Before I Fall is the heartbreaking story of a girl who dies in a car accident. The day after she dies, she wakes up and proceeds to re-live the day of her death seven times. Each day more questions arise about herself, her best friends, and their behavior towards others. Each day she does things differently in the hopes that she can not only save herself but also change things for the better for others.
Sam and her friends are the stereotypical popular mean girls. For the first half of the book, this is made quite clear to the point of being obnoxious. I really just wanted to slap each of them, especially Lindsay. However the exploration into why they behaved the way they did eventually make me more understanding. (I still think they were pretty shallow though.) The portrayal of teenage behavior and attitude was pretty spot on. What I enjoyed most was seeing Sam grow over the seven days. The last day was heartbreaking but I believe that Sam completely redeems herself from all previous awful behavior. It left me in tears with a book hangover.
Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5
Sam and her friends are the stereotypical popular mean girls. For the first half of the book, this is made quite clear to the point of being obnoxious. I really just wanted to slap each of them, especially Lindsay. However the exploration into why they behaved the way they did eventually make me more understanding. (I still think they were pretty shallow though.) The portrayal of teenage behavior and attitude was pretty spot on. What I enjoyed most was seeing Sam grow over the seven days. The last day was heartbreaking but I believe that Sam completely redeems herself from all previous awful behavior. It left me in tears with a book hangover.
Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5