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.

Yes, I'm reading them all....AGAIN!!!!

OK, so it's not my fault that a really good, close family friend--a young woman who is like a daughter to me--is having a baby girl and has chosen to name her baby girl Isabella!  How can I help it if just the thought of a new baby with such a name sent me back to the TWILIGHT series?!  I HAD to read them AGAIN in preparation for "our" Little Isabella's birth!  LOL!

In a way, NEW MOON is my favorite book in the TWILIGHT series.  Why?  Because of Jacob.  It's so easy to fall in love with Jacob.  There are so many questions where Edward is concerned.  He's so moody and cranky all the time and it gets annoying that he's constantly saying things to Bella that are just plain confusing to her--and not explaining himself.  Granted, as a reader, Edward is easier to read than he appears, but it's still annoying that he keeps so much to himself.  Jacob is refreshing.  Bella sees him as her own personal sunshine--her own "safe harbor."  He doesn't let Bella's depression keep him from expressing himself and glowing anyway.  I do wonder why HE doesn't go see Bella first and try to do something with her earlier.  I know.  I know.  Bella was in her Zombie mode so even if Jacob had gone to her first during that time period, she probably wouldn't even have been aware of him, but I just find it odd that if he cares about her so much--even from the first time he saw her at La Push in TWILIGHT--why does HE wait for Bella to come to him rather than he going to her?  (Does that make any sense?)  But once Bella is awake and aware of her surroundings again, it's wonderful that she finds Jacob and that they so easily fall into a close friendship.

Anyone who has ever been through a loss can understand the hole Bella fought so hard to keep a hold of. I can relate to Bella's pain in NEW MOON more than I like to.  While my losses were my children rather than my soul mate, the pain--the numbness--the hole--the zombie-like state are still the same.  Like Bella, I know who/what I can't live without; it's just that mine isn't my soul mate.

Bella finds happiness in life, even some joy, through her convoluted relationship with Jacob.  It might be complicated, but it works and Bella is able to be Bella again.  I find my joy in my Jesus:  "I have loved you even as the Father has loved me.  Remain in my love....I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow!"  (John 15:9, 11)

While this is quite possibly the saddest book in the series, it's still my favorite simply because Jacob is so easy to love and because I can so easily relate to Bella's pain in this one.

August 23, 2012 to August 25, 2012
February 22, 2014 to Saturday, March 8, 2014