Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stayis a thoughtful tale about Mia and the choices she must make - about her future and even her life. She is facing that time in life where she must choose where to go to school, if she wants to stay with her boyfriend and her family or pursue her musical interests. Then the unthinkable happens, and she must make a much more vital choice.

Things I Liked:
I thought this book was poignant and full of feeling. The characterizations were very normal, especially the reactions of family and friends to what happens. The ideas it explored throughout were interesting and very thought-provoking. I also liked that Mia's parents were good, but not too good. A lot of parents in teen books are either totally perfect or completely horrible. Mia's were neither. The ending, however, was beautifully done.

Things I Didn't Like:
I thought there were too many issues going on; it seemed like the author was trying to get too many points across to focus completely on her story. I was also annoyed by Mia's parents, because they encouraged what Mia and her boyfriend did. Really? I can see parents not knowing or even not really caring, but her parents didn't seem normal. I had some other issues with the portrayal (or lack thereof) of spiritual elements. I can't say much more without being too spoilerish, but the ending seemed obvious to me because of that.

Read-alikes:
Reminded me of Elsewhereby Gabrielle Zevin and The Lovely Bonesby Alice Sebold

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@#$
all over the place

mrg-factor: X
really weird scene

v-factor: ->->
a rather gruesome scene or two

Overall rating: ***