Does This Straightjacket Make My Butt Look Big?

Here is my kind-of-official review of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver:

Wow. That's my word for this book.

The basic premise is that there is a girl, Sam, who dies in a car accident with her friends after leaving a party. After she dies she wakes up, in her bed, that morning- the morning of the day she died. She relives this day 7 times. She changes things every day, trying to change her fate and, eventually, trying to change the fate of others. I thought this was a great idea for a book and thought it would be wonderful.

At the start, I was disappointed. Sam is a popular girl. She goes to parties, gets very drunk, has a boyfriend who, in my opinion (and eventually hers) is a douchebag. Her friends are popular, drink and smoke and are generally, not very nice people. Now, I am so used to reading books where the main character isn't popular. She is a "freak", ridiculed by the popular girls; at the bottom of the social ladder. This was different, reading from the perspective of someone at the top. I didn't like Sam for the first half-ish of the book. She was selfish, kinda mean and just shallow. I wondered how I would get through the book with such an annoying main character.

Thankfully, it got a whole lot better. Now, I don't want to give away any spoilers or anything, because if you are reading this, you should read the book, but each day that she relives, is totally different from the previous and the book shows how the little things can add up and end up changing something huge. I liked that. It also put a twist on "living everyday like it's your last" but that is rambled about in my last post.

Along the way, Sam realises things about the people she has been friends with for years, especially her best friend. She learns that, although she seems strong and totally in control, she isn't and she has many secrets. I didn't like this best friend character very much either, but I think the realisations really gave her some depth, making her more likeable, or relatable.

Of course, as in most young adult fiction for girls, there was romance. Not with her idiot of a boyfriend either. She finally, after knowing the guy for over 7 years, falls in love with a guy she used to (7 years ago) be good friends with. This only really happens in the last three "days" of her "life" and he can't remember anything the next day, of course, as she is the only one that is really reliving the day. I, for one, loved this guy. He was awesome. And adorable. And I would hug him if he were real. In the end, I felt the most sorry for him, and the previously mentioned best friend. He had a thing for her for over 7 years and the day (or.. three days...) that she finally returns his feelings, she dies. I didn't feel sorry for Sam in that respect because she had control over what she was doing, she knew that she was going to die. He had no idea and my heart metaphorically broke for him.

Now, this is hard to write about without giving away the best and biggest spoilers but, if you are a girl of the young adult age bracket, read this book. It is good. For me, the start was only barely tolerable, but it gets a whole lot better. Character development galore.

I rate it 8 out of 10. Two points off because the book portrayed the whole drinking side of their social life as so normal and just the way the popularity was depicted. Recommended, definitely. 

If I turned the book on its side, looking at the chick's face would always kinda freak me out...