Novel Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: YA Contemporary, Romance

Publisher: HarperCollins

Release Date: 2010

Spoilers?: Yes.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

Before I Fall is now a major motion picture Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, and Kian Lawley. Named to numerous state reading lists, the novel was also recognized as a Best Book of the Year by Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, The Daily Beast, NPR, and Publishers Weekly.

The Cover:

I really like this cover. It's simple, and shows a lot without being too obvious. It gives the right feel for the book, I think.

Review:

For some reason, I didn't expect this. I feel like, I should have heard more about that ending.

Sam is a very I'm-better-than-everyone kind of character in the beginning of this book, as she's part of the popular crowd, and she has fought her way to be there and learned from Lindsay that that's how she should act. But when her and her friends get in a car accident on the way home from a party one night, she wakes up and has to relive that day, over and over again. Slowly, she starts to learn that her actions have consequences, and sometimes she needs to think about someone other than herself.

I didn't realize this was going to be a martyr story, with a religious influence. I will say that the religious part isn't apparent for most of the story, aside from the reason behind that ending. I will admit that, in a way, it makes sense. She had to learn to sacrifice herself, for other people, for a purpose. But also... it just makes me so unhappy. I don't like that ending, not one bit. It just seems so unfair, and it makes me sad for all of them. It also makes me wonder if it was worth it, because will the other characters actually change and be better after that? Will it have mattered?

I liked the friendships she kind of formed along the way, on some of her tries. I really liked her family, they were awesome. I feel like I wanted to get to know Elody more, see her story and how she grows. And I loved Kent. I loved Kent a whole lot and that ending just makes me so sad for him, and I just wanted to reach in and hug him. He's such a sweetheart. I loved how he wanted to be her hero, that's just the sweetest thing in the world.

I was impressed by the complexity of her friends. She's friends with the popular, mean girls of the school. Lindsay is the main one. They're harsh at times, they antagonize and bully people sometimes. There are a few characters whom they're particularly awful to, and it's only worse when we find out what started it. A main theme in the book is that sometimes you do something without thinking about it, without thinking that it will last and other people will follow, and that ends up being a defining moment that shouldn't have happened. But, despite these awful characteristics, we also see the good points in these girls. They're still best friends, and they have their moments, and they're still good to each other. Lindsay isn't a one-dimensional mean girl, she's also Sam's best friend. I was surprised by the complexity of this, and even after finishing the book, I appreciate that and remember it. You can want to hate the girls, but they're not evil, they're not all bad, or only bad.

This book gave me a lot of conflicting feelings, especially because of the ending. I both really liked this book, and really disliked it.

I'm just going to leave it at that, I think.