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

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

I thought so, too. Kent was emotionally mature and seemed to hold onto the youthful innocence that Sam lost. I liked how he reminded her of it and told her she was better than that, even when she was ugly to him. He's definitely the hero.

[Megan]

Cait wrote: "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 o..."

(view spoiler)[I agree with you and Nichole about Kent. Kent seems like the kind of person who tries to find the good in everyone even under all the ugliness and layers of hatred for themselves or others. I don't think I could've hung on for as long as he does, I would've given up hope on her long ago.

I want to like Sam, but it is extremely difficult. Especially the first few rewind days, she didn't even try to make anything better, she just tried to change the outcome for herself. No party, no accident, no death.

I thought on day six it would be the day that things would change, but she still made little mistakes, the roses with the secret admirer tag for Juliet. I know she was just trying to cheer her up, but even Sam should've seen that wasn't the right move. She should've just removed their rose where Juliet didn't get anything at all. That's what I would've done.

I don't think I could relive a day like Sam's over and over. I would probably rip her friends' heads off just for being annoying and stupid. Also, if Sam is being punished why would it just be her? Her friends definitely aren't the good girls who did nothing wrong. I guess it's because Sam was the only one that died, but still, they need to learn a thing or two about being nice too. (hide spoiler)]

I will be finishing in a little while. It's driving me crazy to know what the ending will be. Especially since it seems everyone is done or almost done. I will be back as soon as I read the last page.

[Tawallah]

I was trying not to spoil it for those who haven't finished. But definitely Kent was who I had in mind. Despite how Sam behave he was willing to be there for her. And really it was his words that had the most effect even as she denied his importance in her life. But then he was the only one who knew her, really knew her before she was popular.

[Kelly]

Prologue
(view spoiler)[
Wow, so far I don't like Lindsey very much. It's interesting to see people justify bullying from the bully side though.

I haven't read the synopsis of the book but I liked the Delirium series so I figured that I'd give it a try.
(hide spoiler)]

[Megan]

@Kelly if you liked Delirium then I'm sure you will like this one. It's really good!

I just finished and wow...I don't know what else to say. Hopefully I will come up with something after everyone is finished. :)

[Kelly]

Cait wrote: "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...."

Wow, I'm surprised. So far this is not like my highschool at all.

I could be wrong and it could just be my part of the experience that was different though. I did Highschool in California and they draw the school boundaries oddly to ensure that each school gets a mix of richer and poorer neighborhoods. So... you can tell how well that works as far as integration goes. But I was in a lot of the advanced classes with the popular kids and no one gave me grief. I definitely wasn't a popular kid since I was both in computer science class and on the colorguard (flag team). Yay, geek me :)

[Kelly]

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 don't know. Most of the YA heroine/hero's seem to be not popular but they're also attractive and have at least 2 of the hottest most sought after guys/girls lusting after them. So... popular is a relative term I suppose.

[Kelly]

Chapter One
(view spoiler)[
It's sad because it seems like Sam wants to be a better person but she keeps letting others make decisions for her. She wants to be popular so badly that she does whatever she needs to do to stay on top. I'm betting that's how some of the mean girls get so mean is that they're afraid that if they let up they'll be seen as weak and get eaten. It's almost like the whole alpha dominance things in animal packs. You have to keep everyone else down or risk losing your spot.

The end was interesting, though I wasn't thinking she deserved to die. I definitely didn't like her very much.
(hide spoiler)]

[Cait S]

@Kelly, I had the unfortunate experience of being forced to attend a private religious high school where the only thing they cared about was making themselves look good so people would give them money. If you were involved in lots of sports or super religious and involved in that stuff, they loved you. If you were anything else, the students and the teachers equally made your life living hell. Obviously you can tell what group I belonged to lol I found a couple good friends and just counted the days until I got out. I have not one single good memory that happened within that building.

[Kelly]

Ha. I went to a private religious kindergarten and first grade because the school I would have gone to would have been taught in Spanish and my mom didn't think that was a good plan.

The reason my mom pulled me out of that school is because they were very non creative. They asked me to cut a piece of rectangular paper the long way and I cut it on the diagonal and got told I did it wrong. So.. yeah. I can see how it'd be even worse in High School.

[Princess]

i'm finished but haven't got the chance to post my thought, I felt like the book triggers huge character development but I think there's still something missing.

I love the ending (view spoiler)[ I did not expect that Sam will still die, or the author really put it that way to make the readers think if Sam will live or die? Oh well i'd like to think that way (hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

Chapter 2
(view spoiler)[
Ahh, the twist.
Reminds me of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_of_... with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundho... thrown in. Definitely been done before but I'm interested to see what her twist on it is.

It's so sad to see that even the mean popular girls are mean to each other. You'd think they'd be nice to at least their group of friends. It reminds me of Blair in the Gossip Girl TV Show.

I like that she figures out what's going on relatively fast. It's annoying when it takes them 6 repeats before they think of what might be happening. It's interesting that she's still really focused on herself though and not all the people she hurt that day.
(hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

Chapter 3
(view spoiler)[
I'm starting to like the book quite a bit more. It's interesting to see the evolution of what changes each sequence. I bet the suicide will be a huge wake up call for Sam since she was already starting to see things differently.

It's crazy how many times during that day she and her friends ruin other peoples lives in a big way. It's so interconnected.

The cheating thing was odd though. I can't imagine them siding completely with one person. Usually they'd bring in both sides and make them explain the answer or both retake the test.
(hide spoiler)]

[Tawallah]

Princess wrote: "i'm finished but haven't got the chance to post my thought, I felt like the book triggers huge character development but I think there's still something missing.

I love the ending [spoilers removed]"

Princess I'm curious if you can explain better what is missing, if you can. Could it be there are key issues still unresolved? Or something is too pat? Think I understand what you mean but still can't put my finger on it either.

[Becky ♡The Bookworm♡]

Princess...RE your (view spoiler)[I felt like that last chapter was awesome, but the Epilogue was like being dropped off a cliff. I fully expected Sam to wake from a coma and get a second chance at life. Instead it was "boom" she's dead and that's it. The epilogue wasn't bad, per say, I did like it, but the first thing that came to mind was: "That's it!?" Granted, there is a LOT to think about in the book, so maybe it was just my hope-filled expectations. (hide spoiler)]

[Princess]

@June I ponder about the 'missing' element and I realized that it's becausr of the many unresolved issues. I understand that the book is about Sam but I can't shake the feeling that on those repetitive days, she is not just changing her lives but other as well so I am now curious on what happened tp those people who's connected to her (Kent, her friends, family, professor, etc.,)

I agree with @Becky it's like a big 'THAT'S IT?!?'

[Nicole]

I too could have done without the epilogue. Seemed redundant as she was already compeltely dead by that point.

[Kelly]

Chapter 4
(view spoiler)[
Wow, she went off the deep end in this book. I like that she's breaking away from the people she's spent the last few chapters with and starting to explore other areas.

I'm surprised her mother didn't haul her home from school though. Her teacher is a real creep though. He seemed a bit off before but I know it can be hard for teachers when students have crush's on them since so much stuff can go wrong for the teacher however he definitely showed that he's not one of the good ones. I suppose it's only an 8 year difference though so while creepy and definitely not good as a teacher at least it's not like a 50 year old and an 18 year old.

I like that she finally let Kent in at the end. It seems like the next iteration might go better. Hopefully this was her hitting bottom one.
(hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

Chapter 5
(view spoiler)[
Yay! She turned the corner.

It's interesting that she referred to this one as her best and worst day. It's the only day where one of her friends died and she didn't. Plus it's really the only day when she tried to do something nice for someone. But it's maybe the first day when she really had a failure at something.

Kent is so nice to her.
(hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

Chapter 6
(view spoiler)[
She finally had her almost perfect day. I wonder how likely it would be to be able to turn around someone's suicide attempt in a single day. Juliet didn't seem like the type to make rash decisions so I bet she had been thinking about it for awhile.
(hide spoiler)]

[Tawallah]

Becky ♡The Bookworm♡ wrote: "Princess...RE your [spoilers removed]"

The thing is that you end up being sucked in by Sam and how hopeful she becomes over the days. We instinctively want the happy ending. But I'm not sure that the ending satisfies. You are left with more questions- what happens after. Is there really a difference? OR is only Sam changed by what happens as we are really only seeing thru her eyes.

[Tawallah]

Kelly wrote: "Chapter 4

Wow, she went off the deep end in this book. I like that she's breaking away from the people she's spent the last few chapters with and starting to explore other areas.

I'm surprised he..."

Kelly, I totally agree that that the incident with the teacher was creepy. I try not to even think about it. She is a immature teenager, and still grieving about her death.

The good thing about each day is that she had a different perspective for everyone. I think that's possible because she understood what it meant to be unpopular and could relate. Not sure I would expect Lindsay to think like this.

[Kelly]

Chapter 7-end
(view spoiler)[
Well, she wrapped up the day nicely. I agree with everyone else that there's a lot of unknowns left open.

The biggest one is probably whether it was real or not. Or if it was a bunch of possibilities or something though I would think she wouldn't have the knowledge of the previous day. Maybe it's some sort of test to see what type of person she really is.

Overall I thought it was a well done book. 4 stars.
(hide spoiler)]

[Kelly]

June wrote: "Becky ♡The Bookworm♡ wrote: "Princess...RE your [spoilers removed]"

The thing is that you end up being sucked in by Sam and how hopeful she becomes over the days. We instinctively want the happy e..."

Yeah. You hope it didn't end with the first day's series of events. But it's hard to tell if it was all just some illusion while she was dying or in a coma or something.

I thought the number 7 was interesting though since there's the whole "on the 7th day he rested" thing.

I do think however she modeled it after the 7 stages of grief.

http://www.recover-from-grief.com/7-s...

If you look it maps pretty closely to when she hit bottom and when she started back up.

[Kelly]

June wrote: "Kelly wrote: "Chapter 4

Wow, she went off the deep end in this book. I like that she's breaking away from the people she's spent the last few chapters with and starting to explore other areas.

I'..."

Heh ok random story from highschool about teacher crush's and how it can be awkward.

We had an attractive statistics teacher who was female and just out of college. I think she had a serious boyfriend or was married at the time and obviously not having a crush on any of the students.

A bunch of the boys in the class had a huge crush on her. One of them brings her eggs each day. Why, I don't know. But he hides them so she has to find them so they don't start smelling. So then awhile after this has been going on, he decides to bring her a chicken to go with the egg theme. So.. we had a chicken running around the classroom for a day.

She donated him to a farm after keeping him in a pen at her apartment for a few days.

So I think the kids having a crush on a teacher happens a lot :) but I feel bad for the teacher because it's really a no-win situation for them.