If I Stay by Gayle Forman

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Mia is a beautiful and talented girl. She has a great family, wonderful friends, and a boyfriend who she loves. Everything is going great until an accident puts her somewhere between life and death. Now the only thing left for her to do is decide if she will stay or die.


I usually don't like sad stories, but I loved this. Even with all of the tragedy and drama the book is full of hope. The characters all read true, and the story is believable. There's no white light or flashes of what like might be after death. You get to see what Mia sees and hears while she’s in the hospital bed. You get to live her memories and you get to understand the decision she makes. It’s an amazing story I would recommend to readers 14 and up. Mia is a character who is almost eighteen and she is dealing with life decisions that I think might be hard for younger readers to understand. The romance is not explicit but is more mature than younger readers might be ready for. An excellent book!