Endless Bliss | Happy Lifestyle Blog: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver {Book Review}.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver {Book Review}.

Next month is the Austin Texas Teen Book Festival. I went last year, because I'm a huge book nerd, and even though I'm almost 25, it's okay because I still look like a teenager, and there were plenty of other adults at the festival last year (many without kids). I had such a blast, and I really want to go this year, but we'll see if I'll actually be able to make it.

In the meantime, I'm trying to read books by authors that will be there. The only authors I've read books by are James Dashner, Scott Westerfeld, Gayle Foreman, and now, Lauren Oliver. Those four authors alone are enough to entice me to want to attend the book festival. Last year, I really only went to meet Sarah Dessen, Jenny Han, and Siobhan Vivian, but I ended up falling in love with so many other authors and other books as well. If I get to attend this summer, I'm hoping to do the same thing. So I picked up this book because it was by one of the TTBF authors. It was actually her debut book. 

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Before I Fall tells the story of Samantha Kingston, one of the most popular seniors at her high school. She's been waiting all year for Cupid Day, one of her favorite days of the year. It gives her the opportunity to collect as many roses as possible and show off how many people love her. Too bad Cupid Day ends up being the day she dies. 

When she wakes up on what she thinks is the day after Cupid Day, she finds that it is, in fact, still Cupid Day. She's reliving the same day over again and again and again. Seven times to be exact. Each time she lives through the day, she learns that making even the slightest change can have a huge impact.

Here's the book trailer: 


It took me until about day four or five to even like Samantha. One of the reasons I'm so attracted to YA is that most of the books tell stories of misfits who end up proving themselves. It's rare for me to get attached to a character like Sam who is already popular and is pretty spoiled, bratty and self-centered. The first few times that she relives Cupid Day, I was really frustrated. In a lot of ways, she was just a mean person, and when she came to realize that she could just wake up the next day and have everything erased, she started becoming reckless and even more self-absorbed. I felt like some of the things she did would have been excusable if she was a high school freshman or sophomore, but she was a senior, and she was more immature than I would have liked through the first half of the novel.

Eventually, a light bulb goes off, and she starts to make decisions that made me smile. She started analyzing who the important people were in her life and trying to set things right with them, particularly her family and an old friend that she and everyone else has done nothing but make fun of for several years. Once she lives through the same day a few times, there's so much character growth, and I started to like Sam. 

One thing I love about this book is that it's chockful of amazing quotes like:

“Maybe you can afford to wait. Maybe for you there's a tomorrow. Maybe for you there's one thousand tomorrows, or three thousand, or ten, so much time you can bathe in it, roll around it, let it slide like coins through you fingers. So much time you can waste it. But for some of us there's only today. And the truth is, you never really know.”

and

“So many things become beautiful when you really look.” 

and

“That's when I realized that certain moments go on forever. Even after they're over they still go on, even after you're dead and buried, those moments are lasting still, backward and forward, on into infinity. They are everything and everywhere all at once. They are the meaning.” 

It's amazing how much a book about death makes you think about how you're living your life. This fiction YA novel definitely put a few things into perspective for me, and I love going through all of the Goodreads quotes and reliving bits and parts of the books. 


I give this book a 3.5 out of 5. The main thing I was turned off by was Sam's character in the beginning. Part of me wanted to stop reading because of the distaste I had for her, but I'm glad I stuck with it, because she ended up redeeming herself. This was a great first novel by Lauren Oliver, and I can't wait to read more by her!

For more from Lauren Oliver, check out her official website or follow her on Twitter!


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15 comments :

  1. I love books were days repeat. My favorite repeat-day book that I read recently was All You Need is Kill, the book The Edge of Tomorrow was based on. It was really fun and exciting!

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  2. I've read the Delirium series, and this is on my to-read list. The book festival sounds so fun! I went to one in NC a few years ago, and saw Sarah Dessen talk. I love her!

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  3. I love a good YA book, you have me thinking I want to read it, Sam sounds like she may be hard to handle at first but I'm interested to read about her redeeming herself!

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  4. By the end of the book, I was definitely a lot more fond of her!

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  5. Sarah Dessen is so inspiring! She was at the festival in Texas last year, and I loved hearing her speak. I've been wanting to read the Delirium series. I think she'll be talking about her book, Panic, so I want to read that one before I go!

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  6. I'll have to look that book up! Thanks for the suggestion!

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  7. Oh, I want to read this! I'm such a YA lover! My aunt is a middle school librarian and she always gives me the best books to read

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  8. I love the sound of this, I have a hard time too when I dislike the character or they do something halfway through that makes me not like them.

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  9. I fell in love with reading as a teenager so I get the YA addiction. Thanks for sharing. #SGBC

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  10. YA is my favorite. I don't know that I'll ever grow up from it. I'm not ashamed.

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  11. It was hard to get through the first few chapters because the character was so unlikable, but I'm happy I stuck through with it.

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  12. I'm so happy you understand! I can't seem to make the transition to adult books, but YA just makes me so happy, so I'll stick with it for now!

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  13. You are totally right about this book. I read it shortly after it came out and I really didn't like her either. I was upset with it because I love YA so dang much. I read it way too much. Like I read them too fast I "bug" the authors to write faster. A few of the popular ones out there I have forced friendships upon them with me. Not sure how much they like it, but it has gotten me free books because I am usually the first review on them. Cause for me its a contest to be the first reviewer. Its kind of sad was I write this out.

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  14. I'm happy you agree about the book! I've heard many good things about her other books, so I want to read those. YA is my favorite! I'm just a big kid! That's so awesome that you're friends with authors! I need to start bugging some authors too haha.

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