Book Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
In the opening pages of Lauren Oliver’s debut novel, Before I Fall, popular high schooler Samantha Kingston dies in car crash on the way home from a party. But her life doesn’t end there, as she wakes up the next morning to relive her last day over and over again. Realizing how terribly she’d treated her family and many of her classmates, Sam uses her borrowed time to make amends and alter the day’s events. Her actions don’t always create favorable outcomes, however, and she comes to some powerful realizations about friendship, love, and the nature of fate. As a typical mean girl, Sam is not the most likable character, but her actions and reactions are believable and make her easy to root for. Some of the book’s events are truly heartbreaking and the ending will surely provoke discussion for readers. This truly gripping and relatable debut will be especially appealing to fans of If I Stay by Gayle Forman and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher.
Find in a library or on Amazon.
Reviewed from an ARC received at ALA Midwinter.
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