Review:
Before I Fall is a hidden gem. It leads you through a series of thoughts and emotions. It gets you thinking about life lessons and about what’s most important in life. It’s a captivating, inspiring, and suspenseful novel that you won’t be able to put down.
In the beginning, Sam and her friends were all very typical high school popular girls who made fun of less popular people and always thought of themselves as better than everyone else. They drink and ditch class and smoke, it just makes me cringe and frustrated at the way they act. I myself was never one of those popular girls in high school, I was always shy and always did the right things and always followed the rules. The end of chapter one asks whether what Sam did was really worse than what I do. My original answer is yes, definitely, she acts a lot worse than I do and dying is what she deserves, maybe she can learn a lesson from her actions. But, by the end, Sam's character transforms into someone entirely different, someone who should not have died.
Throughout Sam’s fate to relive the same day seven times, the suspense just keeps growing. Will Sam die in the end or continue living? Is Juliet the one who’s making Sam relive that day over and over or is it Kent or some external force?
However, by the end, I fell in love with Sam as a character. It’s surprising how much she can change when she relives the same day seven times. She changed from a stuck-up typical popular girl to someone who sacrifices herself for someone she’s made fun of almost her entire life. And, I won’t lie, but I literally bawled my eyes out for an hour when Sam threw herself at Juliet to save Juliet while killing herself. It’s just so touching how someone can change so dramatically in a few hundred pages. And even now, while I write this, I’m starting to get teary just thinking about Sam. :(
On a happier note, when Sam dumped Rob I was like “YES” but then felt a little bad for Rob but then once he started getting angry I knew he never cared about Sam anyways. BUT, Sam and Kent are so cute together. Kent is, like Sam says, adorable and caring, and the way he rambles adds a touch of humor to the story.
When I finished the book, I began to get frustrated at Sam because she didn’t have to kill herself (again) to save Juliet. Why couldn’t she have just grabbed Juliet’s arm to keep her from jumping onto the road? Or why couldn’t she have gotten Kent to go with her to save Juliet? Maybe it’s because she didn’t want to relive the same day again? Which gets me wondering how Sam knew the seventh repeat of Cupid day was going to be her last....
This book also teaches you a lot of morals. Like how you should live today as today and not rely on a tomorrow; or how you should make your actions help others instead of being a mean and arrogant bitch; or how you shouldn’t be afraid to change into someone nicer and more generous; or how it’s not what you get (roses on Cupid day, or Rob-the-popular) that defines who you are, it’s what you give (Sam’s actions to save Juliet and help Anna, or giving Kent (not so popular and weird) her feelings); or how it’s the inside that makes you beautiful, not the outside (I know kinda cheesy but true!). I could probably go on and on about all the different morals that can be taught in this book, which is why it’s so inspiring. It really makes you think about your actions in life and how you can change yourself to make others happier day by day since you never know if there will be a tomorrow.
Even though I’m nothing like Sam in the beginning, I can definitely see areas where I can improve myself, from defining myself less by my external profile and more by my actions to being more confident and relying less on a tomorrow.
Overall, I love this book. The story itself is very, VERY good and well written. It’s filled with suspense and mystery that keeps you interested. You get a sense of thrill whenever Sam wakes up to her alarm clock and you wonder what Sam’s going to do this time around to get her time back on track. It’s also deeply inspiring, but the morals don’t disrupt the story in any way, so it’s not a story that pauses in the middle and tells you what the lesson is. The story is continuous and the morals just seep into you while you read. This book isn’t dystopian or adventurous, but it does have a touch of romance and it still gets your heart pounding thinking about what could happen next (like when Sam goes running into the woods to look for Juliet … multiple times). I would highly recommend this book to everyone, not just because it teaches you lessons, but also because it’s such a good story. Though I wouldn’t recommend this book to children because it does talk about … you know.
Book Summary:
Before I Fall is a story about a teenage girl named Sam who is a senior in high school. She has a group of friends -- Lindsay, Ally, and Elody -- who are the popular girls in school. They get away with everything and everyone knows them. They are treated like royalty.
The story takes place on a school day, but a special one since it’s Cupid Day where students receive roses from admirers. The more roses you have, the more popular you are. Sam gets a total of nine roses, one of which is from her boyfriend, Rob, and another is from her childhood friend, Kent. During lunch, Kent tells Sam that he is throwing a party at his house that night and that everyone is going to be there, so Sam should go to. But, Sam doesn't directly say she's going to go.
Eventually, Sam does go to the party but is surprised when Juliet shows up too. Everyone at the party makes fun of Juliet and calls her “psycho” and basically bullies her. Juliet runs out into the woods and waits for Sam and her friend’s car before she jumps out, killing herself and Sam.
Sam, then, wakes up seven times to relive that day over and over. Each time, she changes the outcome of the day a little. At first, Sam thinks she’s just having deja vu, then she thinks this is ridiculous since each time she wakes she will have a new start again so she just says screw it and does whatever she wants. Eventually, she realizes that if she is going to relive the same day over and over, she might as well do something nice. So, on the seventh day, she finally accepts her fate and breaks the spell by saving Juliet from getting killed by two trucks while killing herself.
The story takes place on a school day, but a special one since it’s Cupid Day where students receive roses from admirers. The more roses you have, the more popular you are. Sam gets a total of nine roses, one of which is from her boyfriend, Rob, and another is from her childhood friend, Kent. During lunch, Kent tells Sam that he is throwing a party at his house that night and that everyone is going to be there, so Sam should go to. But, Sam doesn't directly say she's going to go.
Eventually, Sam does go to the party but is surprised when Juliet shows up too. Everyone at the party makes fun of Juliet and calls her “psycho” and basically bullies her. Juliet runs out into the woods and waits for Sam and her friend’s car before she jumps out, killing herself and Sam.
Sam, then, wakes up seven times to relive that day over and over. Each time, she changes the outcome of the day a little. At first, Sam thinks she’s just having deja vu, then she thinks this is ridiculous since each time she wakes she will have a new start again so she just says screw it and does whatever she wants. Eventually, she realizes that if she is going to relive the same day over and over, she might as well do something nice. So, on the seventh day, she finally accepts her fate and breaks the spell by saving Juliet from getting killed by two trucks while killing herself.