If I Stay by Gayle Forman

The first time I read this book was two years ago and I raved about it. I couldn't wait to read the sequel and, after finally getting my hands on it the other day, I decided to reread the first one to remind myself of the story. Honestly? I don't know why I made such a fuss about it.

Yes, this book has a great plot. What impressed me when I first read it was how great the characters were AND how diverse they were. Hey look, well-developed adults in a YA book! Shocking! And yes, I stand by that statement. The characters are interesting and I loved reading about them. Mia in particular is a great narrator, somehow keeping the story flowing even when it's jumping about all over the place.

(Unrelated but seriously, Chloe Grace Moretz is in this movie. I HAD to include a gif of her)

Which brings me to why I was somewhat disappointed. The writing style is...simplistic. Maybe a little too simplistic. This coupled with the book being very short made me feel like I was reading something meant for younger readers. Heck, maybe I was. But the majority of YA books can stretch across the whole age range and this is one of the few I've read which made me feel like I was reading a YA book instead of just a book about teenagers.

Overall though, this is still a decent book driven by a great plot and intriguing characters. The sequel on the other hand...well, I'll save my thoughts on that for another review

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