Title: Before I Fall Author: Lauren Oliver # of Pages: 470 (hardback) Genre: YA, Realistic Fiction, Romance Rating: ★★★★☆ Synopsis: What if you only had one day 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: looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it turns out to be her last.
The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. Living the last day of her life seven times 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.
Review: I think it's funny that when I read the back of the book, I thought, "Hey, it's like that Groundhog's Day movie!" and then almost the exact same thing is said IN THE BOOK! It was obviously an inspiration to Oliver.
However, knowing this, I prepared myself to hate the book. The proof is right there in the book itself; the plot isn't going to be original. Plus Sam, our protagonist, is one of those mean-popular-girl types; not exactly very likable.
She makes bad choices and her boyfriend sucks, which is why it bugs me when she said some crap about me being just like her.
Here's a quote:
"Is what I did really so much worse than what anybody else does? Is it really so much worse than what you do? Think about it" (Oliver 81).
Well, Sam, I did exactly what you asked. I went ahead and thought about what you did; bully a girl just because your friend doesn't like her, treat a childhood friend like crap, get in a car with an irresponsible driver, etc. etc. And then asked myself, "Self, have I ever done these things before?" The answer was no. No, I don't hate a person when I don't even know them because I DON'T know then. If my friend has a problem with a person, then it's HER problem. Unless someone has done something to ME that pisses me off, I'm not going to poor beer on her head (not to mention that I wouldn't DRINK beer at her age). Kent didn't do anything to her except become a person that HE wants to be, not a person society wants him to be. Yet Sam acts like he personally offended her or something. The next one's pretty obvious; there are about a billion ads on the internet about it (although there are a whole bunch on TV now about texting and driving).
Yet, somehow, in someway, I grew to love the book. Sam is able to fix the mistakes in her life by reliving her last day seven times, and how much she grew from the beginning of the book really touched me. The only little, itsy-bitsy detail that bugged me was that Sam was driven by a selfish need. She didn't want to that to be stuck in the time loop forever; she knew she was dead and she wanted to hurry up and move on to the next world. The only reason why she fixed her mistakes is because she wanted to go to the afterlife.
But, selfish or not, it's in interesting thought. What if everyone is forced to relive their last day to realize and fix their mistakes? Everyone, in that week of their last day, would learn to appreciate their life a bit more and get the closure that they really need, just like Sam. She got to see her parents happy as she left home that day. She gave her sister their grandmother's necklace, which allowed Sam to see her sister's joy one last time. Sam got to kiss Kent and, most of all, got to save a life. Even though these actions may have been a day late and a dollar short, they allowed her to finally be at peace with herself.
So, yes, there was some stuff that I really, really didn't like, which is why I didn't give Before I Fall five stars. But I found it entertaining, and it touched my heart. Do I recommend it? Of course I do!
Title: i am here! Author: Ema Toyama # of Pages: 496 (paperback) Genre: Shojo Manga, Romance Rating:★★★★☆ Synopsis: A Sunflower in the Shade Invisible to her classmates, Hikage Sumino is and eighth grader with no selt-esteem. Her only friends are the visitors to her Internet blog. One day, the most popular boy in the grade suddenly talks to her. Encouraged by this twist of fate, Hikqge determines to transform her life. Review: Here's the thing; I don't usually do book blogs on manga. But I have a lot to say about this one, so I'm making an exception.
So, I came upon this manga by chance. I say the cover, thought it was pretty, and bought it. What I didn't know was that it was a T Ages 13+ manga. I'm used to reading Older Teen manga; it's much more interesting to me. But I already bought this one, so why not read it?
...I don't think I've read a manga that takes place in middle school. Until now. Not sure how I felt about that, but I read it anyway.
This manga is a stunning piece of work. The drawings (I'm not sure if I'm using the correct terminology here, but you get my meaning) are cute/pretty and BIG! It was easy to determine what was going on, unlike those manga with the epic fight scenes where there's so much ink on the page that I have NO idea what's going on. Visually, this manga is fantastic.
The story line...I'll give it a B. Middle school drama isn't really my thing. It sends a great message, but it almost seems like a fantasy. Not many of the bully situations shown actually turn out the way they did. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I wish it was more realistic. Not that there's anything THAT realistic about manga in the first place, but still. I would have liked a more complex story line.
There's one more thing I'd like to point out about this manga. The blog. The main character blogs!!! Even though after...three years(?) of blogging with only two followers, she hasn't given up. That's really inspirational. It kinda reminds me of myself. I'm a blogger, but I don't think anyone actually reads what I'm saying. But I'm determined to keep blogging now, especially since Hikage had to blog for a year until she got her first comment. If that's what it takes (or more) then I'll keep writing. (Oh, and I saw the link to the blog several times in the manga and its actually a real blog! I can't read it. Of course, and the last post was made several years ago, but here's the link: http://emaema.sakura.ne.jp/blog/)
Overall, I'd give it an A, especially considering that this was Ema Toyama's first manga. I wish more mangaka could draw like her!
