A Choice Of Living

Short and sweet. These two single words describe  the book If I Stay perfectly. If I Stay, by Gayle Forman, is a heart-wrenching, short 200 page novel that caused my mind to be filed with beautiful questions about life after death. Mia, the book's protagonist, is a musical 17-year-old teenager who hopes to go to Julliard with her cello, otherwise known as her best friend. She never knew that in one single car crash, her dreams will be shattered, but brought back alive. Even though this book was not very long, it was filling and heavy, filled with Mia's flashbacks that changed her as a person. However, it was never sad or depressing, as Mia was brought back alive by her loved ones including Adam, Kim, and her grandpa, known as Gramps. Throughout the story, Mia is never helpless or weak; she listens to the sounds around her with her ears, both perplexed and full of wonderment on whether she has the right to live even when her family is crumbled. If I Stay was a such a powerful and thought-provoking book. Trust me, you will be engaged in Mia's story, full of both captivation and emotion. 

In one chilly morning day, everything changed. Mia and her family went on a family drive, and then, the world revolved into darkness, or was it meant to be dark? Mia has an amazing life; she is a hardworking cellist, has a caring friend, a supportive family, and a great boyfriend named Adam. However, when her whole family dies in a car crash, she is faced with the toughest decision in life, whether or not to live. Mia's brain is shattered, and numerous amounts of doctors help her piece together both physically and mentally. She is aware of everything that goes around her, and when people talk to her when she is in this state, it's beautiful. Her grandfather talks to her while she is in a coma: “It’s okay, If you want to go. Everyone wants you to stay. I want you to stay more than I've ever wanted anything in my life. But that’s what I want and I could see why it might not be what you want. So I just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go. It’s okay if you have to leave us. It’s okay if you want to stop fighting.” These quotes had so much feeling, and my heart broke into shreds of sorrow and joy. It also broke and warmed up when Adam told Mia to stay: “If you stay, I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll quit the band, go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I’ll do that, too…maybe going to your old life will be too painful, that maybe it would be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I would do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay." I loathe sappy love stories, but the attachment in this book was not attachment at all. It was poetry, beautiful poetry with feeling, with thought.

Whenever Mia thought to herself if whether her younger brother and parents are dead or angels, my heart throbs out of sadness. The characters in If I Stay were incredible, and they demonstrated love in its many forms. Her grandfather was only mentioned a couple of times, but I heard the way he talked in my mind, and his words made my heart melt. Moreover, when Mia described her friendly friend Kim, she had a longing in her voice that never transformed into cruel desire. Additionally, when Adam talked to her, I was never uncomfortable, disgusted, or grossed out. He did not have attachment, but genuine faith that Mia will grow up to be a talented, kind, and successful woman. All these characters gave Mia hope that she would live, and they knew that she was smart enough to listen. At that time period, when she was ill, she did not have a healthy body. Instead, Mia had a STRONG soul. 

Gayle Forman did an excellent job with If I Stay. The book will reside in your heart forever, and you would never have to worry about being unjust because love in its good amounts will fly like a bird to the best souls. May all the dead live up in heaven, with no one, but only peace with angels.  

Citation for Image:

Rev. of If I Stay. Weblog post. Http://2.bp.blogspot.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Sept. 2013. <https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVl5ythyphenhyphenO0gSltrEhOe3ztHZBh9XSA_M70HQeYhnlWP-k4fS3A5tAXFvBOF0jvnPscbAY9KWmGhm8oOr-erUwipQ3YOYVnDm2qGbpH2sSe0Ss9AzfWmyv-WYokBblHADldD9tV_zVLeEk/s200/stay.jpg>.

The Fault in Our Stars

In many book reviews of the emotional and beautiful book, The Fault in our Stars by John Green, the writer writes that he/she cried. This is very likely because the novel itself was a realistic, heart-wrenching story of 16-year-old Hazel, dying of cancer, narrating her story meeting a surviving cancer patient, Augustus. As a slightly sensitive person, I was wondering why I didn't cry, when lots of others did, awed of a beautiful story full of hope, death, realization, love, and surviving the death of a loved one. Instead of giving me an emotional story to devour, this book inspired me to survive darkness, love even when in sickness, and be powerful. The Fault in Our Stars was just beautiful, filled with questions arising in mind, the decisions whether to allow people to love you, because when you die, it will cause them great pain. Because of being such a mature young adult story, I was struggling on if I should read The Fault in Our Stars. However, now I have no regrets. With vivid details in his writing, from the staring of strangers to the description of Hazel's oxygen tubes and equipment, Green captured the attention and incredible awe in my mind. He says that he wrote this book after meeting a teen cancer patient, and his detail, powerfulness, and effectiveness to the novel clearly shows so. 

The Fault in Our Stars, an sensitive yet moving book by John Green, is about thyroid cancer-dying patient Hazel, who joins a youth support made for patients each going through a difficult disease. There, she meets Augustus Waters and they both have an instant connection immediately. However, she is determined not to love him; Hazel calls herself a grenade, and when she dies, she doesn't want to cause anyone loss and suffering. They become best friends; Augustus and Hazel both share a deep love for literature. Quotes from poets and Shakespeare were often included, causing me to love and enjoy both characters immensely. In fact, the book title, The Fault in Our Stars, comes from Julius Caesar: "The Fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but ourselves that we are underlings." Hazels always had a great urge to meet author Peter Van Houten, and Augustus makes her wish come true by using his one cancer wish to take her to Amsterdam. However, in Amsterdam, Augustus reveals a painful secret, one that leaves a scar and a remembrance in Hazel's heart forever.

As mentioned earlier, both the main characters, Hazel and Augustus captured my heart with their beautiful love for literature. They both had a connection with reading and writing, ever since they both reading An Imperial Affliction, a fictional book by their favorite author Peter Van Houten. Additionally, Hazel's mom and dad shared an unbreakable bond with their only daughter: "Even when you die, I will still be your mom, Hazel, how could I stop loving you?" This supported, soothed, and encouraged Hazel ever since she got diagnosed with cancer. The Fault In Our Stars has many metaphors, which I found beautiful and full of deep meaning. For instance, Augustus always put cigarettes in his mouth during the story, but he never smoked them. He quotes,"I put the dying thing in my mouth, but I never let it kill me." This means that no matter how much struggle or despair, you must stay strong, powerful, and fight bravely. Metaphors are a lovely way to understand life philosophically, and John Green mixed in the best for his outstanding novel.

The Fault in Our Stars is an astounding bestseller, filled with incredible life lessons that shape us as well-rounded people. I would obviously give it 5 stars, as it showered me with gifts of hope, loss, suffering, death, life, strength, courage, and most importantly, love.

Happy Reading! :)

Citation for Image:

"The Fault In Our Stars." Http://upload.wikimedia.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Aug. 2013. <http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a9/The_Fault_in_Our_Stars.jpg/200px-The_Fault_in_Our_Stars.jpg>.

Tokyo Heist

I decided to do a book review on Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn because most of my friends have never heard of it. This amazing mystery has exotic visions of Japan, especially the tourist attraction's popular city life.

         Tokyo Heist, an amazing novel by Diana Renn, involves a heroine named Violet who solves an incredible Japanese mystery. She and her dad, a gallery owner, are suddenly sent to a commission in Tokyo, and they soon find out that her dad's rich clients are the victims of a missing Van Gogh painting. Lives began to be in risk (including her's and her father's), and as the plot thickens in this book, interesting characters began taking large roles. For example, I found the character of Edge fascinating, even though he  was not in much of the book. At some times he was important, and at other moments he was just there or out of the scene. Although I wasn't impressed by this missing character, I just enjoyed his personality and way of thinking. Violet also was a genuine heroine, as she balanced her artistic manga personality and cleverness perfectly.  Renn's writing gave an absolute majestic and exotic feel to these characters; it was just beautiful filled with Tokyo's pleasures and delights. The quotes were mixed with visionary moments, allowing the reader to think about this piece of literature. Moreover, Violet's relationship between her and her divorced dad increased, and this gave me a little thought about how the two main characters were developing as people. Additionally, it was a perfect add-on to the suspense and violence in the whole story. All together, I would give Tokyo Heist, an amazing and thought-provoking book, 4 and a half stars. The book was lovely; however, I was hoping for more speed in Violet's trip to Tokyo and some more character significance. This is a great summer and exotic read for teens and up. I absolutely loved this book. :) 

Happy Reading!

Citataion for Image:

Tara, Miss. Http://hobbitsies.net/. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://hobbitsies.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/TokyoHeist.jpg>.