She--and He--went to Hell

Gayle Forman knows how to SHOW a story.  I'm always telling my students the importance of SHOWING not TELLING a story--really making their audience FEEL what is happening on the page.  Forman has caught that.  Wow.  What makes WHERE SHE WENT even more powerful and wonderful is the fact that it is told from the point of view of Adam whereas IF I STAY is told from Mia's point of view.  I don't remember ever reading books in a series where one book is told from one POV and the next book in the series is told from the POV of another character in the story--albeit a major, important character, but seeing the story through the eyes of that other character....WOW.

Jodi Picoult has a wonderful way of weaving the POVs of several characters within her books and she does it VERY WELL.  So well that for the past ten years, I have pre-purchased every new book of hers which means that I have at least ten years' worth of hard-back books for Picoult.  And I don't regret a single hard-back purchase.  Of course I will continue to do that with her books.

Stephenie Meyer attempted to begin to rewrite the TWILIGHT series through the eyes of Edward in MIDNIGHT SUN--a wonderful foil for having read their story through Bella's eyes, but because the manuscript was leaked during the drafting process, Meyer chose to quit working on the project--much to the dismay of her fans.  As far as I know, she'd be the only author to write the same story from the POV of a different character in the story--and it sell just as well as if not better than the original!  Finish MIDNIGHT SUN, Stephenie!  Please....?!

Adam's story of what has happened after Mia decides to stay is REAL.  Having suffered horrific tragedies within my own life, I GET Adam's fall into hell, but I also GET Mia's rejection.  There is no right or wrong when it comes to Grief.  It is what it is:  powerful; overwhelming; all-consuming; destructive; restorative; devastating; soul-wrenching; and it is NEVER exactly the same from one person to the next.

I can't even begin to imagine exactly what Mia and Adam each go through during this horrific time in their lives, but I do understand the all-consuming grief and how neither one knows how to handle it--what to do with it.

WHERE SHE WENT is a powerful, wonderful, sad, amazing story that is WELL WORTH YOUR TIME TO READ.  Forman is a true storyteller and I, for one, am thankful that she is sharing her stories with me.

Should I Stay or Should I Go....Choice

If I could, I would give Gayle Forman's book IF I STAY more than 5 little measly stars--so many more.  I stayed up late to read this book (it's 2:00 am) because I just couldn't put it down.  And I can't stop sobbing.  Mia's story is heart-rending, heart-touching, wonderful, terrible, amazing, awful, fantastic, horrific, and just plain and simply WELL WORTH READING.  Forman truly has captured this horrific story in all it's glory and gory detail in a manner that isn't off-putting--it draws the reader in and makes the reader CARE as well as understand Mia's choice and why her choice is truly a difficult one.

I could compare IF I STAY to Jodi Picoult's SING YOU HOME in that both stories show the wonder of music in our lives.

I could compare the love story in IF I STAY to John Green's love story in THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.

I could compare it to Alice Sebold's THE LOVELY BONES.  If I share the why, I might give away a part of the story that you need to read for yourself, so I won't say any more than that....for now.

I would NOT, as the cover of the book does, compare IF I STAY to the TWILIGHT saga.  Fans of TWILIGHT might enjoy this book, but the statement that is on the cover referring so specifically to fans of TWILIGHT infers that there are vampires in the story.  Clarification:  there are NO vampires in this story.  I guess maybe the quote on the cover is referring more to the comparison of the love story between Adam and Mia and Edward and Bella, but other than the fact that both couples fall in love HARD, I don't see any more to compare the two stories.

I wish I had had a soundtrack of the songs mentioned in the book to listen to as I read the book.  Apparently, though I found this out AFTER I finished reading the book, we can download the song playlist if we want from Forman's website: Playlist for IF I STAY

As I've finished the book and started to search for an image of the book to use in my blog, I have also learned that the book is being made into a movie that, according to IMDb, will be released in August of 2014.  Here's a link for the trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2agNeovUjr0

I can't say enough wonderful things about IF I STAY.  I want to talk to someone who has read it so we can cry together and share the powerful emotions that this book invokes.  I can't wait to read everything else written by Forman.