Before I Fall

Title : Before I Fall

Writer : Lauren Oliver

Number of Page : 470

 Publisher : HarperCollins

What if you only had 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: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.

The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times 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.

In my opinion: 

“Maybe you can afford to wait. Maybe for you there's a tomorrow. Maybe for you there's one thousand tomorrows, or three thousand, or ten, so much time you can bathe in it, roll around it, let it slide like coins through you fingers. So much time you can waste it. 

But for some of us there's only today. And the truth is, you never really know.”  

Those words were printed at the first page of this book. Even before I read the whole story, I'd already felt sad. 

Samantha Kingston was once an ugly duck. She was part of unpopular students and she had always hoped to be popular. Yeah, most teenage girls did. And for Sam, she was so lucky when Lindsay became her friend. Suddenly, she became the object of jealousy from other girls. Her crush who didn't care about her before was her boyfriend now. People admired her and wanted to be her friend. To maintain that status, she learned how to dress and followed all "popular" rules. She even left her nerdy best friend, Kent Mcfuller.

I think it was a gift that Samantha could at least live awhile and realize her mistakes before she died. How many people out there who could fix their mistakes before they die? If you died in a sudden accident like Sam, you couldn't even have a chance tell your loved ones how much you cared about them and how much they meant for you. 

When Sam was introduced for the first time, I didn't like her at all. She could die or whatever for all I care. She was mean, proud, and bitchy. She even seduced her teacher, how disgusting was that? But, the sentences at the end of the first chapter stopped me. 

"I know some of you are thinking maybe I deserved it. Maybe I shouldn't have sent that rose to Juliet or dumped my drink on her at the party. Maybe I shouldn't have copied off Lauren Lornet's quiz. Maybe I shouldn't have said those things to Kent. There are probably some of you who think I deserved it because I was going to let Rob go all the way-- because I wasn't going to save myself.

But before you start pointing fingers, let me ask you: is that what I did really so bad? So bad I deserved to die? So bad I deserved to die like that?

Is what I did really so much worse than what anybody else does?

Is it really so much worse than what you do?

Think about it."

Right. What Sam did was not the worst, but still very bad. I hated her but when I finished this book, I liked Sam very much and I was so sorry she had to end her life like that. She was very nice. The way she took care of her sister, giving special gifts to certain people, accepting all her friends even if they were annoying... She changed a lot. Repeating her last days made her realize that her life was useless and shallow. If only young people knew about it and made amends of their lives. Drugs, popularity, partying are worthless. Money is the best. Don't read what this workaholic, money lover, and crazy reader writes.  Even I know many people who cry a lot because their lives in high school are suck. It is a pity that most people know the truth after they grow up and had gone through many experiences. Too late =.=

What I like from this book was how Lauren Oliver could make me care about all characters despite of their flaws. I realized that even the mean, self-centered, and dumb Lindsay had something good within her. It didn't mean that I could forgive Lindsay for what she did to Juliet but at least I could understand. Some people were not sensible sometimes, especially unstable teenagers. 

However, I think it was not fair for Sam that she was the one who paid for Lindsay's mistakes. Really, what happened to Juliet was so horrible. Why weren't there anyone wanted to become her friends? Prejudice happened all the times, but why did all believe what the rumors said? Didn't want to be marked "psycho" as Juliet? Bunch of fools *rolling eyes

Oh, there was romance in this book. The sweet childhood best friend, Kent Mcfuller. This boy was so cute. He had always loved Sam since they were kids. 

“I vowed after that day that I would be your hero too, no matter how long it took.” Awwwww...

If only he knew how much Sam regretted for abandoning him, how much she loved him. She should tell him that she repeated her life on and on. But, maybe she was given that miracle only to fix Juliet and learn how to love. The end was still the same.

4/5