Stay tells the story of Clara Oates who moves to a seaside town after an abusive relationship with Christian. She starts to put her life together again, feeling free since no one back home knows where she is. Yet, she still struggles to shake off her fear because she knows Christian won't let her go that easily, and that no matter how far she runs, it may not be far enough. 
 I sort of put off reading Stay for a while because of the subject matter but I'm glad I finally finished it. The abusive relationship portrayed her is more of a controlling one, but of course, a controlling relationship is also an abusive one. I did find it comforting that physical abuse wasn't overly portrayed here because the last YA-abuse novel had graphic descriptions of the violence and it really turned me off. 
 So anyway, in Stay, the story is told, in alternating chapters, what is going on in the present as well as what happened to Clara and Christian's relationship. This may sound a little sick but I do feel a little sorry for Christian. He really comes across as someone who is deeply in need of psychological help. I truly don't think he really meant to hurt Clara even in his fits of anger. 
 Clara is someone who undergoes healing and self-empowerment in this story. She re-examines her relationship with Christian and at the end of it all, becomes more powerful because of it. I quite like the last line of the novel as well. I don't have the book with me at the moment but it has something to do with remembering the past and carrying on with life. It was really empowering and inspiring. 
 The secondary characters also shined in Stay. I found Clara's father to be rather entertaining. After all, he's no ordinary father. He's a writer, a wordsmith and he was very amusing to read, especially when he's cursing. LOL. Other characters like Aurora Annabelle and Sylvia also brought colors to the story and of course, the love interest Finn. A charming, charming young man and together with his brother, Jack, they make quite the formidable pair. I also liked how Caletti used Finn and Jack, for a scene, when comparing their friendship to Christian's friendships to other people. Christian's just the person who can't be teased, mocked or even joked with; he's that sensitive. 
 The ending was a pretty good one, with a subplot thrown in about Clara's father and his fear of water. I thought it wouldn't fit in but in the end, it did and I was glad for it. Some might find the ending involving Christian to be unsatisfying but I think in a lot of cases in real life, this is what happens and no one can really do anything about it.