Imagine your soul is totally out of your body, and you are watching yourself laying in the ICU at the hospital thinking that your parents and brother are all gone; relatives, friends, and lovers are scurrying and worrying around you. Would you choose to stay? If I Stay is a story about a young cellist called Mia who loses her parents and brother in a tragic car accident. Facing herself in a coma and watching her friends running around for her and worrying about her for 24 hours, she keeps asking herself only one question: “Am I supposed to stay?” Watching herself under this breathing apparatus, she starts to recall these memories: the small happy pieces of her family, the relationship with her friends, and how she fell in love with her boyfriend…
     I discovered this book at a bookstore because I was attracted by the title of it. I like the story, because as I was reading, I felt Mia’s pain and her feeling of helplessness. The whole book is written in first person; because of the special situation of Mia, she can see people’s reality and expresses feelings of shock when she sees her own body. Her body stays in bed as if it is dead at the hospital, but her soul is wandering around the world with the ability to think, the feeling of pain, and crying with tears. Because of this unique character, I walk into Mia’s world and cry with her, smile with her, and think with her. The book is only a novel but brings pain to its readers, makes us examine our lives again and experience 24 hours with them. Families, friendship, and love. Those three words sound light and easy, but the actual weight and meaning hits everybody’s heart. Because of the intoxicating affection and love that runs through whole book, I cherish my life and am thankful. “If I Stay”: this simple sentence will adequately comfort us.

Reviewed by Maomao D.