Title: StayAuthor: Deb Caletti
Publisher: SimonPulse
Age Group: Young Adult
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 320 (e-book)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Source: PulseIt
Goodreads Summary:
Clara's relationship with Christian is intense from the start, and like nothing she’s ever experienced before. But what starts as devotion quickly becomes obsession, and it's almost too late before Clara realizes how far gone Christian is—and what he's willing to do to make her stay.
Now Clara has left the city—and Christian—behind. No one back home has any idea where she is, but she still struggles to shake off her fear. She knows Christian won't let her go that easily, and that no matter how far she runs, it may not be far enough....
My Thoughts:
This is the type of book everyone should read so they're aware that, unlike vampire romance novels (don't get me wrong, I love them as much as the next person), these things really do happen. Clara fell in love with a boy only to realize that he was like poison. He was slowly suffocating her and she was blinded by the dangers that lie up ahead. I know what it's like to feel wanted by someone so bad that you don't realize that it could be harmful. Isn't that what love is, anyways? It's just one big risk, right?
The story went back and forth from the past to the present, which I really enjoyed. Almost as much as when the story switches point of views (such as the ones written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, for example). It opened up your eyes to the kind of situation Clara was getting herself into and it's easy to call her naive when you're sitting at the sidelines, but if you were put in her shoes, I think most people would do what she did. After months with this boy, there were warning signs, such as his jealousy and accusations. Finally, she was starting to feel trapped and controlled and she wanted out.
During the summer, quite some time after she thought she'd gotten rid of Christian, her father took her to a beach house to stay for those months in hopes of forgetting the past. No one could know, not even her friends, which is why she told them that she would be in Europe. While staying in this town, Clara and her father met two brothers on a sail boat, the lighthouse keeper, and an old professor who become large parts of their lives. During their stay, Clara learns more than how to give tours and love again when her father's darkest secret leaks out.
The story proves that you can't always run away. Sometimes you need to confront your worst fears before everything can fit right into place.
Deb Caletti did an amazing job portraying the characters. Christian gave me the heebie-jeebies. I felt that Clara was incredibly strong throughout the entire story. She walked away from someone she loved because she could see danger. That's hard for anyone to do. Still, she was scared- afraid of moving forward and terrified of looking back. That's only normal when someone is put through the things she'd been put through. Especially as a teenager. Clara's dad made me laugh quite a bit but you could just tell that he was protective and he'd do anything to make sure that his daughter was out of harm's way. Ohhh, and then there was Finn....but I'll let you read the book to find out who he is. ;)
Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. It wasn't as intense as I thought it would be, though. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed by that or relieved. After this, though, I plan on reading other books by this author in the future. While I didn't fall in love with the story, I really, really liked it. I couldn't imagine any title being more perfect than "Stay" is.
My Thoughts:
This is the type of book everyone should read so they're aware that, unlike vampire romance novels (don't get me wrong, I love them as much as the next person), these things really do happen. Clara fell in love with a boy only to realize that he was like poison. He was slowly suffocating her and she was blinded by the dangers that lie up ahead. I know what it's like to feel wanted by someone so bad that you don't realize that it could be harmful. Isn't that what love is, anyways? It's just one big risk, right?
The story went back and forth from the past to the present, which I really enjoyed. Almost as much as when the story switches point of views (such as the ones written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, for example). It opened up your eyes to the kind of situation Clara was getting herself into and it's easy to call her naive when you're sitting at the sidelines, but if you were put in her shoes, I think most people would do what she did. After months with this boy, there were warning signs, such as his jealousy and accusations. Finally, she was starting to feel trapped and controlled and she wanted out.
During the summer, quite some time after she thought she'd gotten rid of Christian, her father took her to a beach house to stay for those months in hopes of forgetting the past. No one could know, not even her friends, which is why she told them that she would be in Europe. While staying in this town, Clara and her father met two brothers on a sail boat, the lighthouse keeper, and an old professor who become large parts of their lives. During their stay, Clara learns more than how to give tours and love again when her father's darkest secret leaks out.
The story proves that you can't always run away. Sometimes you need to confront your worst fears before everything can fit right into place.
Deb Caletti did an amazing job portraying the characters. Christian gave me the heebie-jeebies. I felt that Clara was incredibly strong throughout the entire story. She walked away from someone she loved because she could see danger. That's hard for anyone to do. Still, she was scared- afraid of moving forward and terrified of looking back. That's only normal when someone is put through the things she'd been put through. Especially as a teenager. Clara's dad made me laugh quite a bit but you could just tell that he was protective and he'd do anything to make sure that his daughter was out of harm's way. Ohhh, and then there was Finn....but I'll let you read the book to find out who he is. ;)
Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. It wasn't as intense as I thought it would be, though. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed by that or relieved. After this, though, I plan on reading other books by this author in the future. While I didn't fall in love with the story, I really, really liked it. I couldn't imagine any title being more perfect than "Stay" is.
Stay totally deserves 4 out of 5 stars.
Wow, sounds like something that all teenage girls should read. It's scary how many relationships can get obsessive and how girls need to recognize the signs before things get too dangerous.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really liked about this one is that Clara was a normal girl. She didn't have self esteem issues. She wasn't submissive by nature. But she still got sucked into this oppressive relationship. It can happen to anyone if they're blinded by their attraction.
ReplyDeleteI've been in that situation before, where you feel like you have to walk on eggshells so you don't say or do anything to set the other person off on one of their moods. And it took me months to realize that the relationship was poisonous to me and had turned me into a person that I no longer respected. People should read this book so that they might be more apt to notice those red flags.