I know that I'm probably not supposed to say this, but I have to admit that what first made me what to read this week's Book of the Week was the front cover. I have a thing for book covers and have almost not read some amazing books (The Hunger Games for instance) because their covers were too ugly. Sometimes I'll read a book because its cover is amazing and the book turns out to be not so good.
This is almost one of those books. I liked this book, sure, but was not completely convinced by it. If I Stay by Gayle Forman is the story of a girl who survives a horrible car crash only to find that her parents and little brother have died. The base story of this novel is that Mia (the main character) is a super-talented musician with a quirky-cool family. Mia is bound for glory because her parents are incredibly supportive and loving. Once Mia's family is killed in the car crash, she is not sure that she wants to go on living without them. You get to see Mia's family life through a series of flashbacks. These are well done, but for some reason I kept feeling like I wasn't as connected to Mia as I should have been. Maybe this is because she was a ghost-like character and in a bit of a daze most of the novel. I don't know.
I do think that this is a good read, though. I think that it's interesting to struggle with these questions of life and death, of love and loss. This read may appeal more to females and to those who are moved by music. It's on the free reading shelf at the back of the room if you're interested. Let me know what you think!
