Oliver, Lauren- Before I Fall; Informal Buddy Read: Starts December 1, 2014

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

This topic is open for discussion of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.




Book Synopsis:
With this stunning debut novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction. Like Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why and Gayle Forman's If I Stay, Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others.

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 she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

[Moderators of NBRC, Challenger-in-Chief]

Reserved

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Yay! I'm in! : )

[Stephanie]

me to!!!!!!!

[Sarah]

I might try and join this one. The audio was available for check out from my Overdrive.

[Princess]

I'll join here

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Oh this is GOOD!

Chapter 1: (view spoiler)[it sounds like Sam is heavily influenced by Lindsay. All these girls are terribly self-centered and shallow, but it appears that a lesson is coming. I like Kent a lot. He's probably the closest thing to a real friend that Sam has. I'm curious...what brought Julia to the party and triggered her outburst?

Loving the way this is setting up. It really makes you think! (hide spoiler)]

[Cait S]

Hi everyone!

I started this morning and I'm about 20 pages in. So far it's okay but man, am I reliving what a terrible experience high school was.

[Tawallah]

I started this am and just finished the first chapter. I'm conflicted - I really enjoyed Delirium - but this book so far has me wondering about the great reviews. I can't relate to these girls. The lifestyle seems so foreign to me. Shocking and so sad. And Sam - so flawed. I can't make up my mind if I detest her or feel pity. Is it that I'm to old or judgmental?

The one thing I can agree is the Lauren Oliver is a good writer. Even if the content is gritty, she has kept the characters realistic. I'm sure if we think back to high school / secondary school we can remember people like this.

And why are the popular people at American high school so mean? When I attended secondary school the popular were the athletes, artsy group or helped the school to excel. The "bad boys and girls" were well known. But even they weren't bullies. Mainly got into fights or defied authority.

I'll see how this develops. Not even sure how Sam can redeem herself. But I liked the questions at the end of the chapter.

[Cait S]

I hear you, June. Unfortunately, at least compared to my high school experience, this is exactly what the popular girls were like. To a tee. I can picture faces with each of them, it's so accurate.

My current guess is that we are supposed to hate Sam so that her turn around later is more pronounced. But I suppose we shall see.

[Cait S]

Finished Chapter 1!

(view spoiler)[I love how at the end of the chapter she says "I know some of you are probably thinking I deserved it." and I'm like.....yeah, dude.

That scene at the party was so incredibly messed up. I was proud of Juliet for calling them out, knowing it would probably backfire. But man, the way the entire thing turned into EVERYONE attacking her. I feel literally no sympathy at all for Sam and her friends at this point.

"Is it really so much worse than what you do?" YES! YES IT IS! YOU ARE A HORRIBLE HUMAN BEING! (hide spoiler)]

[Cait S]

Becky ♡The Bookworm♡ wrote: "Oh this is GOOD!

Chapter 1:

(view spoiler)[ Kent is the best part of the book so far, without a doubt. "I see right through you." Ugh, I LOVED that.

I hope it's revealed in coming chapters, what brought Juliet to coming there and saying those things after supposedly not talking to anyone for years. And I hope it eventually goes differently for her because I felt horrible for her. (hide spoiler)]

[Cait S]

Chapter 2:

(view spoiler)[

Is it just me or did anyone else find it ridiculous that even after Sam seems to realize the day really is repeating itself, she really does NOTHING different? One page she's like this is really happening, this is real... The next page she still gets in the car with her drunk and out of control friends.

Like... Is that not the A #1 thing you would not do if you had the chance to do it all over? (hide spoiler)]

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Cait...chapter 2: (view spoiler)[YES! I thought it was odd, too. I think maybe she's in denial, or in some state of shock. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 4: (view spoiler)[Sam is totally out of control! I would've thought after that second day and what happened with Julie, she'd reach for the high road instead. I was glad to see her give Lindsay the 'what for' though.

Gosh, I like Kent! "You don't need to be fixed, Sam." I think he's going to be the one to turn her around. (hide spoiler)]

[Nicole]

Okay I'm still back at the first chapter, and am actually enjoying that Lauren Oliver has decided to make the main character into someone popular. I mean, how often do you read that in YA? I find it interesting anyway, reading things from a side that I was never in during high school.

[Nicole]

June wrote: "When I attended secondary school the popular were the athletes, artsy group or helped the school to excel. The "bad boys and girls" were well known. But even they weren't bullies. Mainly got into fights or defied authority. "

I wish I went to your high school, June!!

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

OMGosh, Y'all. Big. Ugly. Cry.

I'm finished and I'm SPEECHLESS. There are no words...I mean...there are, but I can't fit them together at the moment.

*blows nose, grabs another tissue*

I'm not a big fan of YA, but this is one of those rare exceptions. I'll be back after I've downed a gallon of double chocolate fudge ice cream. Maybe I can make sense of my thoughts by then.

[Cait S]

Chapter 3

(view spoiler)[ Okay so Kent is some kind of angel or something, right? Or he can see the future? Or he died a long time ago and is stuck in the loop too? SOMETHING. There is something with Kent. Which I am ecstatic about because he is so far the only likable part of this story. (hide spoiler)]

[Cait S]

Becky ♡The Bookworm♡ wrote: "OMGosh, Y'all. Big. Ugly. Cry.

I'm finished and I'm SPEECHLESS. There are no words...I mean...there are, but I can't fit them together at the moment.

Dang, this must get real good real quick then because right now I cannot imagine being remotely moved by any of these characters. I'm excited to find out what happens even more now that you've said that :)

[Princess]

I'm just starting and I feel like this is your typical stereotype high school wherein there's a bunch of cliques but the difference is this is from the pov of the popular one and someone died.

Quote that I really liked

Popularity's a weird thing. You can't really define it, and it's not cool to talk about it, but you know it when you see it. Like a lazy eye, or porn.

[Nicole]

I'm just gonna put it out there that I have just gotten to the end of Day One, and am not reading any spoilers until I get further in. I am definitely hooked at this point, Becky was right.

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

I'll hold off until everyone is done, too.

Cait...These characters are horrid and I almost, almost didn't read it after the first chapter of selfish, hateful behavior, but I had to know what happens next. It was actually the prologue that snagged me.

The author peels back the layers though and made it interesting enough for me to keep going. It wasn't easy, the cliques took me back to my days in private school. That's probably why I don't read much YA in the first place. This one was really worth the investment of time.

I'm dying to talk about the ending though. It's like I NEED to process! It's my own fault for blasting through it.

*waits patiently and shoves in another spoon of ice cream*

[Megan]

I think I am going to jump in on this one too if it's not too late. Hopefully I can get some buddy read points for my Tower Team!

[Cait S]

Megan wrote: "I think I am going to jump in on this one too if it's not too late. Hopefully I can get some buddy read points for my Tower Team!"

Not too late at all! Welcome :D

[Megan]

Thanks, Cait! I happened to see this one and was like, "Hey! I have that book!" lol. I didn't think I would be joining in any buddy reads, but I'm glad you guys chose to read this one. Will be starting it shortly!

[Tawallah]

Becky you have me curious now. I'm at chapter five to date. I liked the added layers to the characters. And I like Sam, want to be hopeful but this is under GR list for crying. So I expect the end to be bad.

Hopefully most of us will soon finish and can all process it together.

[Nicole]

Yup to Day 3 now. Zoom zoom.

[Megan]

I'm just getting started on Day One. Just out of curiousity is anyone else participating in the Tower Teams 3, who isn't in Misty Mountain Trolls? That's my group. :)

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Megan wrote: "I'm just getting started on Day One. Just out of curiousity is anyone else participating in the Tower Teams 3, who isn't in Misty Mountain Trolls? That's my group. :)"

Hi Megan!

I'm with the Witches of the Bayou team! This is my first Tower Team challenge and I LOVE it!

[Nicole]

Hi Megan, I'm with River Sprites, so you're definitely getting the extra BR points here!

[Cait S]

Uh unknown chapter, I can't remember, but I'm on page 306.

(view spoiler)[

I was thinking Sam was getting better because she spent the day with Izzy and it was really sweet. And now she's going to the party to try and stop Juliet from killing herself--

But she's still only talking about how it can be her good deed to get her ticket out. Like she still doesn't give a shit about anyone but herself. It's like being good for karma's sake, not to actually help someone but so that maybe someday something good happens to you.

...I really can't stand this girl, like it has been a while since I hated a fictional character this much. (hide spoiler)]

[Princess]

I don't know what day it is but I'm on chapter 4
(view spoiler)[ I have a feeling that Sam will fall in love with Kent because she will realize how douch-y her boyriend is (hide spoiler)]

[Cait S]

Beginning of Chapter 6:

(view spoiler)[

KENT! KENT, YOU ARE TOO GOOD FOR HER! Love yourself and upgrade your taste in girls. (hide spoiler)]

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Cait wrote: "Uh unknown chapter, I can't remember, but I'm on page 306."

I thought the same thing. (view spoiler)[Sam has spent the majority of her student life belittling others and thinking only of herself. It is very hard to "like" her. She's dealing with a ton of regret and still learning about things she SHOULD regret. In some ways, the book feels more authentic because of the slow progress. For someone to go from totally self-absorbed, to considerate and selfless usually takes a lot more than a few days. The fact that she's stuck in some type of limbo/time loop feels like a punishment. I agree she's looking for a way out, but I really do think she's trying to make things right somehow. (hide spoiler)]

[Cait S]

Thoughts about the characters in general.

(view spoiler)[ I have a hard time still feeling any sympathy for any of them. I'm about 60 pages from the end and it's like... Okay, all their big bad secrets have been revealed and it ends up coming across like the author is making excuses for them. Oh they were just kids. Oh but they had a hard life too. Oh but--

No. They were horrible human beings. People's parents get divorced every day and not all of them turn out to be raging bullies and vile people.

So now we're getting to where Sam is turning into a better person and all I can think is "Well, that's nice. It shouldn't have taken dying for you to figure out how to not treat people like trash." and Kent is saying "I always liked you." and I just want to scream WHY!?!?! What is redeemable about this girl AT ALL?!?

I don't know. I don't think there is a way for this to end that's going to make me think otherwise, honestly :/ (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

Nicole wrote: "Okay I'm still back at the first chapter, and am actually enjoying that Lauren Oliver has decided to make the main character into someone popular. I mean, how often do you read that in YA? I find i..."

I am with you on this one. I was never on that side in high school either. At first the four girls really annoyed me and reminded me of the ones from Mean Girls. I even imagine Elody as the girl that played Gretchen in Mean Girls. I'm not sure why she's the one that popped into my head.

Once I read more and started getting into the story I felt like I was uncovering bits and pieces of who Sam really is. I am beginning to see that there is more to her than just the mean girl who everyone sees. I'm also trying to remember that she was on the other side at one point. I'm hoping I will like her more in the coming chapters.

I have started chapter two and hope to be caught up with everyone before long. Just thought I would throw a little of my opinion in the ring after the first chapter. :)

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

A general observation: (view spoiler)[When I look at these characters, I see a bunch of people wearing masks. Granted, those are ugly masks and they're projecting their pains on others in a dysfunctional way of coping. For me, the book wasn't about liking the characters as much as it was a study in human behavior. Even the "pretty" and "popular" people have scars.

For me, the book served as a reminder that we all have choices, no matter what kind of wounds we carry with us. How we treat those wounds costs. We either take a chunk out of someone else and leave a scar on them, too, or we take the high road and work on healing ourselves. There are so many metaphors that I could apply to this book. I think that's why I like it so much. It really made me dig deep and think. (hide spoiler)]

[Princess]

@Megan I thought I'm the only one who think about the girls kinda similar as the Mean Girls.

[Cait S]

@Becky

(view spoiler)[ For me, it's not so much that I wanted characters that I fell in love with. But I do think you need to be able to even semi-relate to them in order to take anything away. And so as I'm sitting there absolutely loathing these people, I feel like all their apologies and "making up for it" is completely fake and they are still despicable. Maybe I'm just personally really jaded? lol But I couldn't take any lessons away from it when I didn't feel like anything they did or said was genuine at all.

I don't need to like them for the sake of liking them. But I would have liked to feel like any of them were worthy of redemption at all and I definitely didn't feel like that. (hide spoiler)]

[Tawallah]

I'm finished. And I'll wait until everyone is done. Becky I fully understand. That ending, though. Glad I sticked it out. First chapter made me want to quit. But definitely got better.

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Cait...(view spoiler)[No, you're not jaded. I get where you're coming from. I never felt warm fuzzies over anyone except Kent and I agree that they all had a long way to go toward redemption...IF they could even get there. I forced myself to disconnect with the characters and read it with morbid curiosity. My teen years were hell because of girls like this. I was "too" smart, too pretty (although I didn't believe it until I was out of HS), and was ostericized because I had a sister with a loose reputation. What really hit me about the book was how terribly sad it was...a waste of youth. So many lives were affected but such horrible behavior, both from the mean girls and from abusive families. It was like Sam figured it out too late and the only decent thing she did in her life...er...death...was to save Julie from suicide. (hide spoiler)]

Definitely not an easy read, but I'm glad I took the time. It gave me a renewed sense of appreciation for my kids, who turned out to be kind and well adapted. They were taught at home to respect and embrace the differences; that they could learn something from everyone...even if it's by their mistakes. : )

[Cait S]

@Becky

(view spoiler)[Yeah, I'm with you there. The last chapter was really good and I do feel like if Sam had had more time, she could have really turned out well. And I know that not all the Mean Girls in high school STAY Mean Girls forever.

But it did the same thing for me, took me back to four years of being alone and miserable and bullied every single day. And I felt like the author was trying to say "Yes, these are bad people, but look! They have deeper sides to them too!" Which I was kind of frustrated by because it felt like I was supposed to sympathize with them instead of with the people they were actually tormenting. I do think Sam could have eventually redeemed herself but I just... It was rough, reading it and feeling like *I* was Juliet but I was SUPPOSED to feel sorry for Sam. (hide spoiler)]

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

OMGosh, yes, Cait!

(view spoiler)["It was rough, reading it and feeling like *I* was Juliet but I was SUPPOSED to feel sorry for Sam."

Ditto! I couldn't feel any sympathy for Lindsay and her crew. If any of the mean girls from my past popped up to say they were sorry and that they had "problems" that made them act the way they did, I'd tell them to pound sand and walk away. There is something about that age. We're so controlled by school and parents and rules, but a pecking order always develops among the students. When you're on the receiving end of the mean girls, four years feels like an eternity. I'm one of those people that wouldn't go back to high school and relive it for all the tea in China. (hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

@Princess, I thought I was the only one too. I think of Sam as being Kara from Red Band Society (don't know if you've seen it), but I don't know why. Ally and Lindsay are just generic characters that pop up into my head lol.

It's so hard not to read any of the spoilers. I have read this before, but it's been so long ago that I don't rememebr anything. I'm dying to know what everyone is saying and thinking though lol. Hopefully I will be finished with it soon.

[Nicole]

Finished! Oh boy am I ready to read all your spoilers about that ending.

[Princess]

@Megan I love the Red Band Society thou I haven't seen that similarity but since you mentioned it I kinda think about it, and I must say I agree.

[Megan]

@Princess, I'm glad you watch it snd knew what I was talking about. :)

I am halfway done and I am loving it so far! I thought I would get annoyed with the same stuff over and over, but it keeps me interested when Sam makes small or big changes to her day that changes the entire story. For the chapter anyway.

[Tawallah]

Becky ♡The Bookworm♡ wrote: "A general observation: When I look at these characters, I see a bunch of people wearing masks. Granted, those are ugly masks and they're projecting their pains on others in a dysfunctional way of..."

I totally agree with this view, Becky. To me, it also highlights how a single action or inaction still has an impact. Regardless of our intentions or desires.

This has been a rich book for reviewing human nature, in all its ugliness. There was only one true hero on the book. But the ending surprisingly ends with hope, and I believe that that action does indeed make a difference.

[Nicole]

Princess wrote: "@Megan I love the Red Band Society thou I haven't seen that similarity but since you mentioned it I kinda think about it, and I must say I agree."

I totally see the similarity Kara = Sam, and am another lover of Red Band Society! I look forward to it coming out every week :D

Hey June, I'm curious as to who you thought was the hero of the piece? Cause I wouldn't put the sacrifice at the end to be Sam. If anything, I thought it was Kent. If you watch through the book, it's only through interactions with Kent that Sam starts to be able to change, she wants to be worthy of him, hates it when he says he sees right thought her, and that's true in every subsequent interaction between them.

[Cait S]

I would agree with Nicole. I think if anyone is a hero, it's Kent. And not just because he eventually is what changes Sam but because he somehow maintains the ability to be a good person in spite of it all. She treats him like crap, he watches her be a despicable person, and he still believes she's worth saving/worth forgiving and that she can change.

Kent is a better person than I am.