A Review of 'Before I Fall' by Lauren Oliver (Audio Book)

"What if you had only one day left to live?  What would you do?  Who would you kiss?  And how far would you go to save your own life?


Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High-- from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot.  Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.


Instead, it turns out to be her last.


Then she gets a second chance.  Seven chances, in fact.  Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death-- and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing."

My first impression upon first listening to 'Before I Fall' were that one, it was a lot like the movie 'Mean Girls'-- not only the line "You're a b****, you're a mean girl," but also the voices that the reader, Sarah Drew, gave the characters.  Two, I thought that the voices were rather annoying.  All of the boys (save for Kent) had drunken stoner voices (just really tired-sounding) and all of the girls sounded mock sexy or like they were trying too hard.  They were really high-pitched and just a stereotypical stupid female (for lack of a better description).  Three, the book was a lot like the movie 'Groundhogs Day' where one man relives one day in his life over and over and over again until he gets it right.  I didn't appreciate the lack of originality in this sense.

Even though the voices were stereotypical and annoying at times, I eventually got used to them and I could eventually move on.  This is no fault of Lauren Oliver's.

Lauren Oliver does an excellent job of developing her characters.  I really liked how Samantha turned out.  In the beginning, I absolutely hated her because she was so mean to everyone she came across (friend, family, acquaintances...) and there just appeared to be nothing to her.  But throughout the book, she gained valuable insight and she was an overall more relate-able character.

A lot of the story was quite shocking, especially when it came to Samantha deciding not to go to school to hang out with her sister Izzy, or going to school but doing the opposite of what she'd normally do.

Another thing that I liked was the numerous opportunities for innocent romance scenes.  I absolutely loved those scenes (I'm such a girl...).

'Before I Fall' was such a beautiful, shocking, engaging, and satisfying read (or listen).  I give this book:

Thanks for reading!

--Jude