Rating: 3/5
Pages: 470
So I've definitely neglected this blog for a while mainly due to finishing my course at college and then withdrawing from my course at uni ( I may go into this in more detail at a later date but for now its still a little raw). One thing I also regretfully have been putting on the back burner is reading, I did quite a bit at the end of August when I was on holiday but since being at uni I had no desire to read. However today I finally finished "Before I Fall" by Lauren Oliver.
When I first picked up this book back in early September I was excited to read something else by Oliver as I previously have read the "Delirium" Trilogy ( click here to read my review on the series). However I quickly realised that this book wasn't grabbing my attention and that I wasn't fully engaging with the characters.
The plot line follows a girl called named Samantha Kingston who is in the "popular" group at her school. Early into the book we learn that one Friday night she is in a drink driving accident which leads to what she thought was her death. However the next day she wakes up reliving that Friday morning and the same thing happens the day after that and the day after that.
At the start of the book I took a huge disliking to Sam and her 3 friends as they came across mean, overly cocky and that nothing or no one could touch them. However as the book progressed and Sam was made to relive more and more of the same day she started to change how the day panned out and started to realise why she is disliked so much. She tries to put right some of her past mistakes and becomes a better person and by the end of the book I appreciated her efforts however I still wasn't overly fond of her character.
As the story unfolds I feel that Sam starts to listen to her own mind rather than being brainwashed by what her other popular friends think. We also learn that each of Sam's friends no matter how popular they are still keep a dark secret or have an issue they'd rather not talk about.
The rest of this review contains spoilers to the plot line and ending therefore do not proceed unless you have read the book.
One aspect I did like in the book is the relationship development between Sam and Kent as Sam finally sees that he isn't as weird as the populars made him out to be and she remembers the bond they had when they were younger. This relationship is one of the reasons why I hated the ending! You get so wrapped up in the idea of them being together that I just couldn't imagine Kent having to live without Sam. I also feel that when Sam throws herself into the road to save Juliet its left a little misty as to what happens next and we're left to guess. Personally I wanted to know how Kent and Sam's friends were feeling after her death and why Sam was living in the state between life and death. Naturally I wanted there to be some kind of loop hole that meant Sam could carry on living her "new life" as if that Friday night accident was all a dream.
Overall I was a little underwhelmed and I am yet to be wowed by Lauren Oliver's work.
Sophie
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