Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Publication: April 2010

Publisher: Speak

Pages: 262

Goodreads Rating: 3.99

"On a day that started like any other,

Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, admiring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. In an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the only decision she has left. It is the most important decision she'll ever make.

Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting, and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, dying, loving." (Goodreads)

If I Stay was a wonderful book. The story focuses on Mia, her close knit family and her swoon-worthy boyfriend, Adam. The way the story is written it flashes back and forth between the past and the present. In the present, Mia and her family are involved in a horrible accident. Somehow Mia has an outer-body experience, and she can walk around and see how everyone is reacting to her family's accident while her body is in a medically induced coma. Her flashbacks of the past were my favorite part of the story. I loved her parents so much. They were awesome. I admired them so much. Adam was also a huge part of her flashbacks. We were able to learn about their relationship through them. He was my favorite character in the book. He was a phenomenal boyfriend to Mia. I was so relieved whenever I discovered that their relationship was healthy and stable. Often times in YA we are bombarded with dysfunctional teenage romances that will never work, but Mia and Adam were a breath of fresh air. I had to hold back tears a few times. From the start this story steals your heart and you will not get it back until you finish the last page.

There is a movie coming out based on this book on August 22. It stars Chloe Grace Mortez. You guys should check out the trailer. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER : )  I think I will try to do a book to movie adaption review. What do you guys think?

My rating of If I Stay:

Until next time,
Bre

Book Review:

The Program by Suzanne Young

Published in 2013

 By Simon and Schuster  

Pages 405

Goodreads Rating: 4.06

My Rating:

"When suicide becomes a worldwide epidemic, the only known cure is The Program, a treatment in which painful memories are erased, a fate worse than death to seventeen-year-old Sloane, who knows that The Program will steal memories of her dead brother and boyfriend."

The Program is a dystopian novel that has a heavy focus on love. I was surprised with the amount of character focus and the lack of world-building. With that being said, I did enjoy this book. I enjoyed Sloane as a narrator because she is strong. A lot of things have happened to her, but she keeps going. Her boyfriend, James, is always there for her. When she is upset, she confines in him. In their world, teenagers have to suppress almost all of their emotions. If they are sad or act depressed, their parents can call The Program to have them taken away to be treated. The Program wipes away all of their memories, so they will no longer be depressed. This sounds all fine and dandy, but they can erase eveything. The doctors at The Program drug the teenagers and get them to tell them anything. This is necessary for the second set of pills they force them to take because these pills attack the memories that cause the patient any pain. I enjoyed the characters and the plot of The Program. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. I believe that people who don't normally like dystopian would still enjoy it.

SPOLIERS:

If you haven't read The Program then STOP and come back after you read it. 

There were quite a few predictable moments in the story. For example, Miller's death. I knew it was coming, but it was still so sad. Young did a great job making us love Miller, and then replacing our love for Miller with hate for The Program. Another example, Realm being a part of The Program. He was just too good to be true. I enjoyed reading his parts of the story. I still shipped James and Sloane, but I enjoyed Realm. He was the only person in the story was did not seem confused. He was just a fresh breathe of air. 

            Did anyone else want to punch Sloane's parents in the face? Her mom was so annoying. I understand that she was terrified to lose her daughter, but damn. Let Sloane morn. She has to put on this big fake front at school, so let her come home and let it out. People are killing themselves left and right. How else is she supposed to act? Sloane's dad was just bleh. I was he would have stood up to his wife. 

                  It really bothered me how James started talking to Sloane right off the bat after The Program. Out of all the people in the school, he is automatically interested in her. Of course I wanted it to happen but it seemed too unrealistic for me. It also seemed weird to me how they could skip class so easily. If they were just labeled as a serious threat to themselves and they have to go to a special school to be monitored, I would think they would be watched more closely. 

I'm excited to start The Treatment. I need to know what happens to everyone. With that ending, I need book two ASAP. What did you think about the book? 

Until next time,

Bre

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer Book Review:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

 Released September 27th, 2011

Published by Simon and Schuster

Pages: 466

My Star Rating: 4

Goodreads Rating: 4.13

Challenges: book over 400 pages

Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong.-Goodreads

Michelle Hodkin's writing is a perfect mix of humour and beauty. I laughed out loud a few times while reading this book, which rarely ever happens. I enjoyed Mara as our main character. She is spunky and realistic. If I was in her shoes and people were dying all around me, I would think I were crazy too. I liked her family with the exception of her father. He really annoyed me because it seemed like he put work first. Her brothers were awesome. An issue I had with the book surrounded her younger brother. Why was he texting Noah? How did Noah know where he was taken? That whole situation was just super confusing. 

Noah is super cute. He seems like the stereotype hot guy with the big head, until we really get to know him. I loved his relationship with Mara. The back and forth banter is the best. I officially have a book crush on him. 

I enjoyed how all throughout the book, we are left in the dark just like Mara. We don't know if things are real or not. I felt like we were really able to connect with her because we were just as confused as her. My biggest issue with the story is the last hundred pages or so. Noah and Mara's relationship did not have to go to the next level so quickly. It seemed rushed. And that twist at the end was crazy. I wish it was a bit more developed, but I did really enjoy it. I couldn't put the book down. When I wasn't reading, I wanted to be. Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a creepy, mind boggling read. I need to get the second book because the last book in the trilogy comes out some time this year.
Until next time,
Bre