Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Title: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Series: n/a
Book #: 1
Pages: 470
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: 
Goodreads Rating: 3.97
Published: Oct. 25, 2011


What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death--and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

Taschima's POV:

To be completely honest it was really hard for me to get into this book at first. Why? Because the main character is like the biggest bitch in the planet. I couldn't stand her. She was obnoxious, mean, ridiculously shallow, etc. Basically think of the movie Mean Girls and she is Regina George!

And just like in Mean girls this is what I wanted to happen to my main character after the first 5 minutes:

Of course, a car accident actually happens, and our main character gets caught in the middle of it... which is what gets the whole catastrophic ball rolling.

After the car accident Sam wakes up back in her bed, confused and disoriented. She soon comes to the realisation that she is in some kind of limbo, and she is bound to repeat the same day over and over again.

On one hand the book was a challenge. Mainly because of Sam. Thing is, I knew girls like Sam in Middle School. I was the geeky girl who the "popular" kids only talked to when they needed me to help them with their homework or they needed to cheat off me in a test. So yeah, the Sams in the world suck. But this Sam is really in a journey of change. By the end she becomes a real person, but is it too late? This person was always inside her, she just needed her priorities to be re evaluated in order for her to change.

The relationships are also very complicated, because the characters are complicated. For example, Lindsay. I guess if I were to be honest Lindsay would be Regina and Sam would be Lindsay Lohan after she became a bitch. Thing is, I kind of loved their relationship. The best friend relationship between Lindsay, Sam, Elody, and Ally was so special. Even though they were bitches to everybody else they were the very best of friends to each other (most of the time). It's something to read.

Romance: Kent. Oh Kent. He is dreamy, he is cute as a button, he is special. And so Sam ignores him for half the novel of course. They were childhood friends and Kent has always held a torch for Sam, seeing her real self behind the bitchy exterior. Once Sam starts shredding her new skin and starts getting in touch with her real self we get some very, very, tender moments between them that left me breathless. I love Kent. I would marry Kent! My only complaint? I wish there were more moments, and that we got to know Kent more. You only see how amazing Kent is, loving Sam even when she can't love herself. But you don't get to know Kent. I just want more, maybe a side story that shows us Kent's life ever since Sam turned her back on him and their friendship? That would be GOLDEN.

This is a book I would make every teenage girl read. Mean girl or not. If I ever have a little girl I would sit down with her and read this book (when she is like 5-7, hopefully she would still talk to me about school problems by then). It's just a good book to read, even if it's a little hard to like the main character at first. I love Lauren Oliver's writing, she is a rock star.

The end? I hated it! I mean, it's just so pointless? I don't know, it just left me disappointed. [SPOILER]Sam died? She just, died? I was always hoping she was like in a coma! That she would wake up, renewed and had a chance to change her freaking life! But no, so all the opportunities to change her attitude were for nothing because the only reality that is left is one were she was a complete bitch to everybody around her. That's how people will remember her. The way Kent will remember her is for the bitch she was. It just sucks. So yeah I guess it was realistic but at the same time screw being realistic and give Sam a second chance at a real redemption. [/SPOLIER] Rant over. I still liked the book overall, but the ending left a sour taste in my mouth.