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Monday 29 September 2014

Book Review: If I Stay by Gayle Forman






  Pages : 201

 Read on : Kindle

Review : Story of 17 year old Mia Hall and her impending dilemmas. The plot is narrated by Mia from what seem to be her ghost-like state soon after she loses her family in a tragic car accident and is the only one who could be the possible survivor. That is if she decides to stay.

On reading the description and by the 3.99 Goodreads rating I was waiting for something to wow me or make me an emotional wreck. This book failed to do either. The plot though seemed very deep , most  of the book focused on the  large chunks of memories from her past life. Instead of pondering on whether she should stay or not , she seems to be walking around the hospital in her nebulous state observing her surgeons working on her shattered body.

Very little was explained and described about each family for the reader to the feel attached to this fictional family and actually mourn their death. Although most part of the book focuses on this shared love for music. Mia a cello player , her parents were punk rockers in their yesteryears and her boyfriend Adam Wilde lead singer and guitarist for an emocore band 'Shooting Star'. Just before the accident Mia's primary concern at that time was to leave for Juilliard  and pursue her music career or to stay in Portland to be with her boyfriend.

Highlight of this book was Adam Wilde and the very muted and stable relationship he had with Mia despite their differences in genres. In this regard, the book breaks all stereotypes of Rock boyfriends being infidel , into drugs , excessive drinking and partying. Adam and Mia's love was more based on this shared love for making music on the whole. Since Mia is portrayed  as a regular girl and may be even slightly conservative , not  a lot of words were spent on describing their intimate relationship- a very refreshing change. Not that she was she was portrayed characterless but more like her own person.

If anything said , Adam was made to seem like the ideal boy. Patient , respectful , focused , sweet and most importantly accepting Mia as however she was without comparison. However the bittersweet part ( may be even a tad bit corny)  was right at the end of the book ( spoiler alert!) when Adam begs her to stay.

On the whole , The book seemed to be seriously lacking on emotion, be it happy or sad. Not a lot of excitement was reflected in her memories of her family and her achievements , neither was there any sadness except for when her 8 year old brother Teddy  eventually succumbed to his injuries. Mia, although walking around the hospital corridors , did not seem very fond or emotionally attached to her grandparents nor her aunts and uncles. Also , very shockingly , None of them , except for Kim's   ( Mia's best friend )  mother is seen crying or mourning over the tragedy that has struck.

Either I am emotionally bricked up or this book was not worth the hype.

Final Rating : 2.5/5

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Saturday 27 September 2014

Hi !

      It's been a week since I started this blog and haven't posted a single thing yet. Fantastic! slacking already. But hey! What can I do ? I'm a night owl. ( Excuses , Excuses) . So tonight I finally decided to buckle down and have a go at this.

Hi , I'm Mehreen. A 20-something desi girl living in Oman with an obsession with words and the weird. Also , a bibliophile and a hardcore feminist (Don't forget that.)

This blog is not intended to be anything journalistic or literary. These are my personal views on issues that me or women of my generation and age may be or are currently facing. Most of these may sound like rants but times are hard for women , especially in India. Despite us being well into the millennium and Indian youth trying their best to strike a balance between being cultural and progressive, women still feel unsafe and threatened in their own land. 

Since I spend more time reading than with homo sapiens , I will also be posting views and reviews too. Basically because I need somewhere to gush about my literary adventures. Also since the blog has the word 'obscure' in the title , I will mostly end up documenting poems , music and may be even photographs of all the things I love.


Here's to new beginnings!


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