I Read That Movie: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I  read that movie is a feature where we compare movies or TV series, and the books they're based on.

If I stay by Gayle Forman

Title: If I Stay

Publisher: Speak

Publishing Date: April 2nd, 2009

Pages: 261 

Length of Audio: 5 Hours and 2 Minutes

Genre:  YA Contemporary

Series:  If I Stay

Source: Audio

  

On a day that started like any other…

Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, adoring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. Then, in an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the one decision she has left—the most important decision she’ll ever make.

Simultaneously tragic and hopeful, this is a romantic, riveting and ultimately uplifting story about memory, music, living, dying

Mini review:

What made me read this book: 
I don't even know what made me pick it up the first time. I'm sure it's because of the cover. But I think I also read quite a bit about it back then. People kept talking about it, so I felt like I had to read it.

What did I like the most: 
I love the story of this. It's pretty unique, or at least it was for the time. I don't know if there's more books similar now.

But it's really interesting that she gets to decide if she stays or if she goes. 

I love her rockstar parents. They make me wish they were my parents (Sorry Jenn!) And it was fun reading about Mia being so different from her family.

What didn't I like: 

The writing was just kind of meh. This was my second time reading the book. I listened to it this time around and finished it in one day. I remember the first time I read it it took me MONTHS to get through. And I liked it better the first time. This time it was just meh.

And the story is really sad. 

Release Date: August 22nd, 2014

Cast: Chloe Grace Moretz, Jamie Blackley, Mireille Enos
Length: 1 Hour 47 Minutes

Series: Standalone (For now?)

Life changes in an instant for young Mia Hall after a car accident puts her in a coma. During an out-of-body experience, she must decide whether to wake up and live a life far different than she had imagined. The choice is hers if she can go on.

Mini Review:
I absolutely love this movie. Chloe does Mia justice. She fits perfectly I think. This is definitely a tear jerker.

Let's compare:

Did I see the movie or read the book first?
I read the book back when it came out, years before the movie did. 

Like the movie or the book better?
I actually prefer the movie with this one. Chloe really makes it and I think it makes me feel so much more by watching it. 

How does it compare?
It's actually fairly similar there are only tiny differences.

Do the actors match the characters in the book?
For the most part I think they match. I love Chloe as Mia. However she is supposed to have really dark dark hair and the rest of her family is supposed to be blondes. So I wish they would have kept that. Otherwise they did great.

Major differences?
The biggest one for me is the name of the band. In the book it's Shooting Stars. It's so lame. In the movie it's Williamette Stone. Which is awesome.

Fun Facts?

At the Labor Day party when Mia is talking about the best day of her life, she and Adam jam together while playing the guitar and the cello. When the scene pans out and Mia is narrating, the girl playing the cello is not Chloë Grace Moretz, it is some other girl.