Review: Before I Fall

Title: Before I Fall
Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: Young Adult
Recommended If You Like: high school stories, character-driven tales, psychological insight, nostalgia, Groundhog Day

The Book:

Samantha is popular, with a gorgeous boyfriend and a group of best friends others in the school would die to be a part of. But it's Samantha who dies-and then wakes up, to relieve that last day of her life over and over again.

What does Samantha need to do to get it right this time? To figure it out, she will have to decide what really matters to her, and what is truly important in life.

What I Liked:

Oliver made high school come alive all over again for me in this book. I felt like I was right there with the characters, and it made me remember so vividly what it was like to be that age, riding in my best friend's car, music blasting.

This is also such an interesting concept for a book, and Oliver pulls it off well. Things never seen repetitive or boring, and there is a lot of suspense.

Anything I Didn't Like?

I sometimes felt like character development was a bit rushed. Despite this being a long book (over 400 pages), some characters still felt a bit one dimensional, with Oliver adding in details to flesh them out that just didn't really come together for me. I sometimes struggled with understanding the characters' motivations, even the main character and the reasoning behind her big changes.

So..?

This is a book I enjoyed, and that kept me interested--I flew through it, despite its length. But I didn't love it. Despite how well Oliver made the characters come alive, they still didn't feel as developed and three dimensional as I wanted them to be.