What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?
Samantha Kingston has it all: the world’s most crush-worthy
boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at
Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the
choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day
in her charmed life.
Instead, it turns out to be her last.
Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving
her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery
surrounding her death—and discover the true value of everything she is
in danger of losing.
Sam Kingston and her three besties – Elody, Ally, and Lindsay – epitomize the image of high school popularity in the 21
st
century. They’ve got rockin bods, bitchy attitudes to match, and of
course, the cutest boys falling all over them. Those at Thomas Jefferson
High that don’t worship these four femmes fear them.
When the narrative begins, Cupid Day is in full swing at Thomas
Jefferson High School. The girls have their sexy, far too revealing
outfits on as they parade from class to class, collecting roses from
friends, admirers, boyfriends, and boys in general. To the casual
observer, this particular Friday looks like any regular Friday, but what
said casual observers don’t know is that today is
the day – Sam is spending the night at her boyfriend’s house with the intention of losing the big
it.
But things don’t go according to plan. Rob and Sam agree to meet at a
party first and both of them end up arriving completely and totally
wasted. In what seems like the blink of an eye, things go from bad to
worse, and before Sam even realizes what’s going on, she’s collecting
her friends, leaving the party without her boyfriend, and getting in a
car with a drunk driver. Not surprisingly, they crash, and Sam dies.
That’s not where the story ends, though. Like the teen version of
Groundhog Day, Sam wakes up and gets the chance to re-live that day
seven times over. She gets the chance to take a long hard look at
herself, the choices she makes, and the way she treats those around her.
If only she’d known earlier, if only she’d been less concerned with her
popularity, maybe she would have seen the irreversible damage that
herself and her girlfriends were doing to those around them.
Maybe, but maybe not, too.
It took me a good long while to really get into this story. I picked
it up and put it down a few times before finally resigning myself to the
fact that I had to finish it, and I forced myself to sit and read it.
Let me be very clear about this, though – my lack of personal investment
in Sam’s story was simply because I couldn’t bring myself to like her. I
found her vanity, her lack of respect, and the way she used her
popularity to makes those around her feel horrible about themselves
exceptionally unattractive. I was unable to sympathize with her quest
for redemption simply because she’d been such a nasty individual right
up till the moment she actually died. I understand that we’re supposed
to identify with the wrongs she tries to right, but by the time she
actually started to learn from her mistakes, it was too late for me. I
already hated her too much.
Having said that, I found Lauren Oliver’s prose utterly engaging, and
if I’m honest, her writing was the real reason that I continued to pick
Before I Fall up, again and again. The imagery she used
matched her character’s psyche completely, and I actually believed I was
listening to Sam tell the story, rather than Oliver herself.
What I did love about this story, though, is the indirect, but
blindingly obvious way in which the narrative highlights the disastrous
consequences of bullying. No fingers are actually pointed, and no
conclusions are comprehensively drawn, but the message is definitely
there: the way you treat those around you can scar them in ways you
can’t even conceive. Think before you act, speak, live.
This debut author is outstandingly talented and I can’t wait to see what she produces next.
