Connection to Cinderella

After reading this book, I really saw a connection with Cinderella. In Cinderella Prince Charming and Cinderella come from completely different worlds. Cinderella, a servant to her stepmom and stepsisters, and Prince Charming being the up and coming King. In if I stay Mia and Adam are completely different. Mia quiet and in love with classical music, while Adam is a popular hardcore rocker, but somehow they end up together. Also, *SPOILER* they both go through extreme obstacles to stay together. Cinderella and Prince Charming had to both work there ways to find each other and live happily ever after, Mia had to deal with the loss of her family and being stuck in a coma, but still ended up with Adam again.

 

  

Suspense

At the beginning of the book the author created great suspense. *SPOILERS* The suspense of her family really kept me guessing for the first 75 pages or so to see if her brother was really gone, and what happened to her parents. As the book went on a little longer the suspense of Mia's decision on living or staying built. She would always go back to good times, and then talk about how much she was going to miss her family. All of the sudden the suspense crashed, all Mia talked about was her happy times with Adam. That made the ending I was reading for extremely predictable. After that, I didn't want to read the book any longer. Without the suspense the book was no longer interesting, and seemed to have no point to reading it. The only plus about this though, was the happy ending of course, but I wish there was more of a suspense built up at the end.

*SPOILERS*

Finally finished If I Stay. The book's ending was very predictable, but it was at least a happy ending. Overall, I thought the book was okay, some parts were absolutely amazing, while other were terrible. But the whole concept of the book was unique, I just wish it was better crafted. One of the problems seemed to be Mia. She went through absolutely no change and stayed the same throughout the book. I really liked how the book was written when Mia was in present time and then had flashbacks, but I think the author overused the technique. Also, I thought the idea of Adam and Mia from 2 completely backgrounds is a very common idea. For example, this idea is used in Cinderella, The Longest Ride, The Best of Me, and many more. I thought overall, this book had some good ideas, they just weren't well executed.

If I Stay- Review

As of my last 2 blog posts, If I Stay was completely amazing. But, the book has taken a complete turn, and not at all for the better. I used to think that The Mia-Adam love story was cute puppy love, but now it is absolutely obnoxious. I don't think I can read another one of the same old stories without falling asleep. Not only that but the 250 page book seems to last 6532781 pages. Mia's choice is taking so long that it turned from suspense, into boredom. I understand it's a big choice but it's taking forever considering every 5 pages seems to be the same Adam flashback over and over again. But I decided I need to finish the book for the sake of this reading project, and maybe it'll have a good ending.

Character Developement

I'm about 1/2 way done with the book and I still can't put it down. Today while I was reading I realized the devolvement of Adam's character. At first, Adam's character was really vague. Mia mentioned Adam a few times as her boyfriend but not much more, until after the crash and Mia started looking over her past. At first, Adam was described as a rocker-boy, which is the complete opposite of Mia. Mia was a quiet girl, with few friends, loved classical music, and playing the cello. But as the story moved on Adam's character became more and more complex. He's in a rock band, but loves Mia's music, He's surrounding by tons of band-obsessed girls, but still chose Mia. This shows how much there is to learn about Adam's character the rest of the book.

Independent Reading Assignment

For my independent reading assignment I decided to read If I Stay. The movie came out a few months ago, so I decided to read the book. I've heard some mixed reactions so I was excited to get a chance to read it. Now I am about 1/3 of the way in and I can't put it down. The book is so unique with the main character being Mia, a girl stuck in the stage between life and death. After a deadly car accident her whole family is dead and she is the only one with a chance of life. The book takes place with her in a coma, but Mia running around almost as a ghost. It goes back and forth between her thinking of her past and her present time. As I was reading I came across a quote that I had to share, "If I stay. If I live. It's up to me... And this terrifies me more than everything,"(88). I find this quote so interesting because she says that it's so scary having to decide life or death. After everything she had been through, seeing her whole family dead on the ground, this is what scares her most. To me it would almost be a no-brainer that she should stay, but reading all the thoughts makes me really question what she will decide.