Find my reviews on Blogger ~ Reviews by Bookish Sarah 
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 If I Stay opens up to a snowy Winter morning; one in which school has been canceled due to the weather. In a celebration of sorts, 17-year-old Mia takes a ride with her parents and younger brother to see some friends of the family. A devastating car accident cuts their day of fun short in a terrible way. Mia gets out of her family's ruined vehicle only to find that her parents are both dead, and her brother is nowhere to be seen. 
 As Mia searches the accident site, she finally spots someone buried among the wreckage. Upon seeing the only visible part of the body - an arm - Mia realizes the person she's looking at is herself. 
 After she is rushed to the hospital, Mia's astrally projected form stands by and watches the doctors try to save her broken body. In the end, though, the decision of whether to stay or leave is solely up to Mia herself. 
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 *SPOILERS AHEAD!* 
 I am all for a love story. Truly. I love love. Unfortunately, the romance-y part of this book bugged me a teensy bit. I sort of wish Mia didn't solely choose to stay based on whatever her boyfriend said to her; whatever vow he made to her while she was in that limbo. I wish there was impact from another source, maybe combined with Adam's devotion, that helped her come to the ultimate decision to stay. I guess I am just a little tired of seeing girls in YA fiction be so dependent on a boy for happiness. 
 Despite my feelings on the above issue, I have to admit that the romance was still beautiful, and I still appreciate how much Adam loved Mia to make such a vow and how much Mia loved him to come back when her parents and brother were all dead. It wasn't original, but it was still beautiful and Forman portrayed it in a creative way. 
 Half of the book is present tense, written in time-stamped sections over a 24-hour period of time. It's from Mia's POV (her astrally projected form - though that wording is never used. It's really just speculative) while her body is fighting for life in the hospital. She sees her family and friends, how they react to her accident and all of the surgeries and things she must go through. There is also a lot of inner dialogue during the present tense. The other half of the book is pieces of the past; flashbacks - a way for us to become more acquainted with Mia, her family, her situation, etc. In just the very small portion of the book before the accident occurred, Forman did an amazing job of making me love Mia's family. I cried for the accident - I was sad that her parents died. I'd say it's pretty damn impressive to make characters so likable in less than 15 pages. The montage of Mia's life prior to the accident seemed sort of like a life-flashing-before-your-eyes thing... like they say happens before you die, you know? That's just how I thought of it, anyway. It had a high impact on me as a reader. I really do love the way this book was written. 
 The way she wrote this book also gave Forman the opportunity to build her characters extremely well, and that she did! They are multidimensional, engaging, full of personality, and I felt a connection to each one. I think it was especially important to let us get to know Mia's parents and brother more, which we did through those flashbacks. It made the whole book that much more heartbreaking. 
 Overall, this story is a roller coaster ride of emotions. It definitely made me cry. I didn't bawl through the entire thing, but it had some very powerful and moving moments. Mia struggled while in limbo; she grappled with the decision on whether she should stay or leave - I think that struggle was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. This book left me breathless and it all came down to a very powerful ending that had me in tears. I'd recommend this book to older teens, as there is some gore and language. It's a wonderful book and I am quite happy I finally picked it up! 
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 Book source: Personal collection 
 Publisher: Dutton Juvenile/Penguin Group USA