Book Review: If I Stay

If I Stay by Gayle Forman.

Christmas this year was spent working at the mountain, being sick, and then coming home and passing out for the night. It was lonely, and awful. It was my first time ever being completely alone for the holiday (well, not completely, Baxter laid in bed with me). But there was good news. Days before, my mom had finally done it.

She'd gotten me the books I wanted. I about peed my pants when I opened the priority mail package. I don't even remember which book I saw first, but I remember shaking because I was so excited. (That's right, at the age of 23, you can still get that excited about Christmas presents.)

Finally, after a  few months of editing and writing, I found some time for reading. I had the day off (which was rare with juggling two jobs), and decided I just wanted to lay in bed all day, and do nothing. My resolution was to dig out my books and use Baxter as a pillow.

While I'd wanted If I Stay since I'd heard about it, I'd been avoiding reading it because I knew it would break me.

And I was correct.

It was about Mia and her family, who had gotten in a car accident. Car accidents are always a sore spot with me because my best friend was killed in a car accident. In the novel, Mia ends up having to make the decision then, of staying alive, or allowing herself to die.

I read this book in one day. Literally. I haven't done that since high school. I pushed myself to keep going, not just because it was phenomenally written, not just because the story told me to keep reading, but because I didn't want to be depressed the next day, too. It was an incredibly powerful story, and it definitely made me tear up. This is one of those that I will read again and again.

If you haven't read this novel yet, and you've been thinking about it, stop putting it off, and read it! Now. (Please?)