Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Summary from Barnes and Noble:
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...

If I Stay is a young adult novel that had me in tears almost the whole way through. It's a quick read (200 pages) and I had a hard time putting it down. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

I can't say much about it without spoiler, so don't read any further if you haven't read it!

It's difficult to imagine losing your whole immediate family in a moment. That's what happens to Mia, and she's left with the decision to stay or to go. To stay alive and live her life without her parents and younger brother or to go and hopefully be reunited with them in some sort of afterlife. Either decision will be heartbreaking. The book really makes you think about your own life and what you would do if you were the one forced to make this choice. There are things to live for, but is it enough?

This book was really well-written and thought-provoking. I thought the ending was great. Until the very end, I wasn't sure what she would end up doing.

This is the kind of story that sticks with you, long after you read the last page and put the book down.

Rated: 5/5