Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver-Book Review
The Story
Sam is a popular snob you could easily hate. She has perfect friends, a perfect boyfriend and a perfect social status, being on top of the social pyramid. In short, her life is perfect. Sam wakes up on Cupid Day and the rest of the day goes by as it should-perfectly. But while returning from a party, she dies in a car crash. Still, she wakes up, expecting to be in the hospital, teary people surrounding her. But she’s totally wrong. Instead of waking up on February 13, she wakes up on February 12. On Cupid Day. Everything’s happening the way it happened yesterday. Or did it happen? Sam doesn’t think so the first time. According to her, it’s just déjà vu. But then she dies again, and wakes up on Cupid Day again. She finally catches on to what’s happening. She has to relive her last day seven times. But why?
She finally realizes that each small thing she does has a huge impact. She does one thing differently and her whole day changes. Being that typical mean girl, she humiliates a lot of people with her gang. And doesn’t give it a second thought. And why should she? But reliving the same day six times, going through all the stuff she has done, she does give her actions a second thought. And realizes how wrong she has been. How mean she has been. Sam understands that she needs to right the wrongs. She needs to make amends for what she has done, to so many people. One in particular-Juliet Sykes. And it’s not like Sam hates Juliet. Hell she doesn’t even know her. But her best friend Lindsay does. Apart from trying to change what she has done, the suspense I liked was Juliet. Sam slowly unfurls the mystery of Juliet and Lindsay. She finally sees her best friend for who she is. These six days, or one day, totally change Sam. She undertakes the journey to be a better person because she knows she has been a bitch.
What I Think
The book is beautiful but can be boring at times. No two Cupid Day’s are the same but still it gets boring sometimes. Lauren Oliver’s debut novel is sort of a cross between Mean Girls and Groundhog Day, but the effort is pretty good.
I haven’t had my share of Samanthas and Lindsays so my opinion on this book might be different that those of you who could relate to this book. I don’t like this gang but I don’t hate them either. I kind of pity them. Especially Sam. She is totally aimless (except well probably aiming to look good and maintain her status). She, or rather all of them are shallow, mean and have no self-esteems. Sam is continuously mistreated by her cute boyfriend and she’s totally clueless. None of them have any dreams or aspirations, except getting drunk and sleeping with their boyfriends. What a waste of life.
I liked this book, the journey Samantha makes towards self awareness is captivating. She finally changes. There are some pretty good quotes in this book, like,
“Maybe you can afford to wait. Maybe for you there's a tomorrow. Maybe for you there's one thousand tomorrows, or three thousand, or ten, so much time you can bathe in it, roll around it, let it slide like coins through you fingers. So much time you can waste it.
But for some of us there's only today. And the truth is, you never really know.”
I love the way Lauren Oliver has shown the gradual changes occurring in Samantha. Overall, this book is memorable and a must read. It captures all aspects of teenage life, it shows both the sides-bullies and the ones being bullied. I really like the person Samantha becomes in the end. Before I Fall is captivating, and makes you see the truth of what a lot of people face in High School. Though this book contains a lot of references to drugs, drinking and sex, there is nothing graphic. I definitely recommend this heart warming book.
Lauren Oliver
She is a 32 year American author. She has written this amazing Delirium Trilogy. You'll love it if you liked this book. There's loads of other stuff she has written, you can go to her page-
http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/
If you are interested.
Did you like Before I Fall?
Have you ever been bullied by people like Samantha?
I would love to hear from you:)