Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Title: If I Stay 
Author: Gayle Forman 
Published: April 6th 2010 by Speak (my copy is the Speak published one, not original Dutton books one!) 
Series: If I Stay #1
Rating: 3.5 hearts

 Goodreads summary:

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces - to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heart-wrenchingly beautiful, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.

Racquel thinks:
Yet again, hype proves to be bad. Not that I disliked If I Stay, but it was definitely not what I expected.

What in the world is the book about?

Mia the MC along with her loving parents and adorable younger brother Teddy, get in a car accident. Mia's is injured badly while the rest of her family dies, how does she know this when she's in coma? Her 'spirit' is lingering around seeing the chaos that the people who love her are in and now she must decide if she wants to move on with her perfect family or stay for the other people and things that love her.

Racquel liked: 

-Mia's family, they really are a great loss. During the flashbacks or 'remembering' parts I just couldn't get enough of them! And it really breaks my heart to know that they died, almost as if I know these people in real life and can't believe their death.

-The concept of the book.  I have recently come to the conclusion that fantasy & paranormal is not my favorite genre but in If I Stay even though there was the obvious fantasy element, it felt like a realistic contemporary story.

What made this book not a 5 star read:

-I expected more of Adam. I did not read a SINGLE review of the book before I read it but from the talk surrounding the book on goodreads, blogs & twitter I just expected more of Adam, better yet I expected him to be better developed. To me Adam was just this person who is musician, nice and is dating Mia and he loves her. I didn't feel any depth to him beyond that.

-I, for the life of me, cannot figure out why Mia and Adam love each other and are dating. I feel zero chemistry between them. Nothing, nada.  Maybe it's because to me both Adam and Mia aren't all that developed but still cannot comprehend there relationship.

-At first I enjoyed the flashbacks, but when it got to the point where there were more flashbacks then present time of Mia in the hospital and what's going on around her, it got annoying and I just wanted to skip to the parts where it's not a flashback.

Overall:

If I Stay is an emotional book even though I did not tear up or cry at all but I did finish it in one sitting so that tells you something. It's definitely worth reading!

My rating: 3.5 hearts

First line: 

Everyone thinks it was because of the snow.

Favorite:

"Yo Mama better watch his back,"

 Teaser:

Mom once snuck me into a casino.

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