Would You Stay?

We often think ourselves to be immortal until the moment of death is upon us.

By this, I do not mean that we are ignorant. We all know we will die one day; it is inevitable. What we don’t quite realize is that, at any moment, something, whether small or catastrophic, could lead to your death.

When walking on a bridge, you don’t think about it caving in. When on a boat, you don’t think of it sinking. When at the beach and forgetting to apply sunscreen, you don’t worry about sun cancer. And when driving in a car, you don’t think of a car wreck that will kill your entire family.

Mia didn’t get into that car with the knowledge that she would die. How could she? School was cancelled. They were off to see Henry and Willow. Everyone was arguing about the station to listen to.

And then her life changed in one split second.

This is the saddest novel I have ever read. It teaches you about love, hope, decisions, loss, tragedy. It makes you look at your family with new eyes, makes you thank your lucky stars for your health. It also makes you stop and think.

If you had lost what Mia lost, would you stay?

Another depressing part of this novel was the death of her brother, Teddy. He was only ten years old when he died. My brother is turning ten years old in October.

In fact, I strongly relate to this book, because I’m Mia’s age, my brother is Teddy’s age, and my parents are similar in age to Kat and Denny. If it wasn’t for my baby brother, we could be exactly like the Hall family, and that scares me, to think that we could suffer the same fate as them.

Kat and Denny Hall are Mia’s parents, who both are DOA. It is incredibly sad, but it wasn’t as shocking to me as Teddy dying. I mean, he’s just a baby! Not even a man yet. So small and young and innocent.

In the book, Mia said that she would gladly die if it meant he could live his life. And I agree. Mia is young, but not as young as Teddy. I would die for my brothers just like Mia would’ve died for hers.

That was just really catastrophic for me, and I cried so hard. Then, as I was rereading the book for this exact article, I started crying at other parts. At the car crash, at the random memories of her family, at Teddy’s death, at the end when Adam brings her back.

Sometimes, you have to reread a book to fully understand and see all the beauty in it.

I hope that you all read this beautiful book with me, and that it moved you as much as it moved me. Here’s some discussion questions:

1. What was your overall opinion of the book?
2. What did you think of her parents’ death? Her brothers?
3. What did you think of Mia’s and Adam’s relationship? What about Mia’s and Kim’s?
4. Would you have stayed? Why or why not?
5. Will you or have you read the sequel, entitled “Where She Went”?