Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
470 Pages
Harper Collins
March 2, 2010
Source: Bought
Format: Hardcover
What if you had only 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 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined.
If you haven't read this book, you should. It was absolutely amazing. Taking an approach I've personally never read before, Lauren Oliver was able to completely twist the "mean girl" plot to come up with something drastically different and one hundred times more jaw-dropping.
Samantha Kingston lives a privilege life. She may not have everything she could possibly want possession wise, but popularity wise she has everything. She gets invited to the best parties, hangs out with the "It crowd", and gets the most roses on cupid day. Of course, she wasn't always this way. There was a time when she was fighting just to get noticed. But that is all behind her. She has everything now, and that's all that matters.
Until it's not. Coming home from a party one night, her car crashes and she dies. Only it isn't the end. She wakes up the next day to find that it is Friday all over again. Same thing the next day. And the next. Each day is a new chance to make right all her wrongs, and Samantha starts to see that the littlest actions make a big impact in the great scheme of things. They might even make the decision between life and death.
Reading the description, I'm not gonna lie, I thought I would get bored. I mean, reading the same day seven times? How could that possibly be interesting? Trust me, it is not boring at all. Each day Samantha starts to make little changes, but these little changes end up altering events drastically. I was constantly dumfounded by the effects of such little actions. Not because I was stunned by Lauren Oliver's writing of the changes (well, there was that too ;), but more so that each outcome was so entirely realistic that I couldn't help thinking what the effects of my everyday actions are. Do my actions really impact the lives of others like Sam's do in the book? The more that I think of it, the more possible it seems- the more
definite it seems.
I know I must sound really cheesy, "Little actions make all the difference!" I know how cliche that is, but honestly, it's true.
Before I Fall is really a novel you have to experience to understand. In that way Ms. Oliver is one of the best young adult authors out there. Both of her novels,
Before I Fall and
Delirium (out 2/1/11) have transported me to new places, ripped out my heart, played with my emotions, and brought me back home with an new outlook on the simple things in life.
I was also very impressed by the realistic events surrounding the teenagers in this novel. I am continuously surprised to see how many novels get the whole "teenager" aspect wrong. Alot of novels have teenagers say things we would never say and do things we would never do. I was surprised when I found myself laughing at jokes only a teenager would say, because usually teenage humor is
way off in literature. There was not one moment where I was thinking "A teenager would never do that."
I might not have done it, but I know people who would have.
Overall I would put this book on the "books everyone should read" list.
Before I Fall opened my eyes. It didn't make me think deeply and analytically about far-fetched topics, it made me see the power in everyday events- which is so much more impressive. I said it before, and I will say it again; if you haven't read this book, you should.
Lauren Oliver was nice enough to answer a few questions about Before I Fall. I know present to you I Like These Books's first interview, and with an amazing author nonetheless. This first will be hard to beat.
What gave you the idea for Before I Fall? Was there one moment specifically when the idea came to you? Or did it develop over a time period?
The character of Sam came to me kind of spontaneously. I had the idea for this selfish, self-centered mean girl type who over the course of a book would undergo a radical transformation. But the process of figuring out how that transformation would occur, and why, took me a while to figure out.
Before I Fallis pretty spot-on when it comes to teenage speaking, thinking and actions (surprisingly most novels are WAY off)- how did you make this so realistic? Did you do research? Do you interact with alot of teenagers?
Ha. Yeah, I agree that a lot of novels get it wrong—I think people tend to portray teens as they
wishthey were, and not as they really remember being. And there’s some tendency to lump “teens” as one category, one group, with a single vision and code of behaving. Teens are people too! They’re all distinctive. I don’t do research, no, but I do interact with a lot of teens, particularly now, after the book’s release. But I also just have very specific memories of what it was like to be that age. And honestly, many of the things that teens grapple with—the desire to be accepted and loved, trying to sort out an identity apart from that of your parents and friends—still follow you into your “adult” experience.
There are a few instances in the book were the main character Sam contemplates what happens before one dies. While people say that your life flashes before your eyes, Sam believes that you relive your "greatest hits". What do you believe? Did this influence your writing of the novel?
Do you know that in not a single interview has anyone ever asked me that? I have strange believes about life and death. I believe that all possibilities are being lived simultaneously and endlessly through time. I do think you probably experience some incredibly vivid memories/evocations of the past in your final death moment, although I’m not sure you would see only your greatest hits. But that’s okay—again, since I think all possibilities exist simultaneously and infinitely through time, you have a chance to relive your greatest hits again!
Sam's is in the popular group at school and they play alot of nasty tricks on some of the less popular students at school. Did any of those pranks stem from personal experiences, or were they all made up?
I never did anything that mean to anyone in high school, and thankfully I was never a target, either. But there were kids in my school who were pretty cruel to one another. So the specific incidents weren’t based on anything specific, but the whole of Sam’s high school hierarchy was based on my understanding/memory of how teens behave.
Why does Sam relive her last day seven times? Is it because that is a full week? Or is it because on the last day she sets things right? Or is it simply because seven is an awesome number? (haha)
Seven days really was the time it required to make Sam’s evolution plausible, to bring her from a place of selfishness and self-involvement to a place of giving and growth. So it was kind of arbitrary, but afterwards I was very pleased because, as you say, seven is an awesome number—plus it has all kind of cyclical and religious meaning.
How great were her answers? Thanks again to Lauren Oliver for answering my questions. I hope they gave you a chance to learn a little more about the book.
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