I really had no intention to read this book, what-so-ever. Having a six-hour long exam in school made me bored, then I saw there was a corner with books, and someone told me to just read Before I Fall. So, I thought, why not? I’m bored as hell, and this might help me pass time. At first, I really didn’t know what’s going to happen with the book. The idea of death is sort of creepy and all that, then it started to get boring. Sam started to tell what happened on the day that she died. It turns out that she wakes up the next morning, living her last day for seven times. I got bored during the first half of the book because the events just kept on repeating, but it was mysterious and I really wanted to know what happens in the end, so I continued on reading.
There were a lot of times that I got annoyed with Samantha (okay, she’s bitchy) and I really felt frustrated with the way she handles things. She doesn’t know how to speak up for herself, and even though she knows there are some things that she’s doing wrongly, she just lets it be because that’s the “in” thing in cliques. There came a time also when I really hated her because she started to do whatever random things that pops into her mind because everything’s going to be erased the next day anyway. It scares me how something can be so fearless and you just don’t know what will happen next. It was really amazing how she was given this chance to see for herself the things that she has been doing, and was given the opportunity to make things right.
The physical descriptions of the characters were quite few that I don’t really remember much of their appearances (especially Ally) but their personalities were really well-developed. Although the story was an open-ended one, and left me with a lot of questions, it was okay for me. Oftentimes I hate open-ended ones, but this time around, I think that it just fits the story. I don’t necessarily love it, but I don’t hate it either. A more concrete ending would have been better though because there were really a lot of unanswered questions. However, the ending just made me think that there are indeed infinite possibilities that can happen in life, and it’s just up to us on how we’re going to make use of those chances.
Lauren Oliver gave us the perspective of teenage life really well, along with its consequences and how everything is just really like a domino. The way this book is written just makes me feel connected and relatable even though we have different stories. Before I Fall isn’t a preachy novel, but it just gave me the chance to think back on all the things I have done. It made me want to become a better person than I was before because not everyone is given the same opportunity as what Samantha had and not everything can be granted with second chances to make things right.
An incredible, phenomenal story about friendship, life and redemption with very powerful messages that makes you think about everything. As long as you keep an open-mind while reading this, and try to really understand the point of the story and go deeper the surface, you’ll love this book! This is definitely a must-read to all!