Heart Wrenchingly Beautiful | If I Stay Review

There is something comforting in that. To go down as a family. No one left behind.

Oh my goodness. If I Stay is an emotional roller coaster of a book. At only 212 pages it was nothing short of extraordinary. 

Seventeen year-old Mia has a great life, an adoring boyfriend and loving family. But then in the blink of an eye everything in Mia's world changes. Mia must puzzle together what she has lost, what she has left, and must ultimately decide if she wants to stay.

I was an emotional wreck while reading this book, I openly cried on an aeroplane. The loss that Mia experiences is painful to imagine. What really got to me was Teddy, ten years younger than Mia. I have my own little Teddy, a little brother ten years younger than me, and imagining myself in Mia's shoes was unbearable. Because what she said was true, he has so much in life that he still needs to experience.

I loved Gayle Forman's writing style, the chapters are identified by the time of day, which I found to be a lovely feature. Gayle Forman starts each chapter in the present, then jumps to the past, building Mia's character background and your relationship with the characters, which makes reading a whole lot more painful and emotional.

Throughout the book I had no idea what choice Mia would make, whether she'd decide to stay, or go. This constant suspense was yet another alluring factor in my complete enjoyment.

I'm feeling not just the physical pain, but all that I have lost, and it is profound and catastrophic and will leave a crater in me that nothing will ever fill.

Mia and Adam's relationship is a tale of true love at a young age. In other books true love between young characters has annoyed me, but Gayle Forman pulled it off. Perhaps it was the utter selflessness of Adam.

I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay.

And how beautiful is that? The guy seriously adores her. The relationship wasn't forced or fake, it felt real.

I absolutely adored If I Stay, the film is now firmly on my to-watch list. Did If I Stay have the same effect on you? Let me know what you thought of If I Stay in the comments. If you're a new visitor I'd love you to follow me on Bloglovin' too!

'If I Stay' by Gayle Forman

5 Stars