I downloaded this after enjoying If I Stay and wondering what the sequel would have to share. After a chapter I realized this was going to be Adam's version of the story told three years later on and I was fully ready to be disappointed. With a new narrator came a new tone and I wasn't sure I wanted to hear Adam lament losing Mia. I was disappointed at the loss of the tension underlying the first book - the "will she or won't she" stay question. And it didn't seem like this sequel would be able to hold up without a hook of some sort. I was wrong. This is a different book than the first - different enough it would work as a stand-alone. But it's got a lot of the same romance and longing and young adult angst. And Adam is a much more interesting character than I would have guessed. His inner conflict between small-town good guy and headlining rock star was interesting without getting too shmaltzy. He's got it all but he doesn't necessarily want it. He doesn't not want it either, though and that complexity was fun to read. As much fun as seeing where his life would cross with Mia's again. And of course the sappy romantic in me got to have plenty of moments wondering whether Mia and Adam truly are meant for each other. Bittner does a nice job narrating. He captures Adam's reflective, cool-guy attitude really well and even manages the female voices without making them sound too childish. (Poor male narration of female dialogue is a huge pet peeve of mine.) It was entertaining and satisfying and unlike other sequels I can recommend it as a book that ought to be read on its own merits AND for the way it rounds out the first. This book struggled to find its voice a bit in the first 50 pages. Focusing on Adam's perspective this time, the transition from If I Stay is jarring. Once it finds its voice however, this book is a beautiful knockout story of loss, reunion, and love renewed. The only other minor criticism I have is the Adams songs sound more like poems I wrote in 6th grade than international masterpieces. But I do like the concept.
As good as the first book in the trilogy, more angst, less heartbreaking but still sad.
—mayleanduh
I think I preferred the ambiguity of If I Stay's ending.
—Jeshii
I don't know, I just have one word in my mind: love.
—ff_gurl
Better than I thought it would be.
—franraff1
