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.