BOOK REVIEW ~ IF I STAY and WHERE SHE WENT by GAYLE FORMAN

*no spoilers included*

Helloooo Guyss!

Today I will do a review of If I Stay series by Gayle Forman. There are two books in the series; If I Stay #1 and Where She Went #2. I read this series when I was about to go for vacation. The schedule was hectic and I hardly had enough time to read something with more than 200 pages. This series was light to read and when I got tempted to start Where She Went right after finishing If I Stay on the plane, I actually went ahead with it because I was sure I would end it during the three hour journey itself. And I did, ha.

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If I Stay (If I Stay #1)

Just listen, Adam says with a voice that sounds like shrapnel.

I open my eyes wide now.
I sit up as much as I can.
And I listen.

Stay, he says.

Choices. Seventeen-year-old Mia is faced with some tough ones: Stay true to her first love—music—even if it means losing her boyfriend and leaving her family and friends behind?

Then one February morning Mia goes for a drive with her family, and in an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, all the choices are gone, except one. And it’s the only one that matters. source: goodreads

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When I read a book I have no idea about I check its rating on goodreads but do not read the reviews. This is the precise reason I sometimes read books that don’t make sense to me. (Yes, there are books that don’t make sense to me)

If I Stay is a story about a seventeen years old aspiring musician Mia who’s life revolves around her music, family and boyfriend. Her priority is her music and she wants to become a big star even if it means she has to move away from her family and boyfriend – people she loves the most.

One day her family and she meets with an accident in which she is the only survivor. She is in a state of coma but her soul is conscious somehow and can walk around and see everything happening. She can’t communicate with anyone though. She is like a semi-ghost (if there even is a thing like that). All she can do is simply observe what all is occurring. After knowing her family is dead she goes into a shock and questions is this life worth living now with no parents to love her? Is waking up from the coma worth it now even though her boyfriend is beside her unconscious body begging her to stay? Is it this life worth living still?

I wasn’t expecting If I Stay to have a story like this. I thought it would be a teen love story kind of thing. What I liked about this book was how it made a reader think that our parents/family that we take for granted on daily basis, if they are not with us anymore, will our lives still be the same. This is something I think about a lot. My parents are growing old and are diabetic and suffer from high Blood Pressure. Often time I would end up stressed begging the supreme power to take my life if need be and let both my parents have a healthy life because I honestly can’t imagine my life without my mum and dad. I am not one to show my feelings that easily but I can’t even bear the thought of my parents leaving this world before me. I wouldn’t be able to bear something so big. I feel like I would die with them. Even if I think about it I forget to breathe. I do believe parents are the most important people in a person’s life. If one of them is missing the whole family scatters off. I don’t intent to hurt any single parent’s feelings here. Single parents are super humans because they perform the role of both parents. Their children would suffer more of a loss because with two parents at least you will have one left but with the only one gone… life would be such a devastating notion.

If I Stay was told from Mia’s point of view. It was easy to go though. It is more of a one sitting read. I did not enjoy the book as much as I hoped to. By the time I was done with 75% (yes, I calculate my reading in percentage) of it, it had started becoming repetitive and I got a little irritated too. However I finished it and just to know what happens next I started Where She Went. I thought to give it up on the first book but I am a sucker when it comes to series. I have to end them.

Rating: 3/5

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Where She Went (If I Stay #2)

It’s been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam’s life forever.

Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Juilliard’s rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. Source: goodreads

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Before I start let me just say how beautiful the cover was. I loved the colors. I liked Where She Went far more than If I Stay. Where She Went was told from Adam’s point of view and thank God for that because I really liked Adam’s character and was glad to read more of his thoughts. There is just something about broken hearts and venting all those feelings out as art that always touches my heart. Maybe because whenever I get upset or feel heart-broken that’s exactly what I do but anyhow, loved the book. It was easy to go through as well and far more exciting and fast paced than If I Stay. I was on the edge of my seat with every turn of the page. I really don’t want to talk about the story because too many spoilers. It was just the best ending that Forman could give to the book and it does justice with the characters.

I do believe when you go through something as big as losing people in your life that you love the most you tend to become cynic and push away people who care about you and love and cherish you more than themselves. A person can totally believe that they are messed up in the mind because they have lost so much and they don’t deserve to love someone or have someone love them back because everyone who does so leaves…

I loved Adam’s character in the series. I would suggest everyone this series just because I would want you all to read Where She Went, ha. It wasn’t over the top mushy romantic series. It was like an ordinary person’s life – normal and relatable.

Rating: 4/5

Have you read If I Stay series? How did you like it? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂

Love,

F x

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Soul Sisters’ Love

You know you have the best-est friend possible when the moment you tell them about your celebrity crush they start calling him their Jeejz (Brother-in-Law)!! ^_^

Thankyou Pink ❤

Repetition: The Common Exercise for Denial

Just last night I was having a conversation with my mum and I was talking about how I want to do a certain thing. Mid-way the convo I realized how unacceptable it is for me to do so. So instead of simply admitting that I shouldn’t, I started giving reasons as to why I shouldn’t. This made me think of a particular practice that I am quite certain most of us do.

Often times we keep repeating to ourselves and to others why we shouldn’t do a certain thing. Pretending that we are mature people who weight down all pros and cons to a situation.

Consciously, we keep giving reasons for not doing it, no matter someone proves us wrong. we still repeat how we want it to be. Subconsciously this is done not in order to show off in front of our friends that we are making a smart calculated decision but because we are trying to convince ourselves with these reasons to keep us from pursuing it. Though if given a chance we would do it in a heartbeat.

These reasons that we can ignore easily but will not because we are not alone in this decision making process. All our decisions are heavily influenced by our family, friends, society, culture and up-bringing. We continuously keep talking about these reasons with people or in our head so that it can somewhat permanently stick there.

Such a situation occurs mostly when we want to do something which is not acceptable in our society or/and culture. One of the most common examples can be of choosing a profession like being a writer or a singer, such sort of creative professions, but we don’t often opt for them because we are either not confident about ourselves or our family is not supportive enough.

Yes it is somewhat sad to realize that even though we are kids of today’s generation, the decision making process is still the same and so are the influential factors. We still opt for what is considered acceptable rather than being different. Some of us who are brave enough to be different, bravo to them all.