If you are interested in a movie that is action-packed and fast-paced, this movie isn’t for you.

If you hate those girly chick-flicks where everyone is crying, this movie is not for you.

However if you enjoy watching a young love story unravel despite obstacles and tragedies, If I Stay may be something you might want to experience.

Based on the novel by Gayle Forman, If I Stay was released in theaters on Aug. 22.

Starring Chloë Grace Moretz, this modern day drama follows, Mia Hall (Mortez) through an out-of-body experience, after getting in a tragic accident with her parents and her younger brother, Teddy.

Twenty minutes into this roughly two-hour film, Hall’s life goes from the average life of a high school teenager, to that of a tragedy-stricken orphan in a coma.

Through flashbacks of her life, we learn about Mia’s passion for the cello, her love life with her rock band boyfriend Adam (Jamie Blackley), and her suppressed dream of going to Juilliard.

Since I went and saw this movie, as a result of falling in love with the book and its sequel Where She Went, my expectations were relatively high, and sadly the movie did not reach that bar.

If you’re like me, then you analyze the differences between how it happened in the book and how it happened in the movie. One thing I am happy to say is that the movie was not a complete disaster.

The qualities, personalities, and physical appearances of all the characters matched those given in the book. However some scenes were acted out differently than how they were in the book. But just like the book, I was crying during the character building scenes in which Mia struggles.

Listening to people’s commentary at the end of the movie made me realize that majority of the people that went and saw the movie had never read the book, and were in fact taken aback by the abrupt ending, that perfectly matched the ending of the book. I also realized people were unaware that there is, infact, a sequel.

Overall, I enjoyed this movie, and I am anxious for the sequel. If you enjoy those sappy, cry-worthy love stories I highly recommend this movie.

If your opinion of this movie and how it compared to the book differs from mine, I would love to hear your opinion, so feel free to leave a comment.