Samantha Kingston is a bitch. She and her three best friends Lindsay, Elody and Ally rule the school with their better-than-you attitudes and sky-high stilettos. Sometimes Sam feels a twinge in what passes for a conscience at the bottom of her small black heart, but she usually manages to squish it. February 12 is a Friday like any other, except on the way home from a party, Sam and her girls end up rolling their car and Sam’s life as she knows it is over. Until the next morning, when she wakes up in her bed. It’s February 12—again. At first Sam thinks maybe this is a coma dream, but soon she realizes that she’s trapped in a weird limbo—and she’s not sure what she’s supposed to do next. “Maybe when you die time folds in on you, and you bounce around inside this little bubble forever.” She feels anger (“I hate both of my parents right now…for letting the thread between us stretch so far and so thin that the moment it was severed for good they didn’t even feel it.”) then hopelessness (“I’m dead, but I can’t stop living.”) and finally resolve, as Sam realizes she can alter events, move people around, and perhaps avoid the inevitable crash that takes her life (“From now on I’m going to do things right. I’m going to be a different person, a good person. I’m going to be the kind of person who would be remembered well, not just remembered.”) But is Sam meant to save herself? Maybe the point of all this is to save someone else…
If Sarah Dessen and Jenny Downham collaborated, it might look a little like this rad reinvention of the mean-girl novel. Full confession? I dreaded reading this book. C’mon, a teen relives the last day of her life over and over? (Have I ever mentioned that Groundhog Day is one of my most hated movies of all time?) And it’s loooonnngg. Like 450+ pages long. But surprise, surprise, Lauren Oliver had me at hello with this elegantly crafted and completely mesmerizing story about a dead girl who learns what it means to live in just seven short days. Unlike Groundhog Day, each February 12 of Sam’s day is different, a whole life lived in 24 short hours as she tries to accept what she has lost and wishing she appreciated it more. The length ended up being important, as Sam goes over every detail of the careless existence she took for granted, causing YOU to consider all the little things in your life that you never think about but would miss terribly if they all went away. Like sunsets, little sisters and sappy movies, just to name a very few. Despite the length, there was a feeling of constant suspense as I wondered how on earth Oliver was going to solve Sam’s existential conundrum. I ended up loving every bit of it: the premise, the way Sam’s character realistically develops over the course of the story, the bittersweet end and yes, even the voluminous page count. This is a heart book. You will have an illogical urge to hug it when you’re done. I found myself racing through it, and sighing with great satisfaction upon finishing the last page. As you will, when this lovely and amazing tome comes to a library or bookstore near you.
I saw your tweet about SMILE by Raina Telgemeier, came over to say I loved it as well, and discover your most recent review is for the book I finished just today and loved just as much.
So glad you stopped by! And good to hear you enjoyed both titles as much as I did:)
At first glance this looks like a book I would avoid at ALL cost
but you’ve got me adding it to my to-read list. Great review!
I’ve been hearing such good things about this. Now from you too! I am going to put this book on reserve today. (I’ve been sort of avoiding it too…)
I’ve been teetering on the brink of adding this one to my list–you’ve convinced me to do so!
Great review! I’ve put it off for that same “groundhog day” vibe and I loved that movie! Can’t wait to dive in!
So I just finished this book like five minutes ago, and even though it is very lengthy, I finished it in two days. Yes, it’s that good. At first I thought the characters were generic (and kind of skanky), but later I realized that this book has some of the best character developments I’ve ever read. And it is b e a u t i f u l
Just putting that out there.
Karah, I couldn’t agree more! Glad you liked it!
THIS BOOK IS SOOOOOOO AWESOME AND I WISH THAT I COULD OWN ONE BUT I JUST READ IN THE LIBRARY LOL
This has got to be one of my all time favorite books i have ever read. The characters are so like todays teens I could relate to them so well. But I just have one question, what happens at the end? Does she die? Does juliet live? its all very confusing at the end
Uh… I hated the end. I was seriously pissed off, even my friends suddenly looked scared of me.
@Autumn: (spoiler: contains the ending if you haven’t finished. skip)
… after all the trouble she went to and when she finally got together with Kent… SHE FREAKING DIES.
I mean, don’t get me wrong – beautiful book, great writing style, awesome characters, interesting story line….
But the ending pissed me off so much =_=
I am a pre-teen and loved this book. I am doing a book report on it for school. All my classmates want to read it when I am done with my project. I got it the day it came out and finished it two days later. Love the book.
Can’t believe it! I just finished the book…. and wow! I mean I loved it don’t get me wrong but…….. I mean you know whats going to happen, and you know you should expected it but throughout the whole thing what really sucks is that I have hope that the ending would be different. I just wish that the ending wasn’t the ending… Fantastic book kept me flipping the pages! wow
Nya,
My response exactly–would have liked the ending to be different, but it was still satisfying. So glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you’ll come back to RR for more good book recommendations!
I’m about 1/2 done with Before I Fall and its absolutely amazing!…its unpredictable which is nice for a change from reading books where you just know whats going to happen next.
At first I totally thought you were going to bash the book. I was like “What?!” and I got all prepared to have my feathers ‘ruffled’ and such, and then I read it and I smiled
I’ve read Before I Fall a total of three times. Every time I read it, I catch itty bitty remarks and events that I didn’t catch the other times I read through it. Every time it happens, I swear to myself that those new words weren’t there before!
But anyway..
please help me. i just finished the book but i’m confused if sam died or not
Summer, what do YOU think happened? I think that Lauren left the ending somewhat ambiguous on purpose so readers could decide.
okay so i read this in 1 day(its summer, why not spend all day reading a 400 page book) and yet i still feel that somehow, i am not finished. i keep re-reading the last few lines over and over trying to figure out what the ending really was. i mean i know its sorta like an ‘out there’ ending that the reader is suppose to come up with but i cant help feeling depressed at the end. at first i hated sam and lindsay. and i felt sooooooo sorry for juliet and everything that happened to her but…in the end, i couldnt help yelling at the book saying “would you please stop trying to kill yourself! gosh!” now i feel bad for feeling bad for sam and being angry at juliet while in the beginning, i was completely the opposite! (still like the book somehow though)