A review by beckeal
Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

4.0

Hunh! Pleasantly surprised by this book. It was unexpectedly layered and sympathetic. I think it could’ve done with a little more diversity to truly drive its point home, but it was written before authors were more conscious of that. That said, it took a number of different character types and made them just a bit more intriguing and complex than normal. Most YA doesn’t slow down long enough to make real people out of the convenient tropes. And it’s done in such an unusual but genuine way, that it makes me wonder why all characters aren’t so naturally and simply human. The main character arc was believable and while you kinda expected a certain outcome, it wasn’t obvious how it would get there or whether it actually would. It still had some cringy bits, as so many YA books do, but over all, well done!