Over the past two weeks, I decided to read the ever so popular realistic fiction book, If I Stay. The book is about the aftermath of a girl, Mia, who was in a tragic accident alongside her family. The whole book takes place over a couple of days, with Mia in the hospital, thinking about whether she should stay or not, henceforth the title, 'If I stay'. For the duration of the book, Mia has many different thoughts, "I should stay but maybe I shouldn't stay." There are a lot of things that influence her thoughts, such as her grandparents, her best friend Kim, but most importantly her boyfriend, Adam. The majority of the book are flashbacks with her boyfriend, which shows just how strong of an influence he has on Mia's decision, which I believe is the reason why the author chose to include these flashbacks.
One reason why I think the author included these flashbacks with Adam, was to show us as readers how strong the relationship is between Adam and Mia. Adam and Mia's relationship grew a lot from the beginning of the flashbacks and the end. At the beginning their relationship was very awkward but towards the end they both started to rely on each other and were more like best friends than a couple. These flashbacks really showed us how strong their relationship was and made us as readers connect a lot more with Mia's feelings and decisions.
Another reason why the author chose to have these strong flashbacks, was to show us how hard it was for Mia to make her decision. The author did this by writing an emotional connecting relationship between Mia and Adam. This relationship truly develops throughout the book and gives us a readers sympathy for the decision that Mia makes at the end of the story. Her emotional connection and history with Adam truly helps express the truth and respect of Mias decision whether to stay or to go. The author makes it seem that Adam is her link to the world and this is what makes the story so thrilling and emotional.
In conclusion, Gayle Forman doesn't just write in the present but also in the past, which helps entail the relationship and future of Mia and Adam. The book isn't just a portrayal of one girl but of everyone around her and how they struggle to deal with the sight of Mia after her devastating accident. This is why I loved the piece because it is about so many different things but a simple and romantic story.
I really liked the book and I definitely recommend it to the few people in the world who haven't read it. I thought that Gayle Forman's style of writing was very interesting and unique and I can't wait to read her sequel to If I Stay, Where she Went. And I am definitely going to watch the movie soon!
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