Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Release date: March 2, 2010

Publisher: HarperCollins/ 470 Pages/ Young Adult

Source: Around the World Tours (ARC)

Other books by this author: Delirium

What if you had only 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 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-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 had ever imagined.

Review:

Before I Fall was… amazing. That’s the best word I can use to describe it. At just under 500 pages it was a long read, but every page was needed. I knew many people were looking forward to reading it and that was really all I knew about it. As soon as I read the summary on the back of the book I was hooked. Before I Fall was so well written I couldn’t put it down. Sam wasn’t my favorite character at first, but the plot showed how Sam changed and learned about herself. It was hard not to become attached to Sam as she is the narrator and the reader is one with her struggles and heartbreaks. I was so happy when the light bulb went off over Sam’s head making her realize she needed to change how she was acting. Sam was really popular and always hung out with her three best friends and boyfriend. I didn’t particularly like her friends (Ally, Elody, and Lindsay), especially because of how Ally, Elody, and Sam did everything Lindsay said without even questioning it. That was one thing Sam learned by the end of the book, why Lindsay acted like she did. All the characters were well developed and the reader learned a lot about Ally, Elody, and Lindsay which helped me understand Sam even better.

The plot was extremely original, and one that I’ve never read about before. It reminded me of the movie Groundhog’s Day which Sam even mentions in the book. It was amazing to see how one little action can change the whole course of someone’s life. I wasn’t sure how Lauren was going to work out having Sam live the same day over and over seven times, but each day Sam did something different that changed the whole course of how the day went. There was one day where Sam went totally crazy- fighting with her friends, doing crazy things… I could understand why she would want to do this- if at the end of the day no one’s even going to remember what happened, why not go a little crazy?

I loved her little sister, Izzy. Izzy had a lisp but even though kids made fun of her she didn’t want to change how she talked. I think Izzy was part of the reason Sam wanted to change how she acted. Being mean to people was something Sam and her friends did a lot. Especially to a girl named Juliet. Juliet didn’t play that big of a role the first couple of days, but by the end Sam realizes how big a role Juliet really plays in her life. Another character that had a small role in the beginning was Kent. By the middle of the book Sam realized her feelings for Kent and I was so glad things worked out for them. Kent was the perfect guy for Sam and he made her a better person.

In the end Before I Fall was an amazing debut novel. It was impossible to put down and is one I’m definitely going to buy in hardcover come March. The book will haunt me for a long time and I will be sure to recommend it to everyone. This will definitely have a place in my best books of 2010 list and I can’t wait for more by Lauren Oliver.

Overall: 5 out of 5 stars