Customer Reviews

Before I Fall

5 star:		(150)
4 star:		(84)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

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.

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.

Overall, BEFORE I FALL was, to say the least, a very interesting read. After looking around and seeing other reviews I can say I'm not quite as smitten with it as most people are. The reason I think is boiled down to movies. I'm a really big movie fan, and a lot of the movies I watch are somewhat like BEFORE I FALL in that they always require you to guess constantly as to how it will end, those are just the type of movies I like. Books, however, are not an instant gratification, it's not just an hour or two until you get to the end, it's 480 pages (in the case of BEFORE I FALL, anyway) of words that take much longer to get through. I think that's where, for me, BEFORE I FALL falters, it's an brilliant concept, but when it runs the course of repetitiveness on a 480 page scale I found myself slowly dragging myself through it. However, I think much of the problem I had was because of the size of the book and the constant repetitiveness of it, because it certainly wasn't with the writing or the general concept of the novel.

Lauren also gave an interview on the First Look part of the B&N forum where she said "I have two hopes for you as you begin to read Before I Fall. The first is simply this: I hope that in the beginning, you do not like the main character, Samantha, or her three best friends. I hope you find them mean, petty, self-absorbed, and superficial." ... "My second hope is more conventional. I hope that by the end of the book you will love Sam, and that you will have come to a deeper understanding of her friends, with all of their faults and frailties." -- I'm gonna have to say it, that even in the end I didn't love Sam. Thought more of her? Maybe. Loved her? No. For me Samantha's character as a whole was neverendingly whiney. Her friends were also nothing short of complete bitches. While they were slightly more compassionate to her, they still, especially Lindsay, treated her like crap for the most part. I think other than the size of the novel itself, my main issue is that the bullying was not... `properly' addressed throughout the book. It's mentioned and there are little things that happen that sort of mock Lindsay and her crew, but there is no overall sense of punishment, and I hate that. Especially for people who are so out rightly horrible. I wish that as a final stand Sam had stood up to them a little more strongly and kind of put them in their place other than her sideways remarks here and there.

Having said that though, in the end I did enjoy BEFORE I FALL, and Lauren is a wonderful writer, and I honestly look forward to seeing what she comes up with next. She really managed to bring the story and Sam's surroundings to life, and present the story in a very realistic way. The book itself is a little long, the main character is a little whiney, and the addressing of the major sub-plot (bullying) was a little weak, but hey, we can't all be perfect!

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)

I don't really know why I bought this book, and now I'm regretting doing so. The whole time while I was reading it I wanted it to be over so I could move on to a book I actually liked. The main character and her best friends are horrible characters, horrible people, and I couldn't muster up an ounce of sympathy for them. Though Samantha did attempt to salvage herself throughout the whole book, she still kept reverting back to the shallow person who was molded from the hands of her best friend Lindsay, the ringleader of the popular girls, and who just couldn't be seen riding in her mom's 2003 Honda Accord. Because her reputation means more to her than anything. Just the fact that the book has "popular girls," let alone that they are the main characters, was an instant turnoff. I don't know a single person who would want to read about the trials of high school, nor do I know anyone who would want to read about the same day happening over and over again, like what? 7 times? I lost count.

The one redeeming quality of this book was the character of Kent, who was sharp-witted, funny, and for some unknown reason actually cared about Sam, his childhood best friend who tries to ignore his very existence now that she's "popular" (ugh, there's that word again) and he's... not. By the end of the book I was deluded into thinking I actually wanted Sam to wake up on February 13th and realize she wasn't dead, just because I wanted her to give Kent the time of day, now that she knows he's more than the weird guy who's infatuated with her. But then I remembered, it's not possible to like her. Why should she wake up? You only get one chance at life, and she blew hers. Sorry, again I have no sympathy for her.

Maybe the book has good messages about life and love and appreciating what you have, but they're messages most people already know. Most people don't take things for granted the way Sam and her friends do. I wish I could get back the hours of my life I wasted reading this book, but I can't. At least I can get my money back.

Last May I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the BookExpo America in New York City. While there I picked up this card from the Harper Collins booth that was an egalley for Lauren Oliver's debut novel Before I Fall. The thing that drew me most to this galley was the cover. It was so haunting and eye catching that even without reading the premise I knew I had to take it home with me. Then the first moment I was able I loaded it onto Anne the eReader and began to read.

At first I did not like Sam.

Boy did I not like her. She is popular and rude and just everything that I wasn't in high school. In fact she reminded me of a few unpleasant people that I had the misfortune to know in school and I wasn't all that upset when she died. I know. I know....I'm a terrible horrible person!!

But then....Sam wakes up. She tries again. And before I knew it I was caring more then I ever thought possible for this girl. There is real character growth here and while the story takes place over seven days - which is such a short time - Lauren Oliver tackles all these changes in a real and believable way. By the end of the story I had been wrung through a whole gauntlet of emotions that I was spent. I laughed, I cried, my heart broke and my heart was healed. With each new day the story just became richer and more layered and while you knew what was going to happen there was still something new and different that it kept you on your toes.

For me though this book wasn't all about love. I did have some serious issues with the ending and how I feel that the story played out. And while, in my discussions with the fabulous Lauren Oliver, have shown that I'm wrong (yes Lauren I'm admitting it since you ARE the author and creator of the story and DO know best).....I still stand by my interpretation of the story. An interpretation that at first Lauren was surprised at since it wasn't one that had initially crossed her mind. One thing we both agreed on thought that part of what makes reading so interesting is that everyone comes away from a story with something different. Reading is such a uniquely personal experience that I don't think that the same person can re-read a story the same way, that every read of a book is different.

But I digress.

A lot.

So back to Before I Fall...as I said I didn't like how the book ended. For me I think that it was wonderful the changes that Sam made but in the end the changes were all about her and it goes back to her initial selfish nature. Was the world she lived in better when the sun rose on 13 Feb? Or where things a little more broken because of the changes that she made in reliving her last day? I ask this because one thing Sam does in the story is to start a new relationship with a boy that she hadn't thought much of before then. A really sweet adorkable boy that I just adored and if she didn't live through her accident then how would her death affect him now....as opposed to how he'd be affected if Sam was still the mean girl she was?

One of the things that bothered me most, based on my interpretation of the read, was that it seemed like Sam was talking herself into suicide. That there was no other possible outcome then for the accident to happen as it did. But did she try all the possible outcomes? Was there a way for the ending to be different? Who is to say. Although I know that if there was a happily ever after I know that would have upset me too. Because life isn't perfect. There are some beautiful and wonderful things in the world but there is also pain, heartache and sacrifice. I think that Before I Fall is a stunningly well written book and while there were things that I disliked...a lot...I loved the writing and the world building. Its on the writing that I base my 5 star rating the fact that I loved Oliver's words despite not agreeing with them. That and the endless potential for discussion in this book. If you are in a book club then I highly recommend that you choose this book for one of your reads.

And no matter what you think of Before I Fall...love it, hate it...what ever you feel drop a line to Lauren Oliver and tell her so. Authors love to hear from readers and she is so awesomely amazing that I know she'd love to discuss her words with you. I'm also living proof that she won't dislike you if you don't agree with her 100%. =)

As originally posted on my blog Ticket to Anywhere

This book is extremely powerful, an emotional roller-coaster that will take your breath away. And yet it's not a dark book. The plot kept twisting and untwisting, flowing beautifully, leaving you engaged, always interested, wishing to devour the book in a few seconds. The ending left me speechless, with a vague sense that I should fix my life just like Sam fixed hers. A sudden realization of how we take things for granted, when we never truly know how much time we have left, and we don't realize how one little decision affects everything around us.

I must admit that Lauren's writing blew me away. She has the perfect writing recipe for a YA book; just enough humor, add an utterly powerful message, some edgy-sarcastic dialog, the right amount of description with delicious imagery, incorporating easy-to-relate-to back-stories AND, of course, the not-popular yet not geeky adorable caring yummy boy. Oh, Kent.

The characters were incredible. Specially Lindsey's and Kent's. This is definitely the best debut novel I've read since Graceling in 2008. I am really excited to read more 2010 debuts! If they're half as good as this one, they're pretty much amazing. This is by far THE book you must not miss this year. In fact, if you haven't read it yet, you're missing out.

As a high school teacher, I'm always reading young adult fiction, both for the pleasure it gives me and in order to recommend and encourage my students to read. I picked up Lauren Oliver's second book, DELIRIUM, first, because I like dystopian fiction. I wasn't blown away by that book - the society she created didn't really make sense, maybe because there are mysteries Oliver wants to explore in parts two and three - but I was impressed with Oliver's writing itself, which led me to find her debut novel.

I'm happy to say I enjoyed this book a lot more. Early on, Sam, the protagonist, herself refers to the film Groundhog Day, as if Oliver wants us to get out in the open what we are thinking. You do know all along the basic idea: by reliving her final day over and over, Sam is bound to change and be ready to move on to . . . what? Heaven? A new chance? So the premise isn't exactly original (there goes that fifth star!), but what Oliver does with it, coupled with her truly lovely prose, makes for an entertaining and thoughtful read with a very satisfying ending.

One of the other reviewers complained that Sam's quartet of mean girls doesn't change or grow enough. Well, it DOES all happen in one day, and only Sam gets to live that day over and over and, thus, change for the better. And while there's a lot of the basic "stages of grief" going on in each subsequent day, from shock to anger to sadness to acceptance, I liked what Oliver revealed about the people in Sam's life and how she tied each day together. I also think we really do get to see Sam grow and change in a believable way: we may not like the person she starts out as, but we learn how this is due to the choices she has made and these choices are believable. I also like how there's no really easy fix to the crises that Sam encounters, especially when it comes to her relationship with her best friend Lindsay and that with Juliet Sykes. Juliet is a fascinating portrait of a kind of student I have seen all too often at school.

If you're a parent who checks out these reviews before buying their child a book, be warned: the book deals quite honestly with issues of sex, drinking, smoking and suicide. It would definitely be a great book for a parent to read with their son or daughter and then discuss together. (Do parents still do that with their kids?) Anyway, I do recommend this book!

I'm torn. I absolutely loved parts of this story, and really did not like other parts. So, overall, I'm pretty lukewarm about it. And kind of confused, so there is much I want to explore here.

When I first started reading, I really didn't like Sam. At all. She is everything I am not, and that I vehemently disagree with. I set this book down three times, reading other books instead. But I kept picking it back up because this is the kind of story that requires a lot of character growth, and the promise of that kept me reading. Still, I had a very hard time with the beginning, and I'm still torn about that.

On the one hand, I can see that Sam's character needs to be established so that we can see, and truly appreciate, her growth later on. So, I agree that we need to see her so unlikable, otherwise we can't fully appreciate her growth. I truly believe the beginning needed to be this way...and yet, I still didn't like it. This is unusual for me. The needs of the story can usually persuade me into overlooking things I might not like, and that just didn't happen in this case. I think that if she had grown just a little bit quicker, then I might have liked it better...it was difficult to dislike her for so many chapters, and I found myself mumbling `come on, grow up already.'

The middle is the best part of the whole book. Sam's growth is very natural to the story, and very well done. I loved seeing her open her eyes to the world around her, and acknowledging how her actions have reactions. Sometimes severe reactions. When she realizes this, she grows leaps and bounds. I started rooting for her to figure out how to end her predicament, and was glued to the pages.

But then we got to the end, which I completely disagree with. Granted, the last couple paragraphs are powerful and leave you with a contented feeling of finality, but the events leading up to them didn't fit with the rest of the story.

SPOILER WARNING.

Throughout Sam's growth, she works very hard to help others, one of them being Juliet Sykes. And Sam is relentless in trying to get Juliet to understand that she can't give up because her actions will have reactions that can severely affect others. This is one of my favorite parts of the story, and I eagerly anticipated the ending because I wanted to see how Sam would succeed (and I was convinced she would succeed). But then everything fell apart, because Sam was the one who gave up. Everything she says and does on her last day screams that she's given up. In doing so, she disregards everything she's learned about actions and reactions.

Again, this is a part of the book where I'm torn, because I do believe the story needed to go in this general direction, and the ending was right for the story--*except* for the part where Sam gives up. She accepts her fate way too easily and lets herself slide away with no thought to those who love her (one of the arguments she uses on Juliet). If she had fought and struggled and regretted at least a little bit, then the ending would have been far more powerful, even if the end result had been the same.

I don't think I've ever been so torn over a book, and can't even decide whether or not to recommend it. Some parts are amazing, and other parts really turned me off. If you like stories about popular kids and high school parties, then you might like this one. If not, you might want to pass. Also, the age range is definitely young adult (not middle grade) because of scenes with drinking, drugs, and sex.

It's hard to believe that this is Lauren Oliver's debut novel, that's how excellent this book is. This 470-page novel is smoothly written, wonderfully developed, and never ever dull, enthralling all the way through.

From the first page, Lauren Oliver's assured writing sucks you in and never once lets go. The transformation from writer to character is effortless: Samantha and all her friends are pitch-perfect teenagers, without any of the try-too-hard fakeness often exhibited by YA mean girls. Instead, every character has their good and bad points, and even though these girls may not necessarily be nice, we still are interested in them, and care for them, because they are just like us, or our neighbor, or our friend, or that girl in our class.

Each time Sam relives her last day, she gets to know different people differently, learns something new about herself. It says a LOT about Lauren's writing skill that the book never gets dull. The pages fly by in smooth reading, and Sam's development from mean girl to, well, not-so-mean girl is so subtle that you'll find yourself falling for her and/or cheering for her even as she messes up or reveals unlikable aspects about her character.

Even if BEFORE I FALL is not action-packed, it's full of such careful observations about teenage nature and our ability to change that it's literary gold: you'll treasure the first time you read through it, and if you're anything like me, you'll want to pick it up and read it again immediately after you finish it. It's not often that a debut novelist instantly becomes one of my favorite authors (I usually give it two books before I call favorites), but Lauren Oliver's incredible novel has made me a fan of hers for life. I'll read anything she writes from now on, even if she chooses to write about zombie/werewolf mutants--because she has the power to make fiction real.