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!
Synopsis: They say that the cure for Love will make me happy and safe forever. And I've always believed them. Until now. Now everything has changed.
Now, I'd rather be infected with love for the tiniest sliver of a second than live a hundred years smothered by a lie. Lena looks forward to receiving the government-mandated cure that prevents the delirium of love and leads to a safe, predictable, and happy life, until ninety-five days before her eighteenth birthday and her treatment, when she falls in love.
Now, before I begin, let me start off by saying that I absolutely adore dystopian novels. I've been reading as many as I could get my hands on (which, unfortunately, hasn't been that many because, apparently, everyone else likes science fiction too). I received this book as a present recently because it "got really high praise." Overjoyed, I began reading it right away.
But I noticed several things. Usually, when reading a good science fiction novel, (or any well-written novel), I'm immediately ensnared into the plot, constantly craving more. Delirium? Not so much. Although the book was interesting, I found the whole story line a little....shallow. It might just be me, but I think that it has something to do with the major love factor.
Don't get me wrong; I love to read romances every once in a while. There are plenty of good ones out there. But love is one of the easiest, yet hardest topic to write about. And I felt that the story just kept going on and on without a climax.
I plan on reading the sequel because authors tend to improve their writing style as the series goes along. Or not. We'll see.
Title: Pandemonium Author: Lauren Oliver # of Pages: 375 (paperback) Genre: YA, Dystopian, Romance Rating: ★★★☆☆ Synopsis:After falling in love, Lena and Alex flee their oppressive society where love is outlawed and everyone must receive the "cure" - an operation that makes them immune to the delirium of love - but Lena alone manages to find her way to a community of resistance fighters. Although she is bereft without the boy she loves, her struggles seem to be leading her toward a new love. Review: LOTS OF SPOILERS!!!
The cover freaks me out. Her face is too big and her body is made out of flowers. What a creep-o.
Let's cut to the chase; the book was as boring as...I don't know. Stuff. I don't know what I'm talking about. Please hold while i go and get my notes.
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... I'm back!
First off, the book is freakin confusing! Oliver thought it would be all fine and dandy to keep switching back and forth between "now" and "then" which got me all confused. I actually had to READ the chapter title! It's too much work >.<
Um, this isn't a complaint...not really...but Lena keeps reminding me of Beautiful Creatures ^_^ But the story line is really boring :( I had a hard time paying attention to the book. I skimmed over a lot of the details.
My copy of my book has really thin pages! I don't know why I put that in my notes, but it's true. The pages are really, really thin. I was afraid I was going to rip one! And the chapters are too short. Boo. And the scenes with Julian (or whatever his name is) and Lena are awful! I mean, it just so happens that Lena wakes up to see Julian "bathing" himself and IT JUST SO HAPPENS that Julian walks in the room when Lena doesn't have her top on. Goodness. It's way too obvious that Oliver wants them to get together.
It makes me feel a little silly when I figure stuff out before the characters in the book. Like the code that was hidden in the clock? The character are looking around thinking 9 and 3 blah 3 and 9 Bleh. And I'm sitting there shouting "IT'S 0915 YOU BIG FAT DUMBOS!" And then seconds later they're all like "Oh! it's 0915!" *facepalm*
"'Hey, hey, hey!' A policeman is waving to us from up ahead, gesturing with his walkie-talkie..."
Yes, I have a weird mind. But that's just how I think.
