:

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Summary:

In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...

A sophisticated, layered, and heart-achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make, and the ultimate choice Mia commands

My Review:

For me If I Stay was a quick and beautiful read. This series is not new, but for a year now  my friends tried to get me to read it knowing that I mostly read YA books, but they said I will like it, and they were right. I enjoyed this book, I can say that because I finished it in two days. It's one of those reads that you just can't stop reading. Mia is a main character, the whole story is told from her point of view. The book was really beautifully written. I was surprised when I saw that the book had no chapters. The whole book was written in time, and was only, I think, three days long. Mia, after a car accident  that took her family, told a story of how she saw everything that was happening to her while she was "outside her body". She also shows us pieces of her life, memories involving her family, friends and boyfriend. The book had some really moving scenes, that honestly made me teary a couple of times. Like the scene when her grandparents came to visit her, especially the part with her grandfather. 

“It's okay,' he tells me. 'If you want to go. Everyone wants you to stay. I want you to stay more than I've ever wanted anything in my life.' His voice cracks with emotion. He stops, clears his throat, takes a breath, and continues. 'But that's what I want and I could see why it might not be what you want. So I just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go. It's okay if you have to leave us. It's okay if you want to stop fighting.'

This scene was so beautiful and moving. It has to be really hard loosing your family, and it must have felt like there is nothing left to live for. That's what Mia felt like, she had a choice of staying or leaving. She wanted to leave, but she wasn't ready, she wanted to see Adam,  who is Mia's boyfriend. Yes, this is were the romance part comes in. Mia and Adam connected through music, they fell in love through music. To tell you the truth, at first I didn't feel the connection between them. I only felt it in the end, when Adam was at the hospital talking to Mia.

 “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. I was talking to Liz and she said maybe coming back to your old life would be too painful, that maybe it'd be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I'd do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay.” 

Overall, I really liked this book, and I'll definitely read the sequel, Where She Went. If you haven't read the book yet, than you should check it out(: 

Also in celebrating my new blog I'm giving away ebook copy of If I stay(: 
*Copy is in epub format*

a Rafflecopter giveaway