Book+Review

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver  Popular girl, Samantha Kingston thinks a lot about what she’s done during her seventeen years of life while reliving her last day, February 12, over and over again. Overall, Samantha is given seven chances to relive her last day, to figure out what went wrong, why she really died. Seven opportunities to change, to make things right. Seven days to save herself. When we first meet Sam, nothing very special is going on in her life. Sure, she’s part of the most popular clique in the school, but other than her superior social standing, she’s basically your average teenager. Her biggest concern of the morning, on her last day of her life, is over losing her virginity, which she plans on doing that night. Other than that she’s wondering how many roses she’ll have by the end of Cupid Day, and if she looks okay considering she slept in and didn’t have time to shower. Throughout Sam’s last day, she cheats on a test, flirts shamelessly with her calculus teacher, cuts class, gets drunk and treats her classmates like garbage; Sam and her friends are especially cruel to one girl in particular. All in all, it’s just a regular school day for Samantha Kingston. Clearly, I didn’t like Samantha Kingston at the beginning of this novel. She’s a horrible teenager, who is into herself and no one else. What’s even worse is the fact that she thinks so highly of herself and her friends, saying: “I’m not going to lie, though. It’s nice that everything is easy for us. It’s a good feeling knowing you can basically do whatever you want and there won’t be any consequences.” And then, “If high school were a game of poker, Lindsay, Ally, Elody and I would be holding 80 percent of the cards.” After Sam finishes recounting her last day, in which she clearly doesn’t come out looking so good, she tells us about how she died, then says: “Before you start pointing fingers, let me ask you: Is what I did really so bad? So bad I deserved to die? So bad I deserved to die like that? Is what I did really so much worse then what anybody else does? Is it really so much worse than what you do? Think about it.” I go to high school with girls like Samantha Kingston and her friends; we all do. I hate those girls. Who wants to read a story about a bunch of horrible teenagers? No one. But you know what? Sometimes, I’m not much better than those girls. Sometimes, none of us are much better than those girls. I gossip, lie, cheat, cut class, the works. And I treat people badly,peers and adults. But, I haven’t really spent too much time thinking about the person I could become, that is until Sam asks us if what she did is so much worse then what we do. That’s why I kept reading.

As Sam relives February 12, we see her grow and change. Though at first her attempts at being a better person are so half hearted you wonder if she’s actually trying. And yeah, I got frustrated with Sam. I wanted to yell at her, and shake her shoulder. I wanted her to change right away, to see her make the connection, but she didn’t. Then I remembered she’s a spoiled teenager that hasn’t been made to work for anything in her life. Remember, it was Sam herself who admitted: “It’s nice that everything is easy for us. It’s a good feeling knowing you can basically do whatever you want and there won’t be any consequences.” That’s Sam’s reality at the beginning of the story. But then Sam learns that Juliet Sykes, the girl Sam and her friends have been mercilessly cruel to over the year, kills herself in the middle 0f the night (early morning of February 13). Through this horrifying turn of events Sam is forced to take a good look at herself, at her friends, and what she sees drives her to an all-time low, when Sam hits bottom, she really hits bottom. Sam needs that low point, the chance to spiral out of control, even if it’s just for one day. Because it is only after she’s humbled that we see her make any significant changes. She starts to look at all she has (or rather, had) and be grateful for it. She looks at her family in a whole new light, and realizes just how much she loves them. She looks at her little sister specifically, sweet little seven year old who is proud of who she is. Sam realizes she admires her little sister because she embraces the things that make her different from all her peers. After Sam’s low point her thoughts, her ideas become downright beautiful/amazing. There were many times I stopped to reread passages, and even consider them for a bit. It’s at this point that my feelings from this book went from like to love. “Maybe you can afford to wait. Maybe for you there’s a tomorrow. Maybe for you there’s one thousand tomorrows, or three thousand, or ten, so much time you can bathe in it, roll around in it, let it slide like coins through your fingers. So much time you can waste it. But for some of us there’s only today. And the truth is, you never really know.” And no, Sam still doesn’t get things right away. She still struggles, but the important part is she’s really trying, really working. She learns from her mistakes, makes corrections. Sam realizes, despite her belief that she can’t be fixed, it’s never too late to change. Some of Sam’s changes don’t come until the 11th hour. But they do come. And yes, I love how this book ends. I know there are a few people that simply didn’t like this book because of how it ended, and for the life of me I cannot understand why. Any other ending would have been a complete cop-out. I happen to like ambiguous endings, because I get the opportunity to think about what I just read, can draw my own conclusions. I’m not going to say anything more because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif;">I love this book, it is one of my favorites. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this book since I finished reading it a few days ago, and because of that it will always have a home on my bookshelf.



<span style="color: #0095ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead." <span style="color: #0095ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">-Benjamin Franklin.

<span style="color: #0095ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The first book in the series, Pretty Little Liars, is about five best friends - Emily, Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Alison. Alison is the girl everyone loves, but secretly hates because they’re envious. She is what you could call the secret keeper of the clique, the one that holds the deepest and darkest secrets of each of the girls that nobody else knows and that they wouldn't dare share with another person. During a sleepover in seventh grade, something happens, Alison has walked out the door after a fight and their best friend has disappeared. Rosewood doesn’t seem so picture perfect anymore…

<span style="color: #0095ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Fast forward a few years later and the four girls are now juniors in high school at Rosewood Day. They have different social groups and none of them have talked since the disappearance of Alison. What brings them together again? Nothing they would have ever guessed. They're all receiving secret messages from an anonymous sender who goes by -A. Not just any messages though - but their secrets that vanished with their best friend and things that are going on in their lives today that they would rather keep hidden.

<span style="color: #0095ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Emily is testing the bounds of her new friendship with Maya, Aria is doing a little extra credit for English with her teacher, Hanna had vanity insanity and went too far for perfection and old habits are hard to break, and Spencer is getting a little too close to what isn't hers which is her sister's boyfriend. Unless the girls do exactly what -A says, their secrets will become everyone’s news. Who is -A? Why are they doing this? Did their best friend, Alison, come back? What exactly is the big Jenna secret? These are all of the things that are itching to be answered. Read and find out.

<span style="color: #0095ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">It's a light, fun and easy read that you can definitely read in one sitting because you don't want to put it down until you've found everything out to tie up all the loose ends of the story. Pretty Little Liars has drama and cliffhangers that keep you on your toes and at the edge of your seat.

<span style="color: #0095ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Next book is Flawless.

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<span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Kristina is a bright, good kid. But now, Kristina is gone. Bree has taken her place. Bree is dangerous. Bree is willing to try anything. Bree craves the monster. Bree craves crank.

<span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Crank is a novel, in verse, detailing Kristina’s transformation into Bree. On a trip to visit her father, Kristina meets Adam. Adam introduces her to crank. But even before that fateful trip, Kristina had felt Bree’s presence. Kristina never would have even spoken to Adam. That was all Bree. Kristina never would have been attracted to Chase or Brendan. But to Bree, they’re catnip. Kristina never would have made the choices Bree made. But Bree is in control now.

<span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Hopkins does an excellent job of making Kristina’s transformation into Bree seem realistic, and of making the distinction between Kristina and Bree clear without suggesting mental illness. Bree does not exist because of the crank; Bree causes the crank to happen. Bree exists beneath the surface long before the drugs set her free. The novel is heartbreaking—the reader can see where Kristina is headed, but never stops hoping that something will turn her from her path.

<span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">The use of verse is particularly effective in this novel. Even the formatting of the poems is significant. I was originally quite skeptical about this format, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and felt that the use of this format added an extra dimension to the story.

<span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Many teens will identify with the concept of having a secret “other half,” a personality that is quite different from their own—who is fearless and exciting. While Crank is not preachy, it does have a fairly clear anti-drug message that may be more effective than a more heavy-handed approach.

<span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">My only quibble with the novel is Kristina’s parents’ reaction to her drug use. Her stepfather, Scott, recognized the signs of addiction, but her parents ultimately did nothing save grounding her. It was established that her parents had some knowledge of the drug scene dating back to their youth, but did not use this knowledge to help her. I found that unrealistic. <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;"> <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Life was good <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">before I <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">met <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">the monster. <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">After, <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">life <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">was great, <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">At <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">least <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">for a little while. <span style="color: #ff0068; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif;">Like a seed planted in your body, Crank is an unforgettable read that sweeps you up into a whirlwind of drugs, sex, and the choices and mistakes you must make when growing up. After I finished this novel, a little invisible demon grew at my side and will forever travel at tmy shoulder-whispering this story and its consequences into my shuddering ears. Read this book, you will never do meth and will always remember what Kristina/Bree went through.