Book Review: Before I Fall

Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: Contemporary
Published: 2010, HarperCollins
Rating: 5/5 Stars

Sam Kingston is one of the most popular girls at her high school. She and her three best friends are in charge and everyone knows it. February 12th, Cupid Day, is one of the most exciting days for popular girls like Sam: people send each other roses, and the number of roses someone gets says a lot about their popularity. Things go wrong that night, though, when Sam dies in a car accident after leaving a party. Somehow, she still wakes up the next day - or, what she thinks is the next day. Sam Kingston lives the last day of her life seven times, allowing her to see how powerful her choices can be.

I did not expect to like this book so much. I've read Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy and enjoyed it, but for some reason, I had my doubts about Before I Fall. I was floored by this book; it really surprised me.

Surprise!

I got major Mean Girls vibes from this book. I love that movie, but it's a lot more lighthearted than Before I Fall. Sam and her friends are a lot like the Plastics - they love to torment people that they deem "lesser" than they are; anyone who doesn't live up to their standards is a possible victim.

They do some pretty nasty things. The reader gets to be inside Sam's head, seeing all her rationalizations for being a crappy person. Oliver does a great job at developing all these less-than-nice characters, though. The girls have distinct stories, quirks, and personalities. That's something I appreciated about this book. There isn't too much for me to say about Before I Fall, though; it has to be experienced first-hand. There's some great character development with Sam and some really touching scenes that had me tearing up. Before I Fall honestly made me rethink how I view the world and how much my actions affect the people in my life.