Cardigans, Coffee and Bookmarks: Review (Becky): If I stay

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Review (Becky): If I stay

Title: If I Stay Author: Gayle Forman Pages: Audio (4 discs) Audience: Teen Genre: Romance (paranormal/ghost) Rating: 3-I'd follow this book on Facebook

Goodreads 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 Thoughts
This story felt like the end of the Return of the King movie, where Peter Jackson decides they need to spend half an hour with all the characters expressing how happy they are that everyone is alive while jumping around in a sunlit room. It is sentimentality for its own sake with no real or interesting conflict, studded with cliches. In the end, I just couldn't bring myself to care if she stayed or went.
The ending seems evident to me from simply reading the title and I never connected with the characters. They all seemed pretty familiar and un-extraordinary except for their weirdly adult, Mary Sue rationality. The author often describes these teens and their romance as seeming to fit an older couple, and I found that to be both true and a major flaw in the story. The romance seemed effortless and boring to me as well. It may well be that teens view themselves this way, but it isn't realistic, nor are the parents, who are simultaneously child-like and perfectly understanding. Maybe if I was more into music this would have appealed to me more. I played an instrument as a teen, but I never liked it nor was I good at it. I think a lot of teens who do play/enjoy it could probably relate to Adam or Mia more.

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2 comments:

AnonymousJanuary 22, 2013 at 8:51 AM
I swooned over this book when I first read it, but now I think I'd agree with you. I once did a TTT with "relationships that would last in the real world" (or something like that), and put Adam and Mia on the list. I usually don't think teen couples will make it in the long term, but they felt different. You articulated WHY I feel that way -- they seem so much older! They aren't acting like kids at all, and that's not really a good thing.
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Karielle StephanieFebruary 26, 2013 at 9:37 AM
Hmm.. as well-written as this sounds, it does seem predictable how it'll end. I've read mixed reviews on this one so I'll keep it on my watch list, but I've definitely other books I need to read first.
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