You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.29 AVERAGE
4.29 AVERAGE
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If You Stayed is an emotional rollercoaster that beautifully captures the raw heartbreak of losing love and the fragile, courageous journey of finding it again. Cherry writes about grief and healing with such honesty that I found myself wiping away tears, hating some characters and feeling every bit as torn as Gabriel and Kierra.
This isn’t just a story about being saved by someone else — it’s about finding the strength to save yourself and learning to open your heart again, even when it feels impossible. The way grief and love coexist on every page makes this story feel so raw, so messy, and so achingly beautiful.
This isn’t just a story about being saved by someone else — it’s about finding the strength to save yourself and learning to open your heart again, even when it feels impossible. The way grief and love coexist on every page makes this story feel so raw, so messy, and so achingly beautiful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Gabriel and Kierra's story took me on an emotional rollercoaster. It's a captivating mix of second chances, forced proximity, and the transition from friends to lovers. Be sure to check the trigger warnings, as the story delves into some heavy themes. I couldn't put this book down!
Gabriel struggles with memory loss, including the bond he once had with Kierra following a devastating accident. Years later, fate brings them together again at just the right moment. The emotional depth of this narrative resonates profoundly. I was eagerly anticipating their happily ever after, cherishing every heart-wrenching moment of their journey. This book is an absolute must-read, and I loved it!
Thank you @bcherryauthor & @sourcebookscasa for the advanced copy!
Gabriel struggles with memory loss, including the bond he once had with Kierra following a devastating accident. Years later, fate brings them together again at just the right moment. The emotional depth of this narrative resonates profoundly. I was eagerly anticipating their happily ever after, cherishing every heart-wrenching moment of their journey. This book is an absolute must-read, and I loved it!
Thank you @bcherryauthor & @sourcebookscasa for the advanced copy!
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Ripped my heart out and put me back together. Oh Gabriel my “cinnamon roll” you snagged my heart and kept it there! Kierra and her beautiful strength. This is a heart wrenching
soul warming story.
Kierra, Gabriel, Eli and Ava will have a place in my heart forever. I loved this story.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
sad
tense
medium-paced
[arc review]
i guess i was in a mood to have my heart ripped into shreds and stomped on because sourcebooks casa gave this book to me a week ago and i was reading a very dark romance before this and now i’m broken. literally if you look on the floor you’ll see me curled into a ball and sobbing. i knew when i read the trigger warning page i would need tissues. the pain i felt reading this book? it’s comparable to the type of pain you feel when you’re so heartbroken and you’re crying so hard you can’t breathe and you’re screaming at the big man up there asking why you and asking for it to stop. my heart HURT okay. and i will be sending brittainy cherry my next therapy bill.
gabriel could not have been more perfect. like ava said, he is a man written by a woman. he is the epitome of a man written by a woman. i’m only half way through my reading goal but man he’s won book boyfriend of the year. i LOVE gabriel sinclair so fucking much it hurts. he is so kind, beyond patient, talented as hell and so loving. his accident might have made him forget the first 20 years of his life but it did not change who he’s always been. he’s so perfect i don’t have anything else to say about him.
i don’t know how brittainy did it but i felt every single gram of pain kierra went through while married to henry. with every page, my heart cracked just a little more until i was completely broken. kierra is such a bright soul and the best mother available could ask for. she has been beating herself up over and over because of the accident but the amount of gaslighting she went through on top of that broke her spirit. she knew she needed to leave. but she wasn’t leaving without ava and i’m so glad she didn’t leave her daughter behind.
the book ends with a hea but the feelings brittainy puts you through to get there were so real.
i guess i was in a mood to have my heart ripped into shreds and stomped on because sourcebooks casa gave this book to me a week ago and i was reading a very dark romance before this and now i’m broken. literally if you look on the floor you’ll see me curled into a ball and sobbing. i knew when i read the trigger warning page i would need tissues. the pain i felt reading this book? it’s comparable to the type of pain you feel when you’re so heartbroken and you’re crying so hard you can’t breathe and you’re screaming at the big man up there asking why you and asking for it to stop. my heart HURT okay. and i will be sending brittainy cherry my next therapy bill.
gabriel could not have been more perfect. like ava said, he is a man written by a woman. he is the epitome of a man written by a woman. i’m only half way through my reading goal but man he’s won book boyfriend of the year. i LOVE gabriel sinclair so fucking much it hurts. he is so kind, beyond patient, talented as hell and so loving. his accident might have made him forget the first 20 years of his life but it did not change who he’s always been. he’s so perfect i don’t have anything else to say about him.
i don’t know how brittainy did it but i felt every single gram of pain kierra went through while married to henry. with every page, my heart cracked just a little more until i was completely broken. kierra is such a bright soul and the best mother available could ask for. she has been beating herself up over and over because of the accident but the amount of gaslighting she went through on top of that broke her spirit. she knew she needed to leave. but she wasn’t leaving without ava and i’m so glad she didn’t leave her daughter behind.
the book ends with a hea but the feelings brittainy puts you through to get there were so real.
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Childhood friends turned besties turned lovers who after being separated by two decades and a traumatic incident find themselves back in each other’s orbit. It was giving platonic soulmates for me though. I don’t think I felt a lot of romantic chemistry between them. I do like that the FMC was a therapist that pretty much couldn’t take her own advice. Because it’s like that sometimes🤣My Social Worker heart can relate.
This was very challenging to read because of the on-page depiction of intimate partner violence (especially toward the end), but I think the author did a GREAT job highlighting what the cycle of abuse actually looks like. The situations, the mental & emotional responses were all very realistic. There are a lot of people who probably think “it’s not that bad, at least they don’t hit me”, so I respected that we saw depictions emotional & verbal abuse before physical, to show that it is just as damaging. This story also served as a reminder for people outside of the IPV dynamic why it’s not always easy to “just leave”.
Writing-wise, Brittainy is one of my favorite authors but the word remarkable was used so much in this book I almost wanted to turn it into a drinking game. Also there were lots of typos (at one point a character’s whole name changes mid chapter because of the typos.) & some story inconsistencies. I also think the pacing at the end of the book felt a little rushed.