Right first off the bat, Ive tried to read this book about 3 different time and the first two I just couldnt get my head into it. Its definitely a YA book and would say more to 15 year olds. The writing was very young but the story was ok. I actually read it because of the movie coming out soon. The story is basically about Sam and her group of girls in Senior year at high school. One night after a party the girls going home crash the car, but Sam wakes up in her own bed and is basically living Groundhog Day for the next 7 days, through her trying to fix things and having a tantrum one of the days. By the end of day 7 she fixes all her mistakes from day one and this is why the story didnt get 5 stars, it ended. Just ended. You got the jist of what was going to happen but it didnt. Yeah was a little disappointed in that. It was ok, but I dont think Ill be going to watch the movie.

It's been a great book to read! the journey she made the change in character everything was written well. I liked the little bits she realized and the way Lauren Oliver wrote Sam and her thoughts and feelings was great! definitely a great way with words. SPOILER: I was a little sad about the end... really, I would have wished for her to survive to make it but in the end I guess the way she died in the end was way better than the way she died the first night! saving the girl, damn!!! but it also saddens me that she had to die... but other than the end it was a pleasure to read!!!

More reviews on my blog Blattzirkus :) Plot The story follows Samantha Kingston, a sixteen – soon to be – seventeen year old popular teenager who repeatedly has to life through Valentine’s Day. Or rather, she only realizes that she has to do so after dying in a car accident after a party held by a classmate. After that realization she lives through every repeatedly Valentine’s Day a little bit different, once more loving, once a little bit more obnoxious. By that, she not only finds out a lot about her friends, classmates and family members but also a great deal of herself and what is really important in life. My opinion I guess that repeatedly waking up to the same day concept isn’t exactly new and can be executed equally in a good and in a bad way. Personally I am a bit torn with Before I Fall since I couldn’t stand the main character, Samantha. She was very obnoxious, self-centered and narrow-minded. I guess a typical sixteen year old popular teenager in the best stereotypical way. She has her four best friends who are equally as bad as her and a popular, handsome boyfriend who didn’t really care for her. That was soon very clear. The good thing about Before I Fall was that there was change in the main character! She learned from herself and became a better, more caring person than at the beginning of the book. She wasn’t as narrow-minded as before and saw the more important things in life: being there for family and friends. Good for her! I really liked that she was going out of her comfort zone talking to people she normally wouldn’t and actually enjoyed doing so. Also she tries to find out the reason why she was stuck in that time loop. And as we all know (more from ghost stories than from time loops), there is always unfinished business before one can rest. We just have to find out what it is. Therefore I can say that we learned a lot of the people in Samantha’s life. They weren’t just bystanders, but people with emotions and thoughts, not some kind of Extra Number 36 whose purpose only is to fill the empty place in the main character’s far too busy life. The writing was decent, not too easy and not too hard, a nice Young Adult read. I have read Lauren Oliver before, the whole Delirium series actually, that’s how I discovered Before I Fall. Although I have no idea any longer how Delirium was written, for comparison reasons, but I guess it wasn’t too bad since I finished the whole series. Same with this one, the characters were annoying but the writing kept me going. Conclusion I give Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver 3 out of 5 stars because it was decent and a nice read, but that’s been it. I’m excited to see what the movie will make out of this material! xo Annina

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILER Before I Fall is a book really hard to rate. I received the German copy from the publishers in exchange for an honest review; otherwise I’m not even sure if I even would have picked it up. I always thought the title sounded interesting, but I never knew what the book was about and now that I have finished it I’m not so sure what to think of it. The book is special for sure, not necessarily in a good or a bad way, but in a way that it was very different from most books. It’s hard to find a book to compare it too because it’s so different; maybe in some ways you could compare it to 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher which is also a very special read and a book I wasn’t sure how to rate it at first. Books like this always leave me with a weird feeling deep down in my stomach. Books like this make you feel and think and rethink, maybe even overthink things which is good and important and something that isn’t very common with books. Most books we read, we just read for entertainment, for fun but then there are books that just make you realize certain things; books that help you grow; make you question things and maybe even help you to learn and become more open minded. Before I Fall for sure is one of those books. It raises questions about love, death and how one person’s life and actions can affect so many others. Here’s what the book is about: Samantha Kingston has everything a girl her age could wish for. She’s very popular, is dating one of the best looking guys in her school, has many great friends and it just seems that her life is getting better day by day. She loves all the attention she gets and all she cares about is herself, her boyfriend and her three best friends. Samantha and her friends are very looking forward to February 12, Cupid’s Day, which is a big deal for her school because the more roses they get, the popular they are plus she’s supposed to be sleeping with her boyfriend for the first time that night so of course she’s not only excited, but also very nervous. But what she does not know is that this day, which seems to be one of the biggest days in her life, is the day she dies. The next morning though she wakes up on the same exact day. She continues to live out the same day over and over and over again. Sometimes she dies, sometimes she doesn’t, but no matter what happens; she always wakes up on February 12, Cupid’s Day. Honestly, I didn’t like the beginning of the book much. Not only was I annoyed by the characters, but also bored by the whole plot. Sam is mean and shallow and so caught up in herself that there’s no room for anyone else. She basically thinks she’s the High School Queen and that everyone wants to be just like her. We all know them, those fun but also cheesy High School Movies and although I do enjoy them from time to time, I get tired of them very quickly because like in this book, the characters are annoying, mean, shallow and only care about themselves. Sam and her friends are cruel and I wasn’t surprised when Sam mentioned that her school is the one with the highest suicide rate. No wonder when you think about what those kids do to each other. At some point you see the good in Sam and her friends but in the beginning of the book it’s all overshadowed by their ignorance, their cruelty, their arrogance. This is pretty much everything I thought while reading the first part of the book but then I thought that maybe it has to be like that; maybe it needs to be like that so that the characters have time to change; to develop. It occurred to me that this book has a message, a very important message and if I want to find out what message, I need to read it. I tried to forget the characters stupidity, although I couldn’t blind out all the awful things they’ve done to some of their classmates, to prevent myself from giving up this book too quickly. The second half of the book was much better. It’s actually when you start questioning things; when you start to feel something. In the first half of the book we get to know the characters but it’s in the second half where we see their real vulnerability. With every day that passes we become witnesses to how much Sam has grown. She keeps waking up on the exact same day; over and over again and with every day that passes she realizes that this might be her last chance to “save herself”. But then again she also realizes that, no matter how hard you try, there are just some things in life you can’t change. For some things it’s just too late. So when Sam finally understands, that she’s not reliving the same day for no reason and that she is meant to do something, that is when the story becomes really interesting and heartbreakingly beautiful.  Some moments in the book are truly beautiful; moments that are just simply perfect and made me cry, the moments she has with her sister Izzy for example. The saddest thing is that when Sam realizes how important and precious family is, that it’s already too late so when she decides to spend one last beautiful day with her sister; her whole family, it made me cry so bad because it was obvious that no matter how much Sam has changed in the last couple of days while reliving the same day over and over again, there was nothing she could do about it. The universe just gave her one last chance to understand the real meaning of life. I also really enjoyed the moments with Kent, who is such a precious character, because he’s one of those kids that aren’t very popular but who also don’t care about being popular or not. I just loved everything about Kent; he’s definitely one of my favorite characters and – in my opinion – one of the most important things in this book. So the message the book is supposed to deliver is not happy at all, it’s actually bittersweet. Although I was hoping that maybe there’s still a way for Sam to change everything that has happened, to undo the accident, this is the only way it could have ended. It’s the only way possible and although everything seemed so final the author was still able to make me hope. When Sam eventually finds a way to truly save herself; when she finally accepts her fate, this is when I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. What I also absolutely loved about this book is Lauren Oliver’s amazing writing. Her writing is absolutely beautiful. The book also left me asking myself, what my favorite memories so far are; how much or who I am taking for granted even though I shouldn’t because nothing and nobody deserves to be only taken for granted. Even the little things in life can make it special; important, enjoyable and – of course - livable. The book also made me realize that, although most of the times we tend to remember only the bad things, but not the good things, to always remember the beautiful things in life. This book is so heartbreakingly beautiful, despite the fact that I didn’t like the beginning so much, but it’s such a special and important read. This book focuses on so many important topics, death for example, suicide, eating disorder, friendship, family, love. I’d definitely recommend this book. It might seem boring to write about the same day over and over again and I was afraid I wouldn’t like it at first for that exact reason because I was afraid it would bore the hell out of me but the second part of the book is absolutely worth reading through the not so perfect and fun first half of the book. I still have this weird feeling deep down inside of me; you could compare that feeling to the feeling you usually have when someone dies. You’re sad and it makes you feel sick and there are things you don’t understand. This feeling plus the warm feeling all those beautiful moments gave me made me realize that this is actually one of the most interesting and for sure special books I’ve ever read in my entire life. I would have wished to find out Sam’s parents’ and friends’ reactions though but this is not what this book is about. It has kind of like an open ending but that’s good because this book is about Sam alone; about how much she grows through the story and this is why we don’t get to see how her death affects other peoples lives. If I would have liked the first half better, I would have even rated it five stars, but the four stars I’m giving this book for sure are well deserved.  

I have always heard "you are with what kind of choices you make" This book definitely showed that me. This showed me the greater picture, one choice is not only going to affect you but others around you; they might be your friends are they might not be. This is more than just teenage drama but a life lesson, it's not about the mean girls or a bully it is about how everyone is imperfect and by the end of everything it is you who can do right by yourself, it is you who HAS to be true to YOURSELF, else it is all just there in open doing good to noone. Fantastic concept, Fantastic story telling. I loved the characters, though for me in the beginning it was a bit too much and a lot of characters with a lot of back story just thrown at me for no reason but later it all made sense. Also I wished there was more of Ally and Elody, sometimes i got confused with both of their characters. I would have loved to know about them. I specifically liked Anna's character, the misunderstood one, I wanted to know more about her too. The story was bit draggy at some point and I was frustrated with how it was all starting over again and again, which kind of annoyed me but then i felt maybe that's what the author wanted to make us feel, the frustration, the anxiety Sam is going through. I was hoping it would end better, but it's okay. The story is going to stick with me for a very long time now.

I can't really decide whether I love the book or hate it. At the beginning of the book I was sure that Sam is an unbelievable disgusting person because she acts so arrogantly. During the next chapters I sometimes had the feeling that the protagonist is parted in two completely different parts. A person who has deep and clever thoughts but acts so stupid! But during the next times, her next tries to live her last day she does things I think 'Super' and at the end I really liked Sam and felt very often for her and her fate. but in the end I would say, that's a good book which make you think about many things in your own life and how you treat other peoples and what would you do if this is your last day?

I didn't like this book at all. I have read many YA books but I have never experienced so many horrible and shallow characters in one book. Maybe I am just too old for this book. The premise of the book was quite interesting but I didn't like the way it was told. Most parts were extremely boring, I wanted to shake every single character and so many things were just wrong. like hitting on your teacher in an absolute slutty way, smoking pot on the school toilet, treating people badly just because your best friends don't like them In many scenes I felt so embarassed for the characters. I hardly ever had the feeling that Sam actually wanted to change. She reacted in the same ways so often. I read that many people didn't like the ending. I got the ending I was hoping for but it was still stupid how it happened. The epilogue was simply rediculous and the last sentence, seriously?!

Inhalt: Es ist Valentinstag und die Nacht, in der Sam zum ersten Mal mit ihrem Freund schlafen möchte, als sie bei einem Autounfall ums Leben kommt. Sie hat sich nie großartig darüber Gedanken gemacht, was nach dem Tod mit einem passiert. Mit dem, was jetzt auf sie zukommt, hat sie allerdings nicht gerechnet. Sie erlebt den Tag ihres Todes noch einmal. Und noch einmal. Immer wieder wacht sie am Valentinstag morgens auf. Was muss sie verändern, um aus dieser Zeitschleife herauszukommen? Meinung: Gleich zu Anfang wird einem klar: Sam ist keine sympathische Person. Sie und ihre Freundinnen sind „popular“. Sie halten sich für beliebt, aber eigentlich haben die anderen Schüler nur Angst vor ihnen, weil sie bei der kleinsten falschen Bewegung angeschrien oder beleidigt werden. Sie halten sich eindeutig für besser als alle anderen und nutzen es aus, dass niemand sich ihnen in den Weg stellt. Schüler, die „unter ihnen stehen“, werden ignoriert oder lächerlich gemacht. Bis zu ihrem Tod ist Sam allerdings gar nicht bewusst, dass das etwas schlechtes ist; dass sie es auch einfach lassen könnte; dass niemand sie dazu zwingt, gemein zu sein. Das erste Kapitel endet dazu auch noch mit den Fragen: Ist das was ich getan habe wirklich so schlimm? Ist das was ich tue wirklich so viel schlimmer als das, was alle anderen tun? Ist es wirklich so viel schlimmer als das, was du tust? Denk darüber nach. Das habe ich getan. Und ich kann klar und deutlich antworten: JA. Ohne eine persönliche Wertung einzubringen, kann ich sagen: Samantha ist ein Miststück. Und ihre beste Freundin Lindsay ist noch einmal deutlich schlimmer. Wie gemein sie wirklich sind, und noch ohne es zu merken, wird einem erst nach und nach klar und es war wirklich nicht einfach, das Buch weiterzulesen. Ich war nämlich kaum interessiert, wie Sam ihre nach-dem-Tod-Probleme lösen kann, weil ich kein bisschen traurig war, als sie gestorben ist. Das Buch hat eine Thematik, die Sympathie und Mitgefühl für die Hauptfigur erfordert. Diese waren allerdings überhaupt nicht vorhanden. Erst mit der Zeit und der Anzahl der erlebten Todestage ändert sich Sams Charakter. Nach und nach bemerkt sie dann, wie mies sie sich in den letzten Jahren verhalten hat und ändert sich ziemlich rapide. Das war der Punkt, an dem für mich die Wendung kam und ich doch noch Gefallen an diesem Buch gefunden habe. Ja klar, auf Sams charakterlicher Veränderung beruht das ganze Buch, aber das ändert nichts an der Tatsache, dass es mir so anfangs aufgrund dieser Tatsache nicht gefallen hat. Irgendwann gestaltet sie ihre Tage dann bewusst ganz anders als sie es sonst tun würde, sodass es interessant wird und man sich fragt, was sie als nächstes verändern wird und wie sie sich in bestimmten Situationen, die sich immer ähnlich wiederholen, wohl verhalten mag. Fazit: Wenn man sich direkt mit Sams Charakter abfinden kann, kann einem das Buch wirklich gut gefallen. Die Idee ist gut, die Umsetzung eigentlich auch. Wie gesagt störte mich die Protagonistin anfangs sehr, aber mit der Zeit ändert sie sich und wirdsympathischer. Wenn man also die ersten ~200 Seiten über durchhält, kann einem das Buch doch noch gefallen. 3/5 Punkten