Avaliações
I'm not quite sure why I am on such a contemporary YA kick lately (except that all of my holds from the library came in simultaneously--that probably explains both my reading choices and my lack of writing, actually), but I enjoyed this. When it finally came in, I couldn't remember a blasted thing about it, so I was charmed by the plot, although not by the characters. Sam is a pain. She does grow throughout the book, but good grief, let's be honest here: she was a high school bully. She learns from the situation she has been put in and by the end I was rooting for her, but this was one of those situations where I was very happy that I read quickly, because having not been a high school bully (are any of us who read to the point that we are on a website like this the types who could look back and go "Yup, I totally bullied people in high school and was not bullied at all"? I'm curious.) and thus not having rose-tinted glasses for the whole experience, chunks of it were rough to read. Several of the other characters do not get the kind of development I would like. Sam eventually realizes she is kind of a bitch, and I understand, given the situation, that the other girls in her little posse probably can't develop into better people, but I would have preferred that we not have Sam sweep the fact that several of them are genuinely horrid people under the rug with "Oh, well, she was upset for this completely ridiculous reason a decade ago at this person, so she is actually a nice person underneath it all although she has had a decade-long grudge of crazy." Because that is not development, that is not what that means, that does not excuse that kind of nonsense. You are welcome, Sam, to like her in spite of her flaws; nobody is perfect and maybe she has been a good friend to you (I don't see it, but okay, sure, your friends are sometimes your friends), but she is not a nice person because she is nice to you. Her behavior to other people still counts, and I hated to see this handwaved when the whole point of this novel is for Sam to have some character development about why her behavior was wrong. Sorry, that was kind of a long and crazy rant. I'm not sure I realized how much it bothered me until I started typing, there. Now that I have whined about the things that were wrong, it seems only fair to talk about the things done right, since in the end, as you will probably note by my score, I liked this book. I enjoyed the ending, which I felt was very appropriate. I liked Sam's character development. I loved the focus on the little moments and small things that you don't always stop to notice or care about enough, and Sam's ability to appreciate them as time went on (or, okay, didn't). I liked the plot, although it has been done before to some extent, and I enjoyed watching it play out as she realized what was going on. And Kent. Kent I loved. Kent was amazing and adorable. All in all, I did like this. I'm happy I read it. It was interesting and intriguing, but I'm probably not going to re-read it and it is not the sort of thing that will stick with me very long.
Review originally posted at Doodle's Book BlogWhen I first read Before I Fall, I thought it was good. However, I never caught the little details, the bits of irony, or that maybe this was what Sam deserved for the way she lived her life; I was too caught up in wondering how each day would end. Would she wake up and live or would she have another repeat. Upon a second reading, I really thought about how I would feel if I had to relive the same day over and over again. Samantha Kingston begins day one, Cupid Day, as a selfish, judgmental, irresponsible follower of Lindsay Edgecombe. She is the epitome of popular and because of her status she can get away with anything knowing there will be no consequences for her actions. She has no respect for herself or her teachers and looks down upon all other students. And then it happens, upon leaving a party Lindsay loses control of her vehicle and goes careening off the road. Sam dies and begins to dream of falling. She wakes up at 6:50 AM to her little sister Izzy saying she is going to be late for school. She begins reliving Cupid Day all over again, but this time she gets to make new choices. As the story progresses, Sam realizes she doesn't like the person she has become and tries to fix herself in order to, hopefully, live to see the next day. Throughout the novel Sam takes breaks to talk to the reader directly. She makes comments asking us to think about ourselves before judging her for her actions. I enjoyed these little snip-its the best because I got to take a break and reflect upon my own life. I asked my self questions like: how will I be remembered, am I who I want to be, and do I do at least one good thing a day? This book made me question myself and my morals.Lauren Oliver did a great job weaving in ironic statements for the characters. The most memorable statement for me was a quote of Sam's saying, "When my grandmother was still alive we would visit her, and even thought I was no more than six, I remember thinking: I hope I die young." All I could think after reading this was, "Well, you get what you hope for."Overall, this book was a wonderful read. Granted the chapters are long (only seven!), they are sectioned off by headers to make finding a good place to stop easy.