If I Stay

If I Stay - Gayle Forman

This was one of those lucky "read it because you have heard the title and other people seem to like it and you don't remember anything about it" reads.

 

If I Stay is very much a character-driven story. There is a plot, but it is honestly background for exploration of this family and Mia's relationships in general. I enjoy that type of thing, though I am appreciative that this was a novella and not a full-length novel because the padding that would have come with a novel would not have served this well.

 

I will be honest and admit I did not cry, though there were parts I found affecting to various degrees. The dreaminess of the entire novella, while appropriate and intriguing, made it hard to connect deeply enough to cry.

 

Although the characters are kind of too-good-to-be-true, the relationships feel real and intriguing enough to drive things along. I liked everyone, and they all felt different. This was a nice detour from what I normally read, and I'm glad I picked it up.