Because She Stayed

In her first book, If I Stay, Gayle Forman told the story of Mia, a young woman left in a coma by the same car accident that killed her mother, father, and little brother. She tells the story as she watches over her unconscious body and the friends and family who plead with her to stay. We know she chose to stay, but I always wondered where she went. Now we know...

When Mia came back, one of the only reason she returned was for her boyfriend and best friend, Adam. Now, three years later, Adam has become an angry, unhappy man. His band is famous, he is dating a famous actress, and he has the world at his fingertips, but he can't have the one thing he really wants: Mia. After she woke up, Adam stayed with her on the long, painful road to recovery. Her determination to play the cello again was one of the driving forces that kept her going. When she left for Julliard the following fall, Adam headed to the LA with his band. Although they were a continent apart, Adam was determined to stay together. what he didn't understand at first was that Mia needed to move on, from both the accident and everything that reminded her of the accident, including Adam.

After three years apart, Adam is in New York with his band, ready to continue their European tour. On a whim, he decides to stay in New York one more night, and he finds himself drawn to the concert hall where Mia is playing. After her concert is finished, she sends someone to bring him backstage. It is that choice, that instant, that changes their lives forever. The survivor's guilt, the shame, the grief, the loss, all come flooding back to both of them as they spend an awkward night together. Mia convinces Adam to take a farewell tour of NYC with her that one last night before she leaves for Japan on her own tour. He agrees, but he seems to do so in the same punishment-seeking way he is about his entire life- believing he doesn't deserve anything better. Along the journey, Mia and Adam share their deepest pains and find in one another the people they once knew as well as the people they have become.

This is a beautiful story full of grief and heartache. Told from Adam's perspective, you can understand how he grieves as much as Mia, although his grief was never realized since they technically weren't his family (although in all aspects but biology they were indeed his family). The reader can also see the grief pattern Mia has experienced where she is simply tired of being treated like the victim. For three years she experienced everyone, from her grandparents to her professors, treating her like she was fragile and would break at any moment. She hated it. She was tired of everyone giving her a free pass because of her family. She just wanted to be seen for who she was: a girl, a cellist, a person who didn't lose everything and at the same time, a person who did lose everything. Together, Mia and Adam heal one another, and it is a story you need to experience to understand.

I not only suggest this story for anyone who read the first book, but I also recommend both books as a great story for struggling readers. The story starts with a traumatizing event and continues in a full story arc through the culmination of the sequel. It is a well-envisioned and beautiful story that will undoubtedly touch anyone who graces its pages. Gayle Forman is a great author, and I am grateful she decided to continue this story.

Would You Stay?

If I Stay

by Guest Author Julia

I just finished reading If I Stay by Gayle Forman. I would recommend this book because you really get to know the characters. You get to know them as if they were a part of your own family. During the course of this book, you will begin to express feelings for each character.

This story is set in a modern town outside Portland Maine. It follows the life of a girl, named Grace, that is in a coma after being in a car crash that kills the rest of her family. She is faced with a decision whether or not to stay with her boyfriend Adam and her extended family, or join her brother, mother and father on the other side. She has an out of body experience while she is in a coma. She hears and sees everything her loved ones are going through.  Throughout the entire story, the main character would notice small details about the people around her which would trigger memories and flashbacks. I liked this because it added depth to the story.

 If I Stay  is what fiction is all about. It is recommended for teens through young adults. The New York Times compared it to the Twilight novels which is why I picked it up in the first place. If you like Twilight, then you will definitely like this book. I liked it because the main character’s boyfriend was massively hot and dreamy. I want a guy in my life like him. Throughout the whole book, I was jealous of the relationship between Grace and Adam. I also liked it because I really felt the emotion of what the characters were going through.  I felt like I had to make decisions about what Grace should do.

This book became like a movie in my head, because it was easy to follow and it had vivid details. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a story that brings your emotions on a roller coaster ride.  It explores the complexities of the teenage female mind. It also explores the emotional state that a person goes through when a loved one experiences trauma and is on the brink of leaving... Forever. If you like this kind of book, then I would suggest picking it up and reading it. You will thank me later.