If I Stay

Spoiler Alert: Your life is always worth living.

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This heart-wrenching, but beautifully written young adult novel follows Mia, a talented but shy musician. As Mia navigates high school, romance, family, and her dream of being admitted to Julliard, her life -- in an instant crashes in from all sides. After a fatal accident leaves her in a critical state, she must decide whether to return to the world as an orphan or join her family on the other side. Romantic, philosophical, and easy to read, it is no wonder this book was a best seller. The protagonist of Mia is a like-able and relatable heroine. Her love story that enfolds with the sexy and talented Adam is also incredibly riveting and well written. As Adam helps her to finally be vulnerable with the people that support her and love her no matter what, readers also see Mia bloom into someone with incredible confidence and ambition. The romantic aspect of the story, likely to make readers swoon, serves as more as than a plot-grab; it is through finding true love that Mia not only learns to embrace who she is, but also finds the value of the many different loves in her life. In addition to the dreamy Adam however, Mia also has adoring rocker-musician parents, a sweet and thoughtful younger brother, and a caring and perpetually supportive best friend. In reflecting on these many relationships and realizing how lucky she truly is -- Mia is forced to take on the most difficult decision -- the only one she has left: to stay or to go. A definite tear-jerker (I'll admit I have yet to watch the movie because I find it too heartbreaking), this book tackles heavy subjects with grace and reverence. In Mia's reflection of her own life, the book demonstrated that although it was full of much hurting and heartbreak, it was also teeming with love and light as well. In addition, I admired the way the story was told in a non-linear fashion, flashing between scenes of Mia's life before and after the accident. In flashing back to her key memories and significant moments with loved ones, I felt not only more connected with Mia, but also found myself asking interesting questions about my own life and all the many blessings that make it worth living. I find it interesting that Mia's reflection of her life wasn't necessarily chronological, but rather a culmination of thoughts, experiences, and relationships that had resulted in her. Despite being a good story, however, what stuck with me most weren't the memorable characters, relationships, or even plot, but rather the idea that each life contains a certain immeasurable amount of beauty and magic. Even the smallest moments that one experiences can become meaningful -- can define a lifetime. The book is described by the author as "simultaneously tragic and hopeful" and what a beautiful way to not only define this story, but to define life itself.

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Favorite Quotes: "Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you." ~~ "I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard." ~~ "I'm not sure this is a world I belong in anymore. I'm not sure that I want to wake up.” ~~ “Don't be scared...Women can handle the worst kind of pain. You'll find out one day.” ~~ “Losing me will hurt; it will be the kind of pain that won't feel real at first, and when it does, it will take her breath away.” ~~ “And that's just it, isn't it? That's how we manage to survive the loss. Because love, it never dies, it never goes away, it never fades, so long as you hang on to it. Love can make you immortal."