IF I STAY, review, giveaway, winner

Firstly, I apologies for being a day late. I was running around like a headless chicken yesterday. And unfortunately, I can't preprogram a post that depends on random.org

The winner of SORTA LIKE A ROCK STAR is....

Sidrah!!!

Email me at muchlanguage (at) gmail (dot) com with your address.

Today, up for grabs, a copy of IF I STAY by Gayle Forman.



Quick summary: Mia and her family are involved in a terrible accident, which claims her parents' lives. She then has to choose whether to stay and live without them, or to go and join them, wherever they are.


The raw truth:

I did not connect with this book. And it really bothered me. Because my Mom was in a band just like Mia's parents, and I identified with a lot of what she mentioned. And because the prose had a certain simple beauty to it. Also, everyone on the blogosphere raves about this book. I WANTED to love this book.

I read IF I STAY at the end of last year, and it has taken this long for me to post about it, because I was trying to figure out what was missing for me. And then it hit me. The fundamental problem is whether to live or die. That's what Mia spends the majority of the book debating. And that's never even a question for me. (Life is hard as a bipolar. If God gave me half a choice, I'd be gone before you could blink. Don't worry I'm not suicidal. Just realistic.)

My one bad:

The present tense. It's hit or miss when you move a book out of the past tense. The present tense, in particular, pulls a reader into the moment. Unfortunately, if it's a moment that you don't want to be in, the present tense has an effect that is the polar opposite of the desired one. It would be like being made to watch years of home videos featuring a family you didn't know.

However, if this is a question that you'd puzzle over, then you'll probably love the present tense in this book.

My one good:

The relationship between Adam and Mia. I get really tired of YA pretending that relationships are all roses and lollipops. Adam and Mia didn't even feel like teens in their relationship. And that makes sense, because of who Mia is- she's applied to Juilliard, so that means when other people her age are out getting drunk, she's practicing the cello with music students or her tutor.

IF I STAY is well-written and thought-provoking. I think it would be an asset to anyone who wonders about the line between life and death.

RULES:

First week of the month, so this is open to everybody.
It's international.
To win, tell me: Would you stay if you'd already lost your family/friends?