Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall intrigued me. From page one, the main character Samantha announces she will die. Therefore, you assume that you will spend one day with her. And you do, or do you?
For most of this read, I wanted to close the cover and not pick it back up, for I did not like the main character, nor her friends. If they are typical high school girls, then, well...oh, my.
So why did I keep reading it? Two reasons: 1) Peer Lisa Huff had loaned me the novel, and I was reading it based on her recommendation. 2) I am reading along with my students, and I had a novel due last Tuesday! Had to keep reading!
Within our class, we are currently reading novels that support or thematic unit A Pioneer Never Quits. This one definitely fits within that category as Samantha pioneers to the betterment of all.
This novel reminded me of Jay Asher's Th1rteen R3asons Why and Khaled Housseni's A Thousand Splendid Suns, two of my favorite novels. Not because I liked them, for the content was harsh, but because of the impact of the novel on who I am...or was. Novels such as these change the reader. You close the back cover thinking I grew as a person; my awareness grew of the conditions surrounding these three main characters. I am not the person I was before I began the novel.
Therein, lies the success of the novel. Read Before I Fall, knowing that you will fall with the main character several times but that in the end, you will stand a stronger character for having read the pages of the journey.
480 Pages = 2 books
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