If I stay by Gayle Forman

book: If I stay
written by: Gayle Forman
genres: death, young adult
pages: 210
own / library / borrowed
release date: april 9th, 2009
publisher: Random House children's books


note: This book looked so thin, I thought this would be a quick and easy-to-read book. But reading it took longer than expected, it made me think. What would I choose?

the book: 
Everybody has to make choices. Some might break you. For seventeen-year-old Mia, surrounded by a wonderful family, friends and a gorgeous boyfriend decisions might seem tough, but they're all about a future full of music and love, a future that's brimming with hope. 


In a horrible accident, Mia's parents die. But that's not all. She herself is severely wounded and ends up in the hospital. Only, there is something strange happening. Why does nobody hear her when she screams, and why can she see her own body lying a few feet away from her? That's when she finds out that she is a ghost. She gets to choose: Will she choose to stay alive, or will she die, leaving behind her best friend, boyfriend and what's left of her family. How valuable is her life?

my review:
This book was nothing like I expected it to be. It was way better! The characters were great, and easy to relate to. Their love for music was awesome, since I love music, too. This book made me want to listen to classical music, something I have never ever wanted to do before.
The plot was very interesting. I have never read anything like this before, which means it's quite original :)
The book was written in a few present-time pieces and a lot of flashbacks, which I totally love. Flashbacks make the story look way longer than it actually is.
The love in this book *only in flashbacks* was great, it was not like boy meets girl and BOOM! love, but more like boy and girl are friends and fall in love slowly. That is so much better than most YA romance!
This book was a fantasy novel, but it was so realistic. It made me wonder if we all have to make this choice someday, and that made me think about it until I got a headache *which took pretty long*, and I think that the realism in this book contributed in the popularity of this book. If she were a 'ghosty' ghost flying around and walking through walls no-one could have related to her as much as you could when she was just a 'normal' girl.
The way the family of Mia and her friends deal with the accident seems realistic, like the author has experienced it herself.
Of course there were the few things that annoyed me, like the shortness of the story and the continuous 'should I stay or should I go' and a few minor other things, but overall it was a quick, great and most of all moving book with lots of almost-cry-moments. *yes, almost, I have not cried, only almost*


overall rating:
3.8 stars!!