Before I Fall [Paperback]

Lauren Oliver (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this Groundhog Day meets Mean Girls teen hybrid, Sam Kingston is pretty, popular, and has a seemingly perfect boyfriend. But after a late-night party everything goes terribly wrong, and the life that she lived is gone forever. Or is it?

At the start of Before I Fall, Sam is self-consumed and oblivious about the impact of her actions on others. But as she repeatedly experiences slightly altered versions of the hours leading up to her death—and her relationships with friends, family, and formerly overlooked classmates bloom, end, or shift—it’s impossible not to feel for the girl whose life ends too soon. Oliver’s adept teen dialogue and lively prose make for a fast, page-turning story in which the reader is every bit as emotionally invested as Sam. --Jessica Schein
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up–In the blink of an eye, popular high school student Samantha Kingston loses her life. What should have been a fantastic day turns out to be the beginning of a horrific afterlife experience. In the wake of a fiery car crash, Sam wakes up on Friday, February 12th again, and again, and again—reliving her last day seven times. At the beginning, she is her usual obnoxious, thoughtless, and reckless self, but the teen is gradually transformed over the week. Sarah Drew narrates Lauren Oliver's powerful debut novel (HarperCollins, 2010), bringing Sam's voice to life with brilliant execution. She matches every nuance of Sam's character, easily transitioning from mean girl through stages of anger, moroseness, hopelessness, and regret, until she reaches a state of acceptance. The secondary characters are interestingly voiced. The story will instantly capture listeners, and the outstanding narration makes it potentially one of the best audiobooks of the year. A must-have for public libraries and high school collections, though schools should be aware that there are scenes with both sexual situations and teen drinking.–Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, New Britain, CTα(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (October 25, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061726818
• ISBN-13: 978-0061726811
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (484 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,937 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lauren Oliver captivated readers with her first novel, the New York Times bestseller Before I Fall, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. She followed that up with Delirium and Pandemonium, the first two books in her bestselling trilogy, which concludes with Requiem. Delirium has been optioned for film by Fox 2000 Pictures. Oliver is also the author of two luminous novels for middle-grade readers, The Spindlers and Liesl & Po, which was named a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. A graduate of the University of Chicago and NYU's MFA program, Lauren Oliver lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can visit her online at www.laurenoliverbooks.com.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauren_Oliver
www.lauren-oliver.tumblr.com

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#13 in Books > Teens

#13 in Books > Teens

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

113 of 121 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting, heartbreaking, beautiful February 7, 2010

By The Compulsive Reader VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Friday, February 12th should be just another average day for popular, beautiful Samantha Kingston. But it's far from it--her ride home after a late-night party ends in a car accident, only when Sam wakes up, it's Friday, February 12th again. Forced to re-live the last day of her life seven times, Sam struggles to understand the meaning behind these experiences and the significance in her own life and actions. Because only when she can get her last day exactly right will she ever be able to take the next step.

With keen insights and startling candidness, Lauren Oliver's debut novel is a frank, if not at times brutal look at high school social circles and the careless cruelties and bullying that occurs on a daily basis. Sam is one of the mean girls, and she shrugs off her biting words and actions as something that just happens, collateral damage of living through high school. But through every complex and carefully plotted event, Oliver peels back the layers of Sam's life and teaches us all that every little deed has a consequence, and no act goes unnoticed. Though Sam is by no means a likable character at the beginning of the novel, as her character is revealed and she learns a thing or two about the things she has done in her life and the person she has become, she morphs into a true, selfless, and caring heroine, despite her many flaws. The story line is addicting and suspenseful. and as each "day" passes and Sam begins to get things right, the question that has been looming in the back of your mind since the end of the first chapter--What will happen to Sam?--becomes more and more urgent. Oliver is skillful at wielding suspense and heartbreak, making you think hard about the value of your own life and actions.

Before I Fall is a haunting and beautiful book. It will float around at the back of your mind long after you've read it.

55 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If you knew THEN what you know NOW- what would you do? February 21, 2010

By L. J. Schrader

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Sam is the kind of girl we can all hate. Popular, snotty, superior. In life, you could have pointed out her bad behavoir and she probably would have laughed in your face, or honestly, not cared at all. But, in death she is forced to take a good, long look at every choice she has made in her relatively short lifetime.

We get to know Sam and her friends at the beginning of the story, leading up to a crash that takes Sam's life. You have to be patient as you are introduced to them because they are not likeable at all. Just when you think you've had enough of them, they are in a deadly crash. That's not the end of the story, though, only the beginning.

Sam goes into a sort of sleep following the accident and awakens to relive her last day. Will changing something along the way lead to a different result? She tries, and tries again, and again. In fact she gets numerous attempts to "perfect" her last day, hoping she can make the most of her life...and her death if can't undo the accident.

This is not your typical tale of redeeming yourself. It's not so easy to make the changes that Sam needs to make to change fate. She doesn't simply do something new each time she gets a new day. Her first attempts are vastly different with vastly different results. It's not until she puts all the finest pieces together that she thinks she has the best solution. Life is unpredictable and so is death for Sam.

Watching this aggravating girl realize how wrong she has been is satisfying. Seeing her struggle to become a better person with only one day is fascinating. Wondering how (and if) she is going to succeed makes you not want to put this book down. Great read!

Note to parents: This book does contain a lot of references to drinking, drugs and sex, but nothing graphic.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Torn feelings March 2, 2010

By April Nichole

Format:Hardcover

I have to say that after reading the prologue and the first chapter I really thought of not finishing the book. I was completely annoyed with Samantha and her friends. There is underage drinking and they are all concerned with who the last virgin is going to be. They are the popular girls that make fun of everyone and they don't care about the after effects. They are selfish, self-centered, and insecure.

I had a really hard time liking any of the characters. So, why did I keep reading? Well because it is beautifully written and I kept hoping knowing that Sam was reliving the same day that either she or her friends would change.

There are only 7 chapters and they are all really, really long. It would have been nice if they had been broken into smaller chapters. Although I do get the 7 chapters cause Sam does relive her day 7 times so, each one is a new day.

The last 3 chapters were better for me than the first ones. We do learn things about her friends and why they are the way that they are their insecurities. Although to find out the secret that Lindsey had been hiding, the reason she held a grudge and was mean to Juliet, was crazy. I couldn't believe it came down one tiny thing that had happened so long ago and Lindsey let it hold her captive for so long. (I guess though we all can tend to do that from time to time.) Sam and her friends though didn't even know the secret but went along with the name calling and everything else that Lindsey wanted against Juliet.

I also couldn't believe what Sam did on one of the days with one of her teachers. They apparently always flirted and I don't care that it was a day that she didn't care because she was so frustrated with reliving the day that she was going to do whatever she wanted. What she did with the teacher was just wrong.

I did like that Sam tried to do some things different with her family. One of the days she spent some time with her little sister and went to a family dinner. Through the book we also got to learn more about Juliet and the affect that Sam and her friends have had on her. It was nice to see Sam try to change things with her.

I'm still trying to figure out if I like the ending. On the one hand I can see what she was trying to do for Juliet. She tried to show her that things didn't always have to be so bad. It came down to one saying, "It's never too late." (SPOILER) On the other hand I kind of wished it would have been like the movie Groundhogs Day when finally after getting things right the day doesn't start over but goes to the next, this doesn't. It just ends. Sam may get closure but I was left wondering about the other characters and what would happen with them. (End SPOILER)

Overall, the book was good and I had times in reading it that I thought were sweet moments. But, I had more times that I just thought either weren't really appropriate or just frustrating cause I want to reach through the book to the characters and shake them and go "Really? Would you please just think?"
(got book through Barnes & Noble First Look Club)