Gayle forman was born June 5, 1970 in los angeles, CA. She now lives in New york and is an author. Gayle says her inspiration to write was out of boredom, poverty, and escapism. Gayle used to be a journalist and her first job was with seventeen magazine and She has traveled to 64 countries throughout her lifetime so far which included taking three years off before college to travel the world.
the setting of this story is in a small town portland, oregon. Throughout the story this setting varies from the hospital she ends up in after a fatal car crash and the memories of where she used to go.
the main character mia, in this book is involved in a fatal car crash with her family, left with their lives hanging by a thread. Throughout this story she struggles with finding the strength to wake up from the coma. during the book she is in an out of body experience and is a ghost roaming the halls of the hospital.
this is adam he is mia's boyfriend in the book. in the BEGINNING their love story is that of which you could mind in a movie, but as his band grows more popular their time together is shortened. right before the accident OCCURRED they broke up and when he sees her in the hospital he realizes it was all a mistake and feels guilt. throughout the story he struggles while watching her in the hospital but in a way he is the reason she keeps fighting.
the story begins with a SNOW DAY which seems to be perfect, little did they know they were about to be in a fatal car crash that would almost instantly kill everyone involved. After this accident OCCURRED, Mia finds herself having an out-of-body experience. The body that she is currently out of is alive, but it's hanging on by a thread. Helpless, mia in ghost form watches her body being airlifted to a nearby hospital and put on life support. THROUGHOUT the story she watches her family struggle with holding on for their lives and suffers some severe losses.
in terms of writing style i liked how descriptive gayle was when describing the accident, it felt like i was right there watching it all unfold. as for something i DIDN'T like is how the story jumped around often from the hospital to her flashbacks, which tended to confuse me.
i loved this story because it was guided through genuine characters and had a very SUSPENSEFUL STORY LINE. something that i DIDN'T like about this book is how sad it was along the way and how THINGS are left at the end of the book.
i would say that the theme of this book would be always living your life to the fullest and living each day like its your last, because like shown in this book your life can be easily taken from you quite fast.
THIS BOOK KEPT ME VERY INTRIGUED AND I WOULD ALWAYS WONDER IF THINGS WOULD EVER WORK OUT. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO PEOPLE WHO ARE LOOKING FOR A GOOD PLOT AND WILLING TO SHED A COUPLE TEARS.
