- One of those popular titles, and I thought I’d give it a shot.
I also recommend:
- Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Summary from GoodReads:
In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen year- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck…
A sophisticated, layered, and heartachingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make -and the ultimate choice Mia commands.
My Review:
I’ve become a lot more choosy with regards to my thoughts on the contemporary YA books being released. Most of the time they seem to be filled with whiny teens who (and this is a pet peeve of mine) refuse responsibility for the choices they make throughout the book. Most of all though, I really dislike the lack of parents/absent parenting that happens a lot of the time.
In If I Stay, again, the parents are gone. Mia has to deal with life without them – that is, if she wakes up from the coma that she was put into as a result of the same event that took her parents from her. What I did appreciate about this book was the total support shown through her thoughts into the past, support of not only her friends but also her family. And the lack of parents in the present? It didn’t really matter, because through Mia’s memories they came to life. I loved seeing her remaining family, also, pull together to surround her, and my heart hurt seeing the ultimate sacrifice displayed by one family member (just writing about it brings me to tears).
I felt the loss and pain and heartache in this book – and I didn’t just feel them for Mia, but also felt the loss deeply through the actions and words of her grandparents, her aunt and uncle and her friends. Also, I found the book incredibly powerful knowing, as I did at the start, that Mia in the present time would be very rarely present.
If I Stay has been added to the “worthwhile contemporary reads” shelf for me. It wasn’t filled with selfish, angry lash-outs by the teenager, it was filled with hopes and dreams and struggles. That makes me a very grateful reader.
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