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I'm immortally interested in cultural/literary deconstructions, feminism, anti-racism, South Korea, Supernatural, Sherlock Holmes, Hayao Miyazaki, Diana Wynne Jones, food (including but not limited to maple butter, tomatoes, and toast), fairy tales, parentheses, paper airplanes, films and books.

Monday, May 9, 2011

If I Say

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.

I don't have much to say about this except that I kind of really want Mia's parents. Who doesn't? Kudos to Ms. Forman for saying she's going to model herself after them as well. But other than Mia's rock-star parents, there isn't much that stayed with me. I read this in the same sitting as Before I Fall and maybe it's because I've been watching a show on similar vein since March that none of it really sticks. It wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be. I wasn't particularly moved by it either. I think Adam, Mia's boyfriend, actually moved me more than the fact that Mia had to choose between life and death. The parts I did find touching was when Mia found out she lost her brother and that she was wavering between choosing to join her family.

Although the character's decision was an extremely difficult one, I almost kind of wish she had chosen the former. Maybe I turn sadistic when I'm reading weepy stories but I love to see characters in pain because it push them to grow and change. Was it just me but did anyone else see any character growth in Mia? I honestly didn't feel attached to her at all. You'd think coming to such a life-changing decision would have made her a little bit more softer, a little bit more open, but I have this nagging feeling that she's just going to stay the same even in the following book. (Whose existence by the way grates on my nerves and probably affected how I viewed this book.)

I'm not sure if that's the reason why this book didn't linger more on me. I recently read Saturday by Ian McEwan and that book just blew me away. So many things had happened and changed and were revealed all in the space of a day and then when I compare to If I Stay . . . I don't know. I really wanted to like it. One of my favorite reviewers on Goodreads had given it an incredible amount of stars. I really don't know what happened. When I first read the synopsis, I hadn't thought much of it and then after the gushing praise, I decided to give it a shot and well, nothing really stayed on me. Maybe Adam Wilde. Maybe that one scene where they both played each other like their instruments. (That is probably now one of my top five favorite scenes). Maybe their honest, real and awkward relationship. Take those all away and this book fell flat and I really don't know what else to say.

All in all=☆☆☆

Signed, Confused.

*This summary was taken from Goodreads.

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