Review: Stay by Deb Caletti

Special thanks to Simon & Schuster's galley grab for providing me with a copy of this book. Stay is available on April 5th 2011.

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....

Review: Stay is one of those rare books. You know the ones - you’re not expecting anything amazing, but they sneak up on you and all you want to do once you’re finished is open it back up and read it all over again. I haven’t read a book this powerful in a long time and although this was the first Deb Caletti book I’ve read, it certainly won’t be the last.

Clara’s voice was a refreshing one to read, and I loved the tone the author gave to her narration - it wasn’t quite chatty, but not totally formal either; very unique. I also loved the footnotes that randomly popped up throughout the story, they added some humour to a story that definitely had its dark points.

I also really loved Clara and her Dad’s relationship. It seemed so real and it was a pleasant surprise to read about a parental figure that was actually part of his daughter’s life. All too often in YA contemporary, parents get pushed to the background of the story, so it so it was lovely to see him included and actually be an imperative part in the story.

Deb did a phenomenal job of portraying the abuse Clara suffered at the hands of her ‘soul mate’, Christian. Possession is a hard one to get right, because it’s not an obvious type of abuse, it doesn’t leave marks that you can see. I’ve read a few books dealing with the possession/jealously type of abuse, but in comparison to Stay they fade to the background. It was also interesting to see Clara’s blossoming relationship with Finn, to compare it to her and Christian. It was a necessary addition and honestly, Finn is just too dreamy for me to do justice to.

Stay is a book that makes me want to read more contemporary novels. It was an insanely powerful book - I finished it almost a week ago, and I’m still constantly thinking about it. I can already tell this is going to be on my favorites of 2011 list, and honestly it’s going on my ‘favorites of all-time’ shelf too. Read this as soon as you can.

Rating: 5 out of 5


Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for a giveaway of this book in the near future. I just reached 50 followers, so consider it my thank you!