Mundie Moms

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Flashback Friday (The Saturday Edition) Audiobook Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Written by: Lauren Oliver
Narrator: Sarah Drew
Publisher: Harper Collins/Harper Audio
Release Date: February 17, 2010
Source: Borrowed from library
Puchase: IndieBound | Barnes and Noble | amazon

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars -- it's a good story.
Goodreads:  Before I Fall

Synopsis: What if you had only 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: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High—from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.

Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day 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.

What would you do if you could have seven chances to re-live the last day of your life and get it right. Or as right as you could get it. Hmmm, I honestly wasn't sure if I'd like this story because Samantha is far from sympathetic. In fact, she's the opposite. Stuck-up, full of herself and her equally popular friends, she's one of the "it" girls designed to make an average girl's life miserable. Well, at least in high school.

Should be a boring read, right? Wrong. This book is written by Lauren Oliver, so you know right away that there will be more complexity in both character and plot than first meets the eye. While I really disliked Samantha (at first), I understood that Lauren wrote her so we could see how she could change her life. Maybe.

We're never quite sure with Samantha. Like with most of us, change doesn't come easily to her. Knowing that she's re-living her last day, she tries things that she wouldn't have tried. But then somewhere around her third iteration, she realizes that perhaps, perhaps she was meant to set things right. So she goes about discovering what appear to be minor things like why her group was always so mean to one girl. The secrets she trips across left deep scars. Ones that Samantha knows only she, with her current repetitive cycle of days, can right. So she goes about correcting these wrongs.

It takes her a few tries, and I appreciated that because no one can get anything quite right on the first go (feel free to ask my oldest child for reference in this matter ;)). Lauren's writes with her usual flawless precision and Sarah Drew, the narrator, does a beautiful job of sounding just like Sam, in turn, confident, manipulative, funny, sweet and heart-breakingly right. The ending is, okay absolutely no spoilers here, well perfect.

I'm so glad that I borrowed this audiobook from the library. It gave me a chance to see Lauren's style but in a completely different setting/plot than her Delirium series. If you're  fan of Lauren Oliver, then this is a must-read.

More Cassandra Jean Fanart


Isn't this pic way too fun? LOL. Mhmm, Heronstairs. Thanks Cassandra Jean!

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