If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If I Stay by Gayle Forman is about seventeen year old Mia, a typical high school senior living in Oregon. Mia has a wonderful family including two super-cool parents and an awesome eight year old brother, a perfect best friend, a boyfriend who shares her love of music, and a good chance at getting into Julliard. Everything in Mia's life is pretty great until one fateful morning. Mia and her family woke up to a slight snow storm which caused all of the schools in the area to close. Rather than miss out on a chance to spend quality family time together, everyone decides to hop in the car and head toward Portland where they'll visit with friends, eat dinner with the grandparents, and Mia will round out the evening by watching her boyfriend Adam play in his band. A terrible car accident derails all of those plans, though. Mia's entire family is killed and Mia's body is left in a coma. Her soul, however remains behind to witness all of her remaining loved ones' reactions to the accident. The rest of the story is told through Mia reliving many different moments in her life, all leading up to her big decision... should she stay or let go and join her family?

This was a really great story. I loved the way it was all told through flashbacks to various moments in Mia's life. There were parts where I laughed out loud and also parts where I nearly cried. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good romance. This book is definitely for more mature readers, though, due to language and content.