A review by letsreadwithcats
Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver
5.0
"In my dream I am falling through darkness. In my dream I fall forever."
In this Groundhog's Day meets Mean Girls novel, ultra-popular mean girl Sam Kingston relives the last day of her life seven times. At it's core, this is a story of redemption. I've selected a couple of quotes that seem to best capture the main themes involved in Sam's redemption.
"As I head up to the gym it strikes me how strange people are. You can see them everyday-- you can think you know them-- and then you find out you hardly know them at all." pg 159
As Sam relives the same day, Feb 12th, seven times, she slowly discovers things about people she never knew before. Sam makes discoveries about the lives of her teachers, her closest friends, and the girls they have made a mission to torment. Sam getting to know these people she sees everyday leads right into the next part of her redemption.
"It's not supposed to be like this. I feel like someone's pressed the Reverse button on a vacuum cleaner and all of the junk I've done is spewing back onto the carpet for me to see." pg. 161-162
In the process of discovering secrets about others, Sam makes discoveries about herself, the kind of person she's been in the past, and the kind of person she would like to be in the future. Sam is able to see how much of an impact her actions have on others. Some are minor changes, a sort of butterfly effect that ripples through the days based on minor things that happen. Others actions are more important, dating back years, and culminating on the night of Sam's death.
I really didn't like Sam or her friends at the beginning of the novel. They are poster children for bad behavior-- drinking heavily, smoking pot, stealing, promiscuity, and general cruelty. But that's kind of the point, it wouldn't be very interesting to read about the redemption of a well-behaved, likable teenager. By the end, I really cared about Sam and could relate to her. Her character from the beginning versus the one at the end are exponentially different. All of the emotional build-up from the first days really pay off in the last couple of days. I was very impressed with the way Lauren Oliver slowly evolved Sam's character.
The frustrating thing about the format of Sam being the only one reliving the same day is, of course, she is the only one who changes and evolves. While I can't really say that I liked Sam's friends-- particularly Lindsey, the alpha mean girl-- I can say that by the end I felt sorry for them and I hoped that they might become better people in the future.
Overall, a very satisfying story of redemption that packs a powerful emotional punch.
In this Groundhog's Day meets Mean Girls novel, ultra-popular mean girl Sam Kingston relives the last day of her life seven times. At it's core, this is a story of redemption. I've selected a couple of quotes that seem to best capture the main themes involved in Sam's redemption.
"As I head up to the gym it strikes me how strange people are. You can see them everyday-- you can think you know them-- and then you find out you hardly know them at all." pg 159
As Sam relives the same day, Feb 12th, seven times, she slowly discovers things about people she never knew before. Sam makes discoveries about the lives of her teachers, her closest friends, and the girls they have made a mission to torment. Sam getting to know these people she sees everyday leads right into the next part of her redemption.
"It's not supposed to be like this. I feel like someone's pressed the Reverse button on a vacuum cleaner and all of the junk I've done is spewing back onto the carpet for me to see." pg. 161-162
In the process of discovering secrets about others, Sam makes discoveries about herself, the kind of person she's been in the past, and the kind of person she would like to be in the future. Sam is able to see how much of an impact her actions have on others. Some are minor changes, a sort of butterfly effect that ripples through the days based on minor things that happen. Others actions are more important, dating back years, and culminating on the night of Sam's death.
I really didn't like Sam or her friends at the beginning of the novel. They are poster children for bad behavior-- drinking heavily, smoking pot, stealing, promiscuity, and general cruelty. But that's kind of the point, it wouldn't be very interesting to read about the redemption of a well-behaved, likable teenager. By the end, I really cared about Sam and could relate to her. Her character from the beginning versus the one at the end are exponentially different. All of the emotional build-up from the first days really pay off in the last couple of days. I was very impressed with the way Lauren Oliver slowly evolved Sam's character.
The frustrating thing about the format of Sam being the only one reliving the same day is, of course, she is the only one who changes and evolves. While I can't really say that I liked Sam's friends-- particularly Lindsey, the alpha mean girl-- I can say that by the end I felt sorry for them and I hoped that they might become better people in the future.
Overall, a very satisfying story of redemption that packs a powerful emotional punch.