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Natalie Monroe's Reviews > If I Stay
If I Stay (If I Stay, #1)
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Natalie Monroe's review
bookshelves: good-but-not-great, loved-while-reading-but-forgettable, mama-bear-moms, not-worth-the-hype, not-as-good-as-i-expected, when-sparks-don-t-fly
Apr 20, 2014
bookshelves: good-but-not-great, loved-while-reading-but-forgettable, mama-bear-moms, not-worth-the-hype, not-as-good-as-i-expected, when-sparks-don-t-fly
3.5 stars
Welcome to another excitingfight-to-the-death conversation between Nice Natalie and Cynical Natalie.
Nice Natalie: Here we are again, about to rag on another beloved book.
Cynical Natalie: It's called having an opinion. If you wanna play nice-nice, go stand in the corner with the Stop the GR Bullies people.
Nice Natalie: But you did like If I Stay. The writing sent shivers down your spine, remember?
It was just gorgeous the way the writer meshed Mia's love for music with stuff.
Cynical Natalie: Yes, but there's a very big difference between liking something and loving it. We like ketchup, but we looove tartar sauce. And writing isn't the only thing that makes or breaks a story. Marissa Meyer is, for all her accomplishments, a mediocre writer. No offense honestly, but her writing just doesn't sing. Yet I love the hell out of Scarlet and Cress because the characters were fantastic.
Nice Natalie: But you thought the characters in If I Stay were great! They were fleshed-out, distinguishable from one another, and the relationships between secondary characters other than the main characters, like her Mom and Dad, were addressed and developed as well. Do you realize how rare that is in a YA book?
Cynical Natalie: Harry Potter.
Nice Natalie: HP is technically middle-grade.
Cynical Natalie: I don't know... I think it stopped being middle-grade four books ago.
(screenshot taken from this video)
Nice Natalie: Regardless, you can't use HP as an example. It's like telling the Pope that he'll never be God. They're incomparable.
Cynical Natalie: True that. But I still remember Celestina Warbeck even though the last time I visited Hogwarts was in January, but I'm 99.9% sure I won't remember any of the main characters from If I Stay two weeks from now. Speaking of which, what was up with that awkward, albeit beautifully-written, sex/groping scene between Mia and Adam? He was all like, "Play me like a cello."
Nice Natalie: It was meant to be a beautiful moment of bonding.
Cynical Natalie: You mean like Hazel and Gus making out in Anne Frank's house was supposed to be romantic and poignant? Yeah, all I got from the cello scene was awkwardness and moments of suppressed laughter. Try as I may, I can't picture two socially-conscious teenagers doing what they did.
Nice Natalie: First loves are supposed to be awkward.
Cynical Natalie: Not to the point where they make me laugh at the ridiculousness. And I didn't cry at all during reading. Nor did I feel sad actually. I only felt guilty because I hadn't reached my writing quota for the day and I was behind on my reading challenge.
Nice Natalie: But it's about a girl dealing with the deaths of her parents and brother! And whether she should stay because her life will be miserable if she wakes up.
Cynical Natalie: Eh, been there, done that. I don't get why Mia didn't try touching her body to see if her soul would get sucked back in. It always happens that way in movies. That's what I'd do, regardless of everything. But I guess the storyline wouldn't make Mia try that so she can Contemplate Important Life Choices.
Plus, the whole book just felt like a very long prologue. It was just a string of memories with a few strays thoughts on whether she should stay. After she finally makes her decision, the book ends, like, "You wanna find out what happens next? Buy the next book, sucker!" There's no real closure.
Nice Natalie: Do you want to read the next book?
Cynical Natalie: Sort of. But I don't like feeling suckered into it.
Nice Natalie: If you want to read the next one, that means it did its job!
Cynical Natalie: Meh, I guess it did. Still, I won't be rating this higher than a 4.
Nice Natalie: Remember those days when we'd give a 4 as long as we enjoyed the book?
Cynical Natalie: Yeah...
Nice Natalie: I miss those days.
Cynical Natalie: Go stand in your corner. Now.
Other Nice Natalie/Cynical Nataliebrawls reviews:
A Girl Like You
The Fault In Our Stars
Dreams of Gods & Monsters
The Martian
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Catching Fire
All The Rage
An Ember In The Ashes
Harry Potter & the Cursed Child
The Hammer of Thor
The Ship of the Dead
Caraval
Warcross
The Last Namsara
Welcome to another exciting
Nice Natalie: Here we are again, about to rag on another beloved book.
Cynical Natalie: It's called having an opinion. If you wanna play nice-nice, go stand in the corner with the Stop the GR Bullies people.
Nice Natalie: But you did like If I Stay. The writing sent shivers down your spine, remember?
"And there was so much noise. A symphony of grinding, a chorus of popping, an aria of exploding, and finally, the sad clapping of hard metal cutting into soft trees."
It was just gorgeous the way the writer meshed Mia's love for music with stuff.
Cynical Natalie: Yes, but there's a very big difference between liking something and loving it. We like ketchup, but we looove tartar sauce. And writing isn't the only thing that makes or breaks a story. Marissa Meyer is, for all her accomplishments, a mediocre writer. No offense honestly, but her writing just doesn't sing. Yet I love the hell out of Scarlet and Cress because the characters were fantastic.
Nice Natalie: But you thought the characters in If I Stay were great! They were fleshed-out, distinguishable from one another, and the relationships between secondary characters other than the main characters, like her Mom and Dad, were addressed and developed as well. Do you realize how rare that is in a YA book?
Cynical Natalie: Harry Potter.
Nice Natalie: HP is technically middle-grade.
Cynical Natalie: I don't know... I think it stopped being middle-grade four books ago.
(screenshot taken from this video)
Nice Natalie: Regardless, you can't use HP as an example. It's like telling the Pope that he'll never be God. They're incomparable.
Cynical Natalie: True that. But I still remember Celestina Warbeck even though the last time I visited Hogwarts was in January, but I'm 99.9% sure I won't remember any of the main characters from If I Stay two weeks from now. Speaking of which, what was up with that awkward, albeit beautifully-written, sex/groping scene between Mia and Adam? He was all like, "Play me like a cello."
Nice Natalie: It was meant to be a beautiful moment of bonding.
Cynical Natalie: You mean like Hazel and Gus making out in Anne Frank's house was supposed to be romantic and poignant? Yeah, all I got from the cello scene was awkwardness and moments of suppressed laughter. Try as I may, I can't picture two socially-conscious teenagers doing what they did.
Nice Natalie: First loves are supposed to be awkward.
Cynical Natalie: Not to the point where they make me laugh at the ridiculousness. And I didn't cry at all during reading. Nor did I feel sad actually. I only felt guilty because I hadn't reached my writing quota for the day and I was behind on my reading challenge.
Nice Natalie: But it's about a girl dealing with the deaths of her parents and brother! And whether she should stay because her life will be miserable if she wakes up.
Cynical Natalie: Eh, been there, done that. I don't get why Mia didn't try touching her body to see if her soul would get sucked back in. It always happens that way in movies. That's what I'd do, regardless of everything. But I guess the storyline wouldn't make Mia try that so she can Contemplate Important Life Choices.
Plus, the whole book just felt like a very long prologue. It was just a string of memories with a few strays thoughts on whether she should stay. After she finally makes her decision, the book ends, like, "You wanna find out what happens next? Buy the next book, sucker!" There's no real closure.
Nice Natalie: Do you want to read the next book?
Cynical Natalie: Sort of. But I don't like feeling suckered into it.
Nice Natalie: If you want to read the next one, that means it did its job!
Cynical Natalie: Meh, I guess it did. Still, I won't be rating this higher than a 4.
Nice Natalie: Remember those days when we'd give a 4 as long as we enjoyed the book?
Cynical Natalie: Yeah...
Nice Natalie: I miss those days.
Cynical Natalie: Go stand in your corner. Now.
Other Nice Natalie/Cynical Natalie
A Girl Like You
The Fault In Our Stars
Dreams of Gods & Monsters
The Martian
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Catching Fire
All The Rage
An Ember In The Ashes
Harry Potter & the Cursed Child
The Hammer of Thor
The Ship of the Dead
Caraval
Warcross
The Last Namsara
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If I Stay.
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Reading Progress
April 20, 2014
– Shelved as:
to-read
April 20, 2014
– Shelved
June 18, 2014
–
Started Reading
June 18, 2014
–
0.0%
"The movie's coming out soon, which means I'm obligated to read this before going to the theaters. Bring on the feels."
June 18, 2014
–
5.0%
"And there was so much noise. A symphony of grinding, a chorus of popping, an aria of exploding, and finally, the sad clapping of hard metal cutting into soft trees. God, that's beautiful."
June 19, 2014
–
22.0%
"Was that a sex scene? It certainly read like one.
I'm not sure if it's awkward or beautiful."
I'm not sure if it's awkward or beautiful."
June 21, 2014
– Shelved as:
good-but-not-great
June 21, 2014
– Shelved as:
loved-while-reading-but-forgettable
June 21, 2014
– Shelved as:
mama-bear-moms
June 21, 2014
– Shelved as:
not-worth-the-hype
June 21, 2014
– Shelved as:
not-as-good-as-i-expected
June 21, 2014
– Shelved as:
when-sparks-don-t-fly
June 21, 2014
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-14 of 14 (14 new)
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message 1:
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Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁
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rated it 4 stars
Jun 21, 2014 04:12AM
LOL. Yeah, the "Play me like a cello," thing was SUPER awkward.
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Jessica (Rabid Reads) wrote: "LOL. Yeah, the "Play me like a cello," thing was SUPER awkward."It sounds romantic in theory, but when I actually think about it *shudders*
Astoria wrote: "Har har, loved this review! I liked Cynic Natalie better too. ^-^"My snarky self will be delighted to hear that >:)
Best Review! I quite like Cynic (or as I like to view it, honest) Natalie! :o)
Tali wrote: "Best Review! I quite like Cynic (or as I like to view it, honest) Natalie! :o)"Thanks!
Omg I get you. Like, I'm never quite sure if Nicholas Sparks is a good writer or just if he knows WHAT to write about! Lol, I bet you had fun writing this review, Natalie! Enjoyed reading it!
Thank you! I tried Nicholas Sparks as a kid, but didn't like it. I'll probably give his books another try sometime in the future.
It's annoying cause everyone gets mad at me for not loving this book much at all. The play me like a cello scene- I was just like "isitoverisitoverisitover?!"
Love the cello gif though I loved that as a kid
Aria-the-fault-in-our-stars_FANATIC-:) wrote: "It's annoying cause everyone gets mad at me for not loving this book much at all. The play me like a cello scene- I was just like "isitoverisitoverisitover?!""Agreed!
Summer-theres a fire starting in my heart reaching a fever pitch and it's bringing me out the dark wrote: "I love your reviews"Thanks so much!
What a horrid book this was for me! I read it nearly 5 years ago and I can still remember how bad I though it was. I literally felt nothing for the suffering characters. Absolutely nothing. It was so pretentious. I don't remember why I gave it 2 stars. I must have been feeling generous. I need to change the rating.
Merna wrote: "What a horrid book this was for me! I read it nearly 5 years ago and I can still remember how bad I though it was. I literally felt nothing for the suffering characters. Absolutely nothing. It was ..."I hear the movie is just as boring. XD
