dinsdale 's review for:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

3.0

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This book was much different than my usual fare and I find it hard to rate....I liked it and would probably give it 3.75/5 stars. The story is basically that our mean girl protagonist Sam dies and is forced to live her last day over and over. Just like in Groundhog Day, she starts tweaking her last day in attempt to change people or improve things, only to have the day start over again. Each day starts the same way - the protagonist gets picked up by her three super-popular friends and the four seniors bully their way through the school day and a party. The tone of the book was sad and some scenes were gut wrenching. What I liked: the transformation of Sam in each day as she figures out how much of a jerk she is and tries to change things, with mixed results; the characters were really well developed; how it really drew me and and made me not want to put the book down. What I didn't like: some of the students' actions seemed to be a bit over the top (maybe I'm just too far removed from HS); some of the mean characters were never confronted regarding their actions, Sam had the attitude that "oh, that's just how she is". That all being said, it is a good book, and and worth a read by anyone. it probably would've hit me harder if I had read it in high school, at that age you just don't realize how being mean can really bring somebody down and how being nice to someone that may not be "cool' can really make a difference.