Never Too Old For Y.A. & N.A. Books discussion

I just finished reading the book, "If I Stay." Has anyone read this book? What do you think?

Didn't like it at all and gave it a one star. Don't want to spoil it if anyone is going to read it, but I felt like there were some problems with the story.

Hmmm I've read it and really liked it though book 2 is a whole lot better. Can I ask what bothered you so much?

I don't want to spoil it so anyone who doesn't want any details then don't keep reading!

I am a Christian and it bothered me that God seemed to be absent. When I was a teenager I may have loved this booked, but now that I have children I look at things differently. Like, if my child was reading this book then they would be involved in this story where something tragic happens but there is no hope because God doesn't help. Instead this teenage girl makes the decision about her life.

So you know, I am not usually hard on books & my beliefs rarely get involved when I'm reading something. I have never read a book like this though where the writer seems to be pushing certain ideas in the story, mentioning it over & over again. Pro-choice, atheist, no rules, I make the decision if I will live, where is God? These things were just mentioned way too much.

Then there was the part where the parents allowed her to have sex knowingly. Supplying her with birth control and a stash of condoms. That doesn't fit my idea of parenting, lol. It was like the parents were made to be radical just so the writer could push things on the reader, even down to the bumper sticker about being pro-choice.

Instead of being involved in the story I was just left thinking about the writers beliefs. What kind of message she was trying to get out there.

so I'm not a very spiritual person so I may not be the best to weigh in, but here's my thoughts. God doesn't necessarily show up in front of you and tell you what to do when seeking guidance, right? you're presented with scenarios to make decisions and maybe He speaks to your heart to help you decide, so even if she's sort of dead, his absence doesn't mean the author deliberately disclosed Him. What if His way of interfering was to give her that out of body experience to show he the people that still loved her and she might have a chance at more? that could have been His way of guiding her while still allowing her the free will to choose her own path, you know? just my thoughts...

the sex part... well I have some opinions there too but that would be a very different kind of debate that we don't need here :-)

I try not to read too much into things while reading a story. I really didn't feel that the author was pushing her beliefs down my throat at all. I just read it for what it was, a story about a young girl who tragically loses her family and goes through an ordeal.

Elizabeth, you definitely make interesting points though about where God is in all of this story, and so does Kelly, in saying that God, may not manifest Himself but that He is speaking to her heart to help her decide. Isn't that what He does to us now? When we are in crisis, we pray and ask for guidance and help, and we listen until the thought comes to us. I know that happens to me.

As far as sex is concerned, unfortunately, in this day and age, sex is relevant. It is in the forefront of every teenagers mind and even though you differ in the way you parent and how you would deal with this issue, there are going to be parents that are pro-active and help their child. I have two young sons, and even though sex is definitely not relevant at this point in time, I know that when they are in their teenage years, it will be. My husband and I are true believers in teaching our boys that sex and love go together. That without love there really should be no sex for them. I was raised this way and so was my husband. I have only been with my husband (virgin until 27, yes, it does happen) and my husband has only had a handful of partners which is extremely rare indeed. He never had casual sex, only with girlfriends.

So, I guess my point is, the parents in this book were those who believed in pro-choice and arming their daughter by guiding her to make choices about sex are up to her, even though she was only a teenager. This may not be true of the author herself. She may be the total opposite, but for this story, she chose to write it this way. I don't know, we could debate about this all day long and still come up with the same conclusion, that every body has their own beliefs, own parenting styles and own choices about what to say and do to their own children. I guess that's the beauty about this.