If I Stay

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Blurb from Goodreads:

The critically acclaimed, bestselling novel from Gayle Forman, author of Where She Went, Just One Day, and Just One Year.
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. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. ‘
Now a major motion picture starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Mia’s story will stay with you for a long, long time.

My review:

I’ve heard such good things about this book. And as I read it, I knew I was meant to be crying. But it wasn’t until the very end that I felt anything at all.
Mia was a bit bland to me. She loved her cello, Adam, and her family. But that was it. She had no life outside of that. She talked about her family like it was some revolutionary thing she loved them so much. But don’t most people? Especially after they’ve all been in such a serious car accident. Some of her memories with Adam were cute, but he seemed a lot more devoted to her than she was to him.
Despite the book being so short, it felt a bit draggy. To me, there was no choice. She had so many people there who loved her and needed her, and she considered leaving? She worried that, depending on his fate, Teddy would have no future. What about her? It was so hypocritical, not that she cared.
Despite all that, I stuck with it. And it was worth it for those last 10 pages. I didn’t realise how strongly I felt for Adam until he said what he said and I started to cry. That was the only time I felt anything close to pain in that book, and I wanted to be sadder than I was. But it was still a heartbreaking (and brilliant) ending. Sequel here I come!