She does have some insecurities – she loves playing the cello and listening to classical music for example, and worries that she’s too incompatible with Adam, her rock musician boyfriend – and these are explored throughout the book. She seemed a genuinely nice person, the type of girl I would have liked to have been friends with at school. One of the reasons I enjoyed this book so much was because Mia was a character I really cared about. It’s a story about the importance of love and friendship and is a book that can be enjoyed by both adults and teens. Although If I Stay may sound like a dark and depressing book, it’s actually not. I don’t read many YA novels anymore (I think this might even be the first one I’ve reviewed here) but I probably should, because it means I’m missing out on great books like this one. In a series of flashbacks, we learn what Mia’s life was like before the accident and why she’s finding it so difficult to decide whether she wants to live or die. If I Stay follows Mia as she watches herself lying in a coma in a hospital bed and witnesses the reactions of her friends and family as they sit outside her room, waiting for news. At first she thinks she’s survived unscathed, but then she discovers her own body, unconscious on the ground… The next thing Mia knows, she’s standing in a ditch looking down at the wreckage of their car. They pile into the car, laughing, joking and arguing about which music to listen to, like any other family going on a drive. Mia, her parents and her younger brother Teddy decide to take advantage of the unexpected day off to visit friends. It’s been snowing outside and school has closed for the day. Now she has an even more important choice to make: a choice between life and death. Until today, the biggest decision seventeen-year-old Mia has faced is whether to go to Juilliard to study music or stay at home with her family and boyfriend.

If i stay collection gayle forman