Before I Fall

Reader reviewed by Sydney

In this book a girl learns that being nice to people is better then being mean and horrible. If you are looking for a good book pick this up and you won't put it down untill the very end. I loved this book and the way it is written. I learned a lot here and you will to. So read this and see what happens.

Reader reviewed by Nikki aka SpunkiiReader

First off WOW! This book was amazing. Sam Kingston is a character you love to hate, but throughout the book you watch her grow and change to become a character you truely love.

Its Friday Febuary 12, and it's Sam's last day. But then she wakes up in the morning to find out it's Febuary 12 again, and again 6 times. How far would you go to keep youself from dying? What do you do when no matter how the day plays out you still dont see tomorrow? This book really makes you think about they way you live your life and how you treat other people. How do you want to be rememberd if you were to die tonight? This is a really good read and a touching story.

I love this book! It's so different and strange. I could read it over and over again, and that's saying something. I guess if you put yourself in the Samantha's shoes, you will really feel everything. I love Kent, too!!! He is my favorite character. He's just so perfect.

Reader reviewed by TeacherDavidson

This book was one of the best I have read this year!  An amazing story with a fast pace to always keep the reader guessing.  Lauren Oliver has a very descriptive style of writing that makes it easy to envision the story as a movie in your mind.  Definitely a book I will be passing along to others as a must read!

It's very rare that I read a book multiple times but Before I Fall was just amazing. Not only did I love the book but I loved Lauren Oliver's writing style. this book will make you think and I would recommend it to anyone

I read this after reading Delirium, so I already liked Oliver's style, but I was amazed by the ending to this novel. It lingers and makes you think.

Reader reviewed by Jillian R

Review: It is not often that books take the route of having a 'mean girl' as the protagonist, instead of the typical outsider from the outside looking in. For this YA debut novel from Lauren Oliver, I thought it worked perfectly.
Before I Fall is indeed a story about a girl who dies and gets a second chance. However, it truly is so much more than that.
Yes,
the plot was original and the characters were real. The pace is fast
and the flow of words are effortless, making this 500 page novel seem
like 50 instead. Truth be told though, this book is not just about
those anymore. For me, the main purpose of this book are the messages
that it sends to its readers. They are simple really, but often times,
the simplest things are the ones that are most important -- and ignored.
Before I Fall also proves
that even the smallest of things -- good or bad -- can change
everything and make the most difference. It can either be a small
change in our everyday lifestyle or a simple act of kindness towards
others.

The main character, Samantha Kingston, speaks for
everyone of us, which I think makes her the perfect protagonist. She is
perfectly flawed. After all, she is a mean girl. Snobbish, snotty, "bitchy," selfish,
arrogant. What's there to like? But as we read on and get to know her
more, we realize the harsh truth; sometimes, we act like her too. We can be mean, selfish, and arrogant, sometimes even without knowing it.
The best thing I got from this book though, is realizing that there is still
time to change for the better, unlike Samantha, who simply ran out of
it. What can we do? We can start with the simple things. Do or say
something nice to someone today; a genuine compliment, a real apology
-- anything. We have no idea how this might change someone's way of
thinking, and how these little acts of kindness can truly heal.

This
is why I give this book 5 stars. Like I said, the writing, pace, plot
development, and character development are all perfect. But I think
aside from those, the main reason why this novel is getting so much
praise is because it has done something unique and special -- becomes
more than just pages of writing. Before I Fall teaches
us real life lessons, makes us ponder on what truly matters in life,
and has the ability to possibly change something in us for the better.
How could I not give it 5 stars??
I will not talk about the ending
or anything specific that happens in the book, as I feel as if any
information I say might spoil it, but I will say, this is one of those
books I highly recommend.; original, haunting, inspiring, and
thought-provoking. Hopefully, you'll not only be entertained by reading
it, but find it meaningful long after you finish it -- because that's
exactly what happened to me.

Obviously, I've heard a lot about this, long before I opened it. The concept sounded fascinating and I enjoyed Delirium, so I was definitely super excited to read this one. Anyway, the opening section totally caught my attention with the cleverness of the writing and the strength of the voice. Even though I could immediately tell that I would kind of hate the main character, I was hooked.

Seriously, I spent the first half of the book wanting to do nothing so much as punch Sam and her friends in their made-up faces. Ugh. It was awful. Basically, most of this book reminded me just how much I hated high school. I'm so glad I'm through with that part of my life, and I would not go through it again, even if I could take all the knowledge I have now with me. People are so cruel and all of the emphasis put on popularity, on being this cookie cutter person who dates the right people and goes to the right parties; it's all bullshit.

What's important to know, though, is that even during the many, many pages where I wanted to punch pretty much everyone in the face, I still really enjoyed reading Before I Fall. The writing is completely captivating. Lauren Oliver very much captures Sam's voice, and manages to let Sam's character grow at a very natural pace.

Obviously, this plot is like Groundhog Day mashed up with Mean Girls. Much like the former film manages not to be boring, even though he's living the same day over and over again, Oliver's book never dragged. Even thought the events that transpired as Sam lived the same date over and over again remained pretty consistent, the smallest changes made huge differences or no difference at all. I really loved the emphasis placed on how much and how little can change in just a single day. Really makes a girl think about carpe-ing that diem.

My very favorite part of the novel, other than the really awesome concept and the writing, is Kent. He is just the cutest, so nerdy and himself. Were he not so brave, he could pretend and be as popular as anyone, but instead he embraces his weirdness, and I just love that about him. I wish I'd had a guy like him in high school, but I also know that I would have been too afraid of venturing out of the mainstream that I totally wasn't in anyway to go for it. That's the message I want to leave this post with: life's too short to pass up an amazing, cute, nerdy guy...now I just have to find one (that's not fictional).

As for the ending, I'm not entirely sure what to make of it just now. Honestly, I'm not sure what happened entirely, but I definitely want to bawl my eyes out (figuratively, because literally would be really gross).

I've read a lot of books of that I didn't expect to be good but this tops them all.

My opinion on this book is that it is really good and also shocking. It has a couple flaws but overall I would certainly recommend this.

Mostly this novel is a bout a girl named Sam who goes through the same day over and over again like the movie Groundhog Day. The difference between the two is simple this book if much better and more interesting than the movie that I never finished watching, because personally it was dumb and a bit boring.

I love this book, but really it depends on the person and what types of books they enjoy because everyone has their own opinions and interests. Read it and you might love it.

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON http://shelversanon.blogspot.com

On February 12, Cupid Day, Sam has a great day. She gets the last parking spot at school, gets roses from different admirers (including her boyfriend, the very popular Rob), flirts with her handsome math teacher, and gets sloppy drunk at an amazing party. And on the way home, she dies. The car she and her friends are in swerves to avoid hitting something in the road and goes careening into the woods. There's pain and lights... and then nothing.

She wakes up the next morning in her bed, terrified but relieved. It was only a dream. But it's still Cupid Day. Her friends are still teasing her about her plans to have sex with Rob, she gets the same roses from the same people, but other things are changed. Little things. It's the same day, and it's all happening again.

Let's be clear here. This is not Groundhog Day. There are hilarious moments, but this isn't a book about wish fulfillment (though Sam does try that route on one of her seven days) or even just being a better person.

Sam is a Mean Girl, capital M capital G. She is, as she is told many times in the book, a female canine (obviously, I'm paraphrasing), and she's proud of it. Her three best friends, Lindsay, Elody, and Ally, are just as bad. In many cases, they can be worse, but it's okay. They're Seniors. They're cool. They're not losers like Anna Cartullo, the slut cheating with another girl's boyfriend, or clueless freshies, or psychos like Juliet, the girl forever known as Mello Yello after she wet her sleeping bag in elementary school.

I can be such a lazy reader sometimes. This kind of character I want to be ripped down and pointed to as a Bad Example. I don't want to be in their heads, and I don't want to hear them rationalize their own behavior. But that's what Sam does, because we're in her thoughts. She doesn't see what she's doing to others as bad, so why should we?

Lauren Oliver is a master of letting us figure out things for ourselves. We aren't beaten over the head with the severity of Sam's choices. There is no scolding. We aren't being hit on the hand with a ruler and being told, "Bad bad bad! Don't do this!" And it works. Obviously, as an adult, I'm horrified by the behaviors I see Sam and her troupe celebrating. But would a teenager be? Maybe. If anything, the rubbernecking factor might keep them reading.

Oliver also chronicles the inner workings of the teen social scene fairly realistically (I'll get to the "fairly" later). To me, the voices felt pretty spot on, from Sam & Co.'s Valley Girl talk, to Rob's sleazy boy mutters, to Sam's little sister's lisping giggles. The social hierarchies, the obsession with being popular, the perks of being popular (only popular people know about the parties, the ways to get around the teachers, the secret hideaways), even the different cliques present. And yes, Oliver mentions those cliques in a pretty non-standard way. There's not a cheerleader in sight.

The progression of the story was remarkably realistic as well. After the very first car crash, we as readers acknowledge the likelihood of Sam's death. Pain and a bright light? Yep, death or coma for sure. But not Sam. To her, it's a dream. It's gotta be a dream. And if it isn't, well, maybe a really light coma, because OMG, wouldn't that be so, like dramatic? She's a teenager. In her mind, she's invincible. Death is what happens to old people or ugly people or at least not HER. Even when she does start to think that maybe... maybe... well, even then, that can't be all.

Despite myself, I found myself rooting for her. This mean, callous, unthinking little jerk got under my skin, and do you know why? Because Oliver doesn't leave her as a jerk. She doesn't leave anyone as a total jerk, but she doesn't leave anyone pristinely perfect either. Through the book, different characters are lifted up for inspection. The saints are smudged and made more human, while the jerks, freaks, and villains are deepened and explored. There aren't blatant sob stories. This isn't a PBS special. But characters that I despised I ended up sympathizing with and understanding a little better.

Don't get me wrong, there were still things that made me scowl. I didn't like the language, the sexual content, the drinking, and the drugs, but I understood why they were a part of Sam's world. What I really didn't like was the unstated assumption that these things are all normal, an assumption that was never contradicted. Illegal, harmful things like underage drinking, drinking and driving, and doing pot is not okay, and they're not things that were ever part of my life or my friends lives (and I'm not that old, people, I swear I'm not). And maybe I'm the only freaky little misfit in the entire world who had (has!) a great, open relationship with her family members, because the book sure frames it like I am.

But I liked the book despite it all, because Before I Fall made me think. How have my words, my actions, affected the people around me? If I could see those consequences, would I want to change them? If I had to die in some way other than peaceful old age, how would I want to go? If I could plan my last day on Earth, how would I spend it? Man, those last two tore me up. There are two little sisters in the story who suffer similar losses in different days, little girls who reminded me of my own baby sister, down to their sweet smiles and infectious spirits.

Before I Fall made me ugly-cry. I can't promise a perfect, Disney ending, because it doesn't happen. I'm even too cynical to fully accept that things magically change after the last page. But some things do change. Some things do get better, both in specific people and in general circumstances. There's hope, because as Sam says, hope is what keeps us alive, and it's never too late.

***Points Added For: Intricate, interweaving threads; innocent little sisters; parents that eventually DO make an appearance; a twist that made me gasp; not tying everything up; not making the supposed villains unsympathetic witches; not fixing every little thing; making me cry.

***Points Subtracted For: Normalizing excessively deviant and dysfunctional social patterns; waaaay too many broken families; making me cry.

***Good For Fans Of: Delirium by same author, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, If I Stay by Gayle Forman (all Amazon's idea, because my contemporary fiction knowledge is still pretty weak).

***Notes For Parents: Excessively severe language, underage drinking, illegal drug use, cigarette use, theft, numerous squeamish sexual situations.