Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Title:		Before I Fall
Author:		Lauren Oliver
Publisher:		Harper Collins Publishers
Imprint:		Harper
Pub. Date:		10/25/2010
ISBN:		0061726818 (ISBN13: 9780061726811)
Pages:		470

With this stunning debut novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction. Like Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why and Gayle Forman's If I Stay, Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others.

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam 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 ever imagined.

(Summary and cover via Goodreads)

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Samantha Kingston has died. She knows it. What she doesn't know is why she seems to be reliving the day of her death over and over again. Sam begins to realize though that there may be a purpose to this, and that any small thing she does can change things entirely. Sam learns that there are some things bigger than her, and while she cannot save herself she may be able to help others before she goes.

The beginning of this book was a trial for me to get through. Samantha and her friends are just awful people. They're bullies that pick on the easiest targets. Luckily Sam starts to show some growth before I totally gave up on this book, but man did she drag it out. She became a much more likable person as she stopped trying to label herself and be someone she thought everyone else wanted her to be. As she became her own person, she was much easier to deal with. This also allowed her to learn some things about why she was going through this strange event to begin with.

I appreciate that Sam saw the good in her friends more and more as she went while still recognizing what they did wrong. Ultimately Sam had a lot of good in her, and this was uncovered bit by bit as the story progressed. The ending was satisfying even if you kind of know where it is going. I like that she learned that some things are bigger than her. This was a very interesting book, and it made me think about how I influence people in my life. I don't know if I would say I enjoyed it, but it was a book worth reading.