Amazon.com Review
In this Groundhog Day meets Mean Girls teen hybrid, Sam Kingston is pretty, popular, and has a seemingly perfect boyfriend. But after a late-night party everything goes terribly wrong, and the life that she lived is gone forever. Or is it?
At the start of Before I Fall, Sam is self-consumed and oblivious about the impact of her actions on others. But as she repeatedly experiences slightly altered versions of the hours leading up to her death—and her relationships with friends, family, and formerly overlooked classmates bloom, end, or shift—it’s impossible not to feel for the girl whose life ends too soon. Oliver’s adept teen dialogue and lively prose make for a fast, page-turning story in which the reader is every bit as emotionally invested as Sam. --Jessica Schein
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up–In the blink of an eye, popular high school student Samantha Kingston loses her life. What should have been a fantastic day turns out to be the beginning of a horrific afterlife experience. In the wake of a fiery car crash, Sam wakes up on Friday, February 12th again, and again, and again—reliving her last day seven times. At the beginning, she is her usual obnoxious, thoughtless, and reckless self, but the teen is gradually transformed over the week. Sarah Drew narrates Lauren Oliver's powerful debut novel (HarperCollins, 2010), bringing Sam's voice to life with brilliant execution. She matches every nuance of Sam's character, easily transitioning from mean girl through stages of anger, moroseness, hopelessness, and regret, until she reaches a state of acceptance. The secondary characters are interestingly voiced. The story will instantly capture listeners, and the outstanding narration makes it potentially one of the best audiobooks of the year. A must-have for public libraries and high school collections, though schools should be aware that there are scenes with both sexual situations and teen drinking.–Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, New Britain, CTα(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
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