Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

"As I head up from the gym it strikes me how strange people are. You can see them every day - you can think you know them - and then you find out you hardly know them at all"

This book was recommended to me by my stepdaughter -- I guess reading this book was a reminder to me that she is not such a little girl anymore. *tear

Well I knew getting into this story was going to be the same story over and over and over and over. I think Oliver did an ok job of adding little things in for each day so that you kept getting a different piece of everyone and got to feel closer Sam as she discovered more about herself and more about others.

I do fully acknowledge that bullying is a problem so don't attack me for this next statement. I felt like Sam's "bullying" was taken to a whole new extreme and was made unrealistic. Now I know that girls are great at ganging up on each other and one week one girl is getting left out and the next week the table has turned and a different girl is being excluded with rumors flying through the school. Now when I was growing up that happened all the time and we just had to power through (not saying that it was ok). But Oliver draws up this scene with Sam and another girl in the hallway where the girl is asking Sam to talk to the teacher and make it right. I felt like Sam's reaction was way off from what would of happened. When I picture what I would have done or other girls who have ganged up on my stepdaughter would have done, I just see them walking away and rolling their eyes or saying "not my problem" instead, Sam went into all kinds of unlikely conversations bits. And I felt like this was happening throughout the book.

"you can't go home again - isn't necessarily that places change, but that people do. So nothing ever looks the same" I absolutely loved this!! As we get older and mature perspectives change.

I was not expecting the ending. After all her maturing and grasping reality I was convinced that she was eventually going to come out of this very strong. I was speechless about the ending and I think it actually ruined the book for me.

My Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars.