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Before I Fall

Lauren Oliver (Goodreads Author)

3.89 · Rating details · 307,072 ratings · 20,555 reviews

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is … until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until sh ...more

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Paperback, Enhanced Edition, 470 pages

Published October 25th 2010 by HarperCollins (first published March 2nd 2010)

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Dec 17, 2011 Kat Kennedy rated it really liked it

Shelves: kat-s-book-reviews

I have to confess something before I write this review. This book is about a teenager, Sam, who is a Mean Girl who trips into Groundhog Day world and is set on a path to redemption. My confession is that I used to be a girl almost exactly like Sam.

Shallow, egotistical and worst of all - mean. Really, really mean.

I've commented before on the fact that I was a terrible teenager. My parents did not so much try to raise me through these years. More like they tried to survive me as you would a hurri ...more

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Sep 02, 2013 Emily May rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemporary, young-adult

I shiver, thinking about how easy it is to be totally wrong about people - to see one tiny part of them and confuse it for the whole.

4 1/2 stars. Back in 2010, I read Before I Fall and immediately thought I'd found a new favourite author. I eagerly awaited every book Lauren Oliver released after it and yet, I have disliked every single one. My dislike for her writing style in books like Rooms and Vanishing Girls made me wonder what happened.

Could it be that Oliver's style had so drastically ...more

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Sep 09, 2009 Heather rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010

I hated this book, and loved it. It’s cruel, and frustrating, unfair, and yet it’s also sad, and hopeful, and honest and authentic. I’m not sure how everyone else feels about their High School experience, but I despised mine. You couldn’t pay me to go back. However, this story was so vivid, that I felt as though I could smell the grease from the cafeteria, feel the rough tile on the bathroom floor and the chill of that cold fateful night. I even cringed at the hurt that all these characters so c I hated this book, and loved it. It’s cruel, and frustrating, unfair, and yet it’s also sad, and hopeful, and honest and authentic. I’m not sure how everyone else feels about their High School experience, but I despised mine. You couldn’t pay me to go back. However, this story was so vivid, that I felt as though I could smell the grease from the cafeteria, feel the rough tile on the bathroom floor and the chill of that cold fateful night. I even cringed at the hurt that all these characters so casually inflicted upon one another, so I guess I went back after all.

Sam is not a nice girl. In fact, she is a bit of a bitch. Scratch that, she is a bitch. She doesn’t set out to maliciously attack anyone, but she doesn’t stand against it either. She won’t instigate the chant of “psycho” at the school outcast, but she shouts it just as loudly as her group of popular she witches. Worse, she actually believes that others should just accept the way they are mercilessly attacked because she was once mocked in the third grade for blushing, as if blushing were the equivalent to being called a whore, who bared the goods for grass when the person at the butt of that malicious lie doesn’t smoke or has even been kissed. Naturally, when Samantha meets an unfortunate end after forcing us to spend a day in her insipid world, I hardly felt bad for her. How sad is that? A teen girl dies tragically, and I thought she got what she deserved. Thus is the beauty of this book.

Told in seven chapters, each representing the same day, Before I Fall tells the story of a typically popular girl, who gets six days to right some wrongs. Make no mistake. I hardly think one day is sufficient to mend the hurt that these girls created. It in no way rectifies the things that Samantha has done, but it’s a start in the right direction. Rather, I felt this story allowed readers to realize that there is depth to us all, even the bitches and we all have thoughts that should shame us. The character development of all the characters was astounding, and the character growth, drastic though it may be, was entirely believable.
...more

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Feb 22, 2010 Penny rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Penny by: presentinglenore.blogspot.com

Shelves: bullies, re-read, mean-girls, penny-s-favorite-books, reviewed-books, ya-fiction, contemporary, only-the-good-die-young

Before I get to the review I just wanted to let everyone know I don't typically write reviews for books I love. The reason being, I'm not good at writing worth-while and positive reviews (as opposed to my uncanny ability to write crazy rants about books I totally loathe). Or rather, I know I'm not up to the task: writing a review worthy of a book so beautiful, so eloquently written I can't stop thinking about it long after I've finished it.

I know there is nothing I could say that could not be b ...more

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Mar 16, 2011 Bonnie rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2010-books, young-adult

Warning: Major Spoilers below (including the very ending). And foul language. MUCH foul language

La la la, spoilers.

Still spoilers.

And language to make your grandmother blush.

Fuck you book. Fuck. You. I want to drop this book to two stars for that goddamn ending. But I can’t because even with that fucking ending it is not really a two-star book at all. So it gets dropped one star. DAMN YOU. I knew the ending was coming. This is the problem with reading the ending first (well, near the beginning). ...more

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Dec 15, 2016 Zoë rated it liked it

3.5/5

Though I really enjoy Lauren Oliver's writing style, I struggled finding the motivation to finish this book. The main character, a popular and catty high school girl named Sam, dies and is forced to relive that day several times. I was absolutely in love with the story for the first couple of days, but then it felt tedious having Sam wake up and relive February 12th time and time again. I totally understand why it's many people's favorite book, I just wish it was shorter. Because of this, I ...more

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Dec 20, 2010 Elle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-read, made-me-cry

I'd heard from quite a few people that this book was pretty good...

That may be the most OUTRAGEOUS understatement of all time.

'Pretty good' doesn't explain the embarrassing amount of tears that poured out of me.

'Pretty good' doesn't touch on Lauren Oliver's incredible way with words and imagery.

'Pretty good' doesn't describe the range of conflicting emotions the story sparked in me.

And 'Pretty good' certainly doesn't account for the fact that, once I finished the final page, I literally threw t ...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Karolina rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya

I had high expectations for this book for 2 reasons: 1. I loved Delirium, it's one of my favorite series and 2. so many people raved about Before I fall , saying it is the best of Oliver's work. I couldn't disagree more. At the beginning I couldn't get into the story, it was a bit repetitive, so I had to put it down and read something else in the meantime. In the end I was getting a bit frustrated as I couldn't understand the whole idea of the book. Having finished it yesterday I've been thinkin ...more

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Aug 09, 2018 jessica rated it it was ok · review of another edition

i definitely know im in the minority here with my opinion, so please just bear with me for a hot minute.

i dont want to turn this into a rant because i absolutely adore lauren oliver, but this book just wasnt for me. and the only reason for that was the characters - i found myself not empathising with them, thought they completely unlikable, and it got to the point where halfway through the book i just did not care what happened to any of them. i know this is a story about growth and development ...more

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Mar 09, 2017 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it it was ok

Shelves: own, young-adult

I am not going for these evil •sshole girls on here!

I cringed and raged through most of the book. I didn't give a rat's •ss about these evil girls. The worse was Lindsay to me.

The only reason I have the book 2 stars is because Sam redeemed herself after all of the days she relived. She went back and did all of the right things. Whether it was all a dream or something, I don't know but she did good in the end. The very end was bittersweet in it's own way.

But, going through the books and hearing ...more

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Mar 19, 2010 Annalisa rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: mild language, sexual content, and drug use

Recommended to Annalisa by: Penny

Shelves: young-adult, speculative, voice, cover, favorites, character

Reading through Sam's last day of life, I was transported back to high school with those girls who were shallow, self-centered, and unaware and thought they were cool and better than everyone else because they were shallow, self-centered, and unaware. I felt emotions I had not experienced in years, emotions I had long forgotten. Oliver captures that teenage-centric narcissism so vividly, so much more intently than I ever understood in high school, that I couldn't help but hate Sam and feel some Reading through Sam's last day of life, I was transported back to high school with those girls who were shallow, self-centered, and unaware and thought they were cool and better than everyone else because they were shallow, self-centered, and unaware. I felt emotions I had not experienced in years, emotions I had long forgotten. Oliver captures that teenage-centric narcissism so vividly, so much more intently than I ever understood in high school, that I couldn't help but hate Sam and feel some level of vindictive justice.

As she starts the same day over again, just as full of herself, I doubted Sam could grow enough to satisfy me. But she did. It was slow and painstaking at times; sometimes I wanted Sam to just get it and be fixed, but that wouldn't have been realistic. She needed to figure it out on her own and at her own pace. Oliver does an excellent job showing us that gradual shift from spoiled teenager to thoughtful person, realizing that there were consequences to her actions, that the universe did not revolve around her, that maybe popularity wasn't worth the price she'd paid for it. While I don't think Sam reached perfect self-actualization, I don't think I wanted her to. She had a long way to come and I believed a character that was aware but still a little bit selfish.

Oliver is an amazing writer, so unobtrusive and descriptive. I didn't so much read this book as experience it. She manages to keep a day that is lived over and over again from being repetitive and gives us enough events in that day to give Sam plenty of chances to both mess up and unmess other people's lives. She manages to take a story that doesn't sound very original (Mean Girls vs. Groundhog Day) and own it. She manages to make me care about a girl that I couldn't stand, that represents very real girls that I couldn't stand (but not Lindsay; I never liked her).

(view spoiler)[My only disappointment was that the day before the last seemed more perfect than the last. Not for Sam, who learned to fall (or fly), but for everyone else. Especially Kent. I think you can interpret the last day two ways: either Sam learned what she needed to learn to move on, or the final day was the way that day was fated to be and Sam needed to get to a point where she could make that sacrifice. It makes no difference to her, but it makes a difference to everyone else. Which day do they remember? If it's the first, that's too bad for Sam and the mess she left. If it's the last, she left a lot of people with unanswered questions. I get that she couldn't focus on Kent, but she teased him and gave him too little. Even though the day wasn't about him, I still wanted Sam to leave him with an apology and a goodbye. I think Sam believed the last day only happened in her memory and a perfect day included a goodbye kiss to Kent, but then she bothered to give Anna that book and Izzy her necklace and save Juliet. I think a part of her still wanted to leave a legacy. I wanted to believe that last day for Sam and Juliet and Kent and maybe even a little bit for Lindsay. Maybe I didn't hate her so much after all.

I keep going back and forth on what day is the real day. Sometimes I think the first one is an obvious choice, but then there are things about the last day that make me think that maybe that one was real. Especially with Juliet. It's like Sam was being told "you're dead anyway. You can be selfish and claim that day, or you can use it to save someone's life." And that goes for Lindsay too. Getting drunk and killing your best friend would have messed her up. I think I believe the last day. At least I hope it. I love the ambiguity of it, but that it doesn't feel ambiguous. When you close the book, you know what happened, even though it could be interpreted on different levels.

Either way, Sam took seven days to grow into the person she needed to be. For as sad as the ending is, there is so much redemption in. And that's what it's about, Sam's redemption, not Juliet's or Lindsey's or anyone else's. As hard as she tried, there was nothing she could do to affect change in anyone else. Lindsey can take the wake up call of her friend's death to change into a better person; Juliet can take Sam's sacrifice to get her through high school; or they can keep going on their set paths. Their redemption is up to them; all Sam could do was take what little she could in one day to encourage change in a lot of people. I can see this having an affect on teenage girls who might be caught up in their own lives and learn these lessons along with Sam. I'm an adult and I'll be thinking about this one for awhile. There's something amazing in Sam's growth and for that she gets five stars. (hide spoiler)] ...more

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Sep 13, 2012 MischaS_ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-from-library, czech, best-girls-ever, favorites, stand-alone, cannot-live-without, so-sad-so-amazing, strong-feelings, made-me-cry, best-books-ever

One of my most favourite books to this day. I need to re-read this one. It really fit the time of my life, which was difficult for me and in a way, the book helped me to cope. I don't know if that's the reason why I liked it so much or not. So, time to re-read it, I guess. To see where the book really stands. ...more

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Mar 30, 2011 karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: why-yes-i-ya

well, well, well,
this one was a surprise.

yes, teen fiction, you have won me over, but usually it is the stuff on the "oh, no, the world has been essploded!!" or "oh, no - all the cats in the world have turned evil and are coming for us!!" end of the spectrum that captivates me.

realistic teen fiction usually leaves me cold.

and this is realistic teen fiction with a twist, obviously. this is groundhog day with a jerky teen girl in he jerky bill murray role. but all the day-to-day bits in between a ...more

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May 07, 2018 Evgnossia O'Hara rated it liked it

Review was originally published on my Blog Through the Chapters

*3.5 stars*

This book has so many beautiful and meaningful quotes.

“I think of all the thousands of billions of steps and missteps and chances and coincidences that have brought me here. Brought you here and it feels like the biggest miracle in the world.”

I won’t say that the plot was original. I have seen that before in a well-known and beloved movie, the “Groundhog Day”.

It is a story of an arrogant and a mean teenage g ...more

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Mar 19, 2010 Tatiana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Tatiana by: Heather, Ryan, Penny

Shelves: 2010, ya

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. "Before I Fall" is Lauren Oliver's debut novel and I think for a first effort it is pretty good.

The premise of the book is not too original - it is a sort of cross between "Mean Girls" and "The Groundhog Day," but Oliver develops it well. Samantha, one of her school's mean girls, relives her last day over and over again, learning more about herself and people around her with each replay. Will she learn enough to make a difference, to change her attitude and her life?

Being a foreigner, I was spa "Before I Fall" is Lauren Oliver's debut novel and I think for a first effort it is pretty good.

The premise of the book is not too original - it is a sort of cross between "Mean Girls" and "The Groundhog Day," but Oliver develops it well. Samantha, one of her school's mean girls, relives her last day over and over again, learning more about herself and people around her with each replay. Will she learn enough to make a difference, to change her attitude and her life?

Being a foreigner, I was spared the misfortune of being bullied by mean girls, I don't have any experiences of Samanthas and Lindsays of this world. Therefore I am guessing my opinion of the book is somewhat skewed. I don't hate Samantha and her friends, instead I find this gang amusing in a dysfunctional way and feel sorry for them. Samantha seems to be an extremely unaware person, with low self esteem who doesn't even realize that she is constantly mistreated by her boyfriend, she is directionless and has almost no aspirations beyond getting drunk with her friends and sleeping with her boyfriend. Isn't that a total waste of life?

I don't hate the girls, because there are always those people who lash out at others and bring people down to hide their own insecurities. There is nothing new about it. What I find appalling is the complacency of people around them - their classmates, parents, school officials. How can these 4 teenage girls have a free rein of the school, how can they possibly influence everyone around them? It literally boggles my mind. Why every girl so eagerly calls another one a slut or psycho when she can be at any moment the recipient of the same fate? It this is not a dumb herd mentality, I don't know what is. It is a scary thing in these days of school shootings and student suicides. But I digress...

I liked the book a lot, it is certainly a page turner and Samantha's road to self-awareness is compelling. However the ending is fairly unsatisfying IMO. I expected Samantha to face the consequences of her actions, to find a road to redemption, but I didn't think she would achieve this "redemption" so easily and would also be rewarded with a nice guy in the end. I personally don't think she ever completely owns up to her actions, never fully acknowledges her part in Juliet Sykes' demise and never confronts her friends. The whole time Samantha is more interested in hooking up with Kent than in saving a life or at least pointing to her friends the things she has learned. Whatever "sacrifice" she makes in the end doesn't make a difference. In reality I think everything would be on the same track the next day - bullying, vicious gossiping, taunting of Juliet by Lindsay. So, what is the point of this experience for Samantha? To convince herself she is not so bad after all because she can do a couple of nice things like giving her little sis a necklace and sending Juliet a rose? Not enough IMO.

But regardless of my general disagreement with the outcome of the story, "Before I Fall" is a memorable novel. It is poignant in the portrayal of school bullying, and its effect on people, it is thought provoking and definitely current. I will probably check out Lauren Oliver's future works. ...more

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Jun 22, 2018 Luffy rated it really liked it

This was a lovely book to read. It was a hearty book, full of little surprises that keep the suspense going. It reminds me of an old X-Files episode called Monday. "Monday" was inspired by an episode of The Twilight Zone entitled "Shadow Play" (1961).

The plot is that of Sam, who is a bully and teases Juliet mercilessly. Juliet commits suicide by jumping in front of Sam's friend's car. After that there is a Groundhog Day-like scenario.

I won't spoil the ending, but this YA book shows consistency o ...more

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Sep 16, 2010 hayden rated it it was amazing

Shelves: high-schooler-recommendations, omfg-amazing

Goodreads Exclusive Prelude: If you have not read this, or given it at least four-and-a-half stars, you have no soul.

Oh . . . Oh, my God . . .

Five stars. Five billion stars. Five quadrillion stars. Five infinity stars.

I don't think I'll ever read a book that'll touch me in quite the same way.

A lot of Goodreadsers didn't like Before I Fall because they couldn't relate to it at all and the characters didn't relate to them. Before I Fall did relate to me because the main character, Samantha Kingsto Goodreads Exclusive Prelude: If you have not read this, or given it at least four-and-a-half stars, you have no soul.

Oh . . . Oh, my God . . .

Five stars. Five billion stars. Five quadrillion stars. Five infinity stars.

I don't think I'll ever read a book that'll touch me in quite the same way.

A lot of Goodreadsers didn't like Before I Fall because they couldn't relate to it at all and the characters didn't relate to them. Before I Fall did relate to me because the main character, Samantha Kingston, reminded me a lot of my best friend. I know, I know, that sounds bad, but I am in high school, and the things the people do in this book are scarily accurate to what I've come to know is high school over the past year and a half.

(view spoiler)

I never knew Before I Fall would have such an impact on my life. I saw it at Walmart about two years ago, and I kind of wish I would've gotten it then, because the book is indescribable in mere words. I don't even think any songs could describe it.

The teen voice in the novel is perfect. Oliver says things like I spot Amy Weiss -- probably the biggest gossip in the entire school -- making out with Oren Talmadge in the doorway like she's starving and his mouth is filled with Cheetos, and silly, corny stuff like that that only a high-schooler could say without sounding contrived. The book had some beautiful quotes, too, like Time and space recede and blast away like a universe expanding outward, leaving only darkness and the two of us on its periphery, darkness and breathing and touch.

Oliver wrote a truly beautiful novel that's touched me in more than one dimension. This novel shines through from the core, vulnerable, beautiful, transcendent. Before I Fall is a classic of this generation. It may not be 100 years old, but it has the emotional poignancy that deserves heavy praise. Please, people, if you only read one book in your entire life, let it be this one. ...more

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Mar 10, 2010 Tiffany rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2010-books-i-read

I have no idea how to rate this book. I would say 5 stars to author Lauren Oliver in taking juveniles with a blatant disregard for humanity and turning it into the story of Sam who discovers the importance of humanity. Some of the thoughts that Sam would think as she would pass from one day to the next were beautifully thoughtful causing you to question how you treat and respect the people and things we have. How do we (ourselves) treat individual people? How much affect do we have on the world ...more

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May 15, 2014 Aj the Ravenous Reader rated it it was amazing

Shelves: unexpectedly-good, physically-owned-books, five-stars

*Reread*

This is one of the first YA contemporaries I have read and perhaps for that alone, I’m already giving this five stars. But the truth is, this book well deserves it. Lauren Oliver’s writing usually has this effect on me. [Please see image for illustration.]

"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 your finge ...more

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May 27, 2009 Kristi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: signed-arcs, signed-books, own-arc, books-i-own, favorites

WOW.

That would be my one word review for this book... WOW.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked this up, and to say that I was utterly unprepared for it's magnificence, would be an understatement. This book evoked such strong emotion. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I was bawling by the end of the story. For me, the stories that awaken your emotions are always the most powerful and memorable. And I don't read many books like that, so when I do, it tends to really stand out.

What's so in ...more

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Jul 24, 2017 Nina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone!!!

Shelves: read-in-2017

*** 4.5 STARS ***

“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.“

If I had to briefly describe this book in a single sentence, I’d describe it as Mean Girls meets something that’ll make you thoroughly thi *** 4.5 STARS ***

“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.“

If I had to briefly describe this book in a single sentence, I’d describe it as Mean Girls meets something that’ll make you thoroughly think about how you’ve been treating the people around you. But I’m talking about the original Mean Girls movie here, and not about that horrible second part they produced a couple of years later, because “Before I Fall” was truly a great and inspiring book.

“Before I Fall” tells the story of Samantha Kingston who is in a fatal car accident with her friends. But instead of dying she suddenly wakes up in the morning, on the day of the accident, and can relive that day once again. This happens several times over the course of the book and she has the chance to change some of the things that happened to try to make them right again. Sam herself is your typical “mean girl” you know from high school chick flicks but probably also from real life (though I can’t judge that since I grew up in Germany). Over here we have a different school system and the whole popular crowd that “rules” the school thing is nothing I’ve ever heard about over here. However, even I remember a time in-between seventh and ninth grade when I had my group of friends in my class and there were people we were sometimes making fun of and that we excluded from our group. Back then we thought it was funny whilst today most of us, including me, are not proud of how we treated them. But while you’re acting that way you don’t actually realize that you might be hurting someone with your actions and just think that they’ll forget about it as fast as you do which they don’t. Instead your actions might leave deeper wounds than you can imagine; wounds that might never fully heal again. “Before I Fall” is trying to show what those actions can do to victims of bullying and how oblivious the offenders are to the impact of their actions.

From my younger sister, I know that even at my old school, bullying has become a bit of a normal thing again. Kids these days are losing respect for not only adults but also for people their age. Back when I was in 8th grade, we read “13 Reasons Why” which is also dealing with bullying and the consequences it can have. I remember that it actually made some people think about things they’ve done in their life and led them to trying to make things right again before it might’ve been too late. I think “Before I Fall” is a book that could provoke the same feelings in some people and would also be a good book to read and talk about in schools. At first, I thought it wouldn’t be gripping enough to also be interesting to younger readers that might have to read it for school. Reliving the same day over and over again to me sounded like a plot line that could fast become repetitive and boring; but Lauren Oliver managed to change things up in such ways that every single day was interesting in its own way. She changed things that I just didn’t expect her to change at all which even made me laugh out loud a couple of times even though the chapters each ended with the same horrible event happening; it was just always a little different from how it was in the previous chapter. The book also shows the reader how complex the web of problems is which Sam and her friends have spun with their actions without even realizing it. Every time I thought I’d finally understood someone’s story, and knew what Sam had to change to make things right, I was immediately proven wrong again. Most of the times things aren’t just made good again with a simple apology. “Before I Fall” shows you this in a very gripping and moving way. It’s a very realistic book which is especially shown by the ending of it which indeed makes one gulp and be silent for a couple of minutes.

All in all, “Before I Fall” is a great book that shines a light on a very important topic. It’ll make you think about how you’ve treated the people you’ve encountered in your life and reading it may be an eye-opening experience for some people. Lauren Oliver has a great writing style and “Before I Fall” is a book you can easily read in less than a day which also makes this book perfect for younger audiences. 4.5 out of 5 stars for this book! ...more

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Oct 16, 2019 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal, romance, 21th-century, fiction, young-adult, fantasy

Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver

"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." Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver.

The novel begins when the protagonist, 17-year-old Samantha "Sam" Kingston, is killed in a car acc Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver

"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." Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver.

The novel begins when the protagonist, 17-year-old Samantha "Sam" Kingston, is killed in a car accident in her hometown of Ridgeview.

She vividly describes her horrifying and painful death, and what flashes through her mind in those final seconds. However, she realizes that for some reason, she is fated to relive the last day of her life, Friday, February 12, also known as Cupid Day at her high school, over and over, until she gets things right.

عنوانها: «پیش از آنکه بمیرم»؛ «پیش از آنکه بیفتم»؛ «قبل ‌از اینکه بیفتم»؛ نویسنده: لورن اولیور؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز هفدهم ماه اکتبر سال 2018میلادی

عنوان: پیش از آنکه بمیرم؛ نویسنده: لورن اولیور؛ مترجم: هما قناد؛ تهران انتشارات میلکان‏‫، چاپ اول تا سوم 1396؛ در 329ص؛ شابک 9786008812463؛ چاپ چهارم تا نهم 1397؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 21م

‬‬عنوان: پیش از آنکه بیفتم؛ نویسنده: لارن الیور؛ مترجم: آرش هوشنگی‌فر؛ قزوین، آزرمیدخت‫، 1396؛ در 517ص؛ شابک 9786007241738؛‬

عنوان: قبل ‌از اینکه بیفتم؛ نوشته: لورن الیور؛ مترجم: زهرا لاری؛ ‏‫ویراستار ناهید علیخانی؛ در 490ص؛ شابک 9786226679107؛

برای «سامانتا کینگ استون» که دانش آموز محبوبِ سال آخر دبیرستان است، روز دوازدهم ماه فوریه (روز کیوپید)، باید روز جشن ولنتاین و دسته گلهای رز؛ و مهمانیهایی باشد، که تنها ویژه ی افراد محبوب هستند؛ به راستی هم دقیقا همینطور است...؛ تا اینکه همان شب، در تصادفی وحشتناک، میمیرد؛ اما....؛ او روز بعد از خواب بیدار میشود؛ به بیان دیگر، «سامانتا» روز آخر زندگی اش را، هفت بار زندگی میکند، تا زمانیکه میفهمد که با کوچکترین تغییری در رفتارش، میتواند بیش از آن چیزی که خیال میکند، روی دیگران تاثیر بگذارد؛ مهمترین کاریکه او در این روزهای تکرارشونده انجام می‌دهد، تلاش برای دوستی با دختر بیماری ست، که پیش از این در مدرسه، با او رفتار خوبی نداشته‌ است

نقل از آغاز متن: («سامانتا» در یکی از روزهای ماه «فوریه»، با زنگ تلفن از خواب بیدار می‌شود، و به همراه دوستان صمیمی خویش «آلیسون»، «اِلودی» و «لیندزی»، راهی مدرسه می‌شود؛ او قرار است همان شب با دوست‌ پسرش به یک مهمانی شبانه برود، و از این‌رو هیجان‌زده، و تا حدودی نگران و مضطرب است؛ «سامانتا» سر کلاس، یک دسته گل «رُز» به همراه یک یادداشت دریافت می‌کند، اما پس از مدتی متوجه می‌شود، که از سوی یکی دیگر از پسرهای کلاس است...؛»؛ پایان نقل

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 14/07/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی ...more

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Aug 19, 2015 Anja H. rated it it was amazing

*5 FALLING STARS*

Wow. This book is beautiful. I actually really cried when it ended, and that doesn't happen a lot! I don't get why this book doesn't have higher ratings!
I found Before I Fall's concept really unique. It's about a popular girl, Samantha, who dies and gets to relive her last day seven times. This book could've ended up being really cliché but it really wasn't. You really get to see Samantha going through various stages like disbelief, anger, fear, realisation, rebelism and finally ...more

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Sep 06, 2015 Maureen rated it it was ok

This might be more of a 2.5 but idk.
I might have liked this better if I didn't listen to the audiobook for part of it, but the narrator just gave these girls attitude with their voices and I ended up picturing the characters as that and it was so bad.
Basically all the characters, especially Sam (not as much Kent) annoyed the crap out of me and I didn't really love the repetitiveness of the book (though that is the point). Most of the characters are terrible people. There is a bit of redemption, ...more

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Aug 09, 2010 Laini added it

Wow. On *day 7* and loving this book so much. I want to slurp it up like a noodle.

Finished: terrific; amazing teen voice and utterly believable characters -- the "mean girls" made, somehow, relatable! The story is so bittersweet, though I wished ...

[SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT:]

... for a different ending for the characters (of COURSE), as a reader, I found the ending very powerful. The cumulative grief of those left behind -- left entirely to the reader ...more

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Sep 09, 2016 Elle (ellexamines) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: z-2015reads, favorite-characters, z-2015favs, 5-star, contemporary, elle-recs-list

If you look through bad reviews of this book, you'll start to see a common trend: a dislike for Samantha as a protagonist. And it won't be hard to understand why - this book is about a high school mean girl, and she does some incredibly messed up things within these pages. But here's the thing - Samantha's despicable nature is what makes the book so good. Because her story is one of redemption, of working through what she has done and making herself better. Some won't like it, perhaps, but this If you look through bad reviews of this book, you'll start to see a common trend: a dislike for Samantha as a protagonist. And it won't be hard to understand why - this book is about a high school mean girl, and she does some incredibly messed up things within these pages. But here's the thing - Samantha's despicable nature is what makes the book so good. Because her story is one of redemption, of working through what she has done and making herself better. Some won't like it, perhaps, but this is undoubtedly one of the best character-driven novels I have ever read.

Samantha's character arc is incredible. I'd go so far to call it one of my all-time favorite arcs. She starts out as a very typical protagonist, one you wouldn't even bat your eyes at, yet she develops into such an incredibly sympathetic character. Even at her moments of imperfection, of blunt evil, even, she wins your empathy because we have been there. The narrative is so effortlessly unbiased towards her - her mistakes are questioned, yet her redemption is given the space it needs.

Even ignoring Samantha, every character feels so real and dimensional. It would've been easy to make Lindsey, Samantha's best friend, into a bland and pathetic mean girl. It would've been easy to make Juliet into a one-off unpopular girl. But Oliver avoids all these traps and makes all her side characters complicated.

I read once that at the edge of a black hole, time stops completely, so if you ever sailed into it, you’d just be stuck there at the lip forever, forever being torn apart, forever dying.

It's important to mention that this book isn't about logic. Lauren Oliver doesn't care how this time loop is happening, or why - she cares about how it's affecting these characters, and that's exactly what's so great about Before I Fall. Every sentence felt like a knife in my heart, making me feel so much for Samantha and for every other character. This book is about self-sacrifice and courage and doing the right thing. It's not preachy, yet it's not sugar coated. Every part of this book is so real, and so true to life, despite the unrealistic plot. You can feel every emotion.

VERDICT: It is incredibly sad that Oliver has come out with so much which wasn't as great as this. However, this novel, her debut, is still absolutely worth reading - it's one of the most impactful books I've ever read. Highly recommended. ...more

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May 26, 2011 Lorenzio Phillibuster Fireworks rated it did not like it

But before you start pointing fingers, let me ask you: is 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 anyone else does?
Is it really so much worse than what you do?
Think about it.

I did think about it. I was forced to think about it for 341 pages. My answer is yes, what you did is worse than what a lot of people do, and what's worse is that at the end of your little week of revelations, I still don't believe But before you start pointing fingers, let me ask you: is 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 anyone else does?
Is it really so much worse than what you do?
Think about it.

I did think about it. I was forced to think about it for 341 pages. My answer is yes, what you did is worse than what a lot of people do, and what's worse is that at the end of your little week of revelations, I still don't believe you're actually sorry that you tormented a classmate into suicide.

Lauren Oliver makes an okay attempt. Don't be a bully. Don't be a shallow, empty bitch. But she should have chosen a different medium for her message. The entire novel I was wondering "Why Sam?" What can possibly be so different between her and the other three identically empty girls of her group that SHE deserved the chance to "redeem herself" while the other four didn't. Why didn't Lauren Oliver feel the need to have the OTHER girls in the group, and let's face it, the rest of the school that bullied Juliet Sykes to ALSO learn the consequences of their actions.

What's worst of all, to me, is that Sam was once on the receiving end of Lindsay's cruelty. It was not anywhere near the same extent to which Juliet was tormented, but it was still more of an understanding than others. Everytime she made someone terrified they'd even mentioned the name of her boyfriend, or she reminded someone that she shouldn't even know their name or sent Juliet a Valentines rose to remind her that she didn't have friends, or a boyfriend to send one to her. Her defence to all of this is I didn't do anything; I just followed along(pg 135) as if this somehow excuses the years of cruel behaviour to others.

There's also the part on pg 136 where she blames her parents for her being stupid enough to get drunk, get into a car with her friends who are also blind drunk and in no condition to drive, and blame them for the resulting accident. What else could she possibly expect to happen? There's a reason why drunk driving is a crime and high school bodies try to so hard to educate students against such stupidity.

Let's then continue the blame game and say it's all Lindsay's fault. Lindsay didn't do any of those things on her own, she had three people - Sam, Elody and Ally - to spread her rumours, help her create them, to encourage her cruelty and enforce the belief that this is just what happens, SOMEONE has to be picked on, so at the end of the day Juliet should just accept it because it is apparantly the law that someone has to. (This is actually something she says early on in the novel.)

Her apology to Juliet on pg 277 is not at all sincere and heartfelt, and I believe by the end of the book that she still had a long way to go.

I honestly don't understand why Lauren Oliver hasn't made the other three girls go through the same education that Sam does. After all, when Sam is dead the others will still be there, continuing everything they did before without any pause for thought. I also can't understand how she can think it's okay that Sam, knowing she will not survive the night, starts a relationship with Kent, a boy who has been in love with her for years, without consideration for how much it would affect him. This is a strong indication of how selfish Sam still is, and that I don't feel she has learnt what she was meant to, and that therefore the message she's sending is more convoluted that it could be. ...more

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Jul 05, 2018 Charley Cook rated it liked it

12 hours of a girl learning how not to be the worst person in the world...does she succeed? meh

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Jun 23, 2017 Christy rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-audio, 2017-four-stars, 2017-ya-challenge

4 ish stars!

“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.”

This book was intense, emotional, and frustrating- all in equal measure. There are parts I loved, and moments I want to give 5+ stars ...more

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Feb 10, 2016 ♥ℂĦℝΪՖƬΪℕÅ rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, young-adult, fantasy

3.5 Time Loop ★'s

“The last laugh, the last cup of coffee, the last sunset, the last time you jump through a sprinkler, or eat an ice-cream cone, or stick your tongue out to catch a snowflake. You just don't know.”

I was really looking forward to reading this, because I absolutely love Lauren Oliver's Delirium trilogy. It was a pretty decent read, no it wasn't the best and it could have been better. I am glad that I read it, but it's just gonna be a one time read for me. Some of it was a bit slow ...more

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About Lauren Oliver

Lauren Oliver

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Lauren Oliver is the cofounder of media and content development company Glasstown Entertainment, where she serves as the president of production. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of the YA novels Replica, Vanishing Girls, Panic, and the Delirium trilogy: Delirium, Pandemonium, and Requiem, which have been translated into more than thirty languages. The film rights to both Replica ...more

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Quotes from Before I Fall

“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.” — 4023 likes

“So many things become beautiful when you really look.” — 3197 likes

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