If I Stay by Gayle Forman: Book Review

   In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen-year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. '



'If I stay' ,by Gayle Forman, is a contemporary novel  about a 17 year old girl named Mia. on a cold February morning, Mia and her family get in a horrific car accident. Whilst in a coma, Mia has an outer body experience where she can see everything that is happening to her and how the people she loves, act about the accident. This book alternates between present day and flashbacks. 

I really enjoyed this book, it was realistic and quite a quick read. the hype surrounding this book made me want to pick this up and I'm really glad I did. The book is really short so the accident happens really quickly in the story. Everyone kept saying this book was really upsetting and heartbreaking, whilst I thought it was quite emotional, I never actually cried or had to stop because it was too upsetting. I think the hype for the book led me wanting it to be a bit more upsetting, however I really loved how the story changed between present day and flashbacks. 


Characters:

+ I really liked how different Mia's personality is when she is in a flashback and in the present day, it was realistic and showed how a certain even can change someone's life. In the present day, it was like there was only a shell of Mia's personality.
+ I really liked Mia's parents, usually in YA, the parents are always there but never really shown, or the main character hates his'/her's parents. In 'If I Stay' the parents are very important characters and are really realistic.
-I think I would of really liked the characters more if the novel was longer, I think that's the real reason why I wasn't so upset, I didn't feel like I knew the characters enough.


Writing:

+ As I have already said, Gayle Forman writes the story very realistically and you can almost imagine the events happening in your life.
+ The writing was very simple but effective, it fit the mood of the story completely, also the writing progressed like a song, if that makes sense..(it probably doesn't).
- The main issue I had with this novel was the length, I really wanted it to be longer, I think Gayle Forman could of added maybe 30 more pages. 
- I know there is a sequel, but I still wanted the book to be longer!

Plot:

I am not going to write much for the plot since it is a very short book and I don't want to spoil it.

+ I loved the flashback scenes, they were done really well and were really interesting.
+ My favourite flashback was the labour day scene, it was very happy and such a wonderful memory.
+ Gramp's speech, enough said.
- I wasn't a fan of the end, I wanted it to resolve without it being ambiguous.


Overall I really liked this book and I really want to see the movie now! Even though I had a few problems I definitely recommend this book! I will give this book a four out of five stars, but if I am being more specific, I would say 85%.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer: Book Review

After countless recommendations by some of my favourite authors and Goodreads, I finally gave in to read this book, it was really cheap on the kindle so I decided to read it. Initially, before reading it,this book never appealed to me and it looked quite boring, however I was gladly wrong. This book exceeded my expectations, it was a creepy, disturbing psychological thriller and it made me feel like I was going insane just like the main character. I had quite a few problems with this book, hence why I gave it four stars, but I will explain that later on. I really need the sequel now after that ending! I recommend this book if you like creepy thrillers or books with unreliable narrators, but do beware that the book does leave you confused for the majority of the time.

Characters:

+ I really enjoyed the whole Dyer family, they were a really close family and I liked how each person had a role in the book, I also liked how the author didn't ignore their indian ethics and incorporated quite a few indian things in the book.

+ I didn't really like Noah at the beginning but as things started to unfold you saw more of his character. By the end, his role in the book was vital <spoiler> and I am quite interested to see how he is going to use his 'powers' in the next book. </spoiler>

+ One of my favourite things about this book was the unreliable narration by Mara Dyer, you never knew what was true and what was fake, because of her PTSD, you never know what really is happening.

- One issue I had with this book was the forced romance, I thought that sometimes the romance was fine, but other times it just felt really forced and unrealistic, and I thought that it could of been much more better. But I have heard that this issue doesn't come up in the sequel as much.


Plot:

+ I really liked the start of the book, it was really creepy and had a choking atmosphere to it. I really liked the opening chapter with the ouija board, it was frightful and very confusing.

+ My favourite thing about this novel were the death scenes, I know it sounds morbid but they were very well written and really shocking, they left me asking so many questions. The whole Ms Morales section was beyond creepy.

- I wish we had a bit more answers, <spoiler> I wanted to know more about Mara's Death Powers and how they happen, and I wanted to see how her mind worked when she did those things accidently </spoiler>

- The middle section of the book dragged on a bit, and I thought there could of been a bit more paranormal elements there.

+ The ending was amazing, it ended a bit too quick though! I really need to read the second book now!


Overall:

I really enjoyed this book and it was much better than I expected, even though there was room for improvement, I definitely think this book is worth picking up if you like YA or thrillers. Also was it just me, or did anyone notice little Harry Potter references? I thought that was a nice touch! I am definitely looking forward to reading the sequel. My final rating is 4 stars, but if you want a more accurate rating I would say 82%.