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If I Stay / Where She Went

I finished reading both books in what I assume will just be a 2-book series (duet? combo? pair? am I missing a two-book-series word here?) a couple days ago. I read both of them really, really fast, not because I was in any hurry---just because I could not put them down.

First, the first. Mia, a talented cellist, stands on the brink of change. She's a senior in an Oregon high school and has (almost certainly) been accepted at Julliard. But her boyfriend, Adam, whose band is on the rise, won't be coming. These are the thoughts weighing on her mind when she goes for a drive one snow-day morning with her parents and her little brother. But her world comes to an abrupt end when her father swerves into oncoming traffic and everyone in her car is killed---everyone except for Mia. With her body lying in the hospital, Mia must contemplate the all-consuming question before her: If I stay ...

And the second ... Well, I can't really say much about it without revealing important plot points from the first, but I will say that it's told from Adam's point of view and concerns the aftermath of the tragedy of the first.

Both are told through a series of flashbacks, which sometimes I find annoying, because I just want to know what's happening now, darn it! But this was definitely not annoying. Moving, tragic, and yet hopeful, these books are both great reads.

For me, the beauty I found in these books was in Mia's loving family and in her love for classical music. I will add a warning, though: there is lots of language and some mild sexual references and a touch of gruesome imagery. The bad language is so casually used---just like I remember it in high school. So I guess it's accurate. But that doesn't mean I have to like it. :) Anyway, older teen to adult audience recommended.

1 comment:

  1. ooh, I'm glad you read these! I've been hearing a lot of buzz about them and wondered how they were.

    ReplyDelete

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