Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver

They say ‘live every day as if it’s your last’ – but you never actually think it’s going to be. At least I didn’t.

The thing is, you don’t get to know when it happens. You don’t remember to tell your family that you love them or – in my case – remember to say goodbye to them at all.

But what if, like me, you could live your last day over and over again? Could you make it perfect? If your whole life flashed before your eyes, would you have no regrets? Or are there some things you’d want to change...?

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It's been mentioned a few dozen times before in reviews, but I have to agree..... This is a mix of Mean Girls and Groundhog Day and it's a brilliant mix of the two.

The lead character isn't likeable. She's hateful, but by the end of the book I was cheering her on to succeed in what she was aiming for. What she is aiming for isn't exactly clear in the beginning (not to her and not to us either) and as things start to unravel and fall into place it makes for uncomfortable reading in some places. She (Sam) goes on a journey of self awareness and by the end I was ripping through the pages to see if she could make ammends.

The story spans 7 days and each day has it's own chapter. Each day a little more falls into place and things that made no sense or seemed insignificant the day before take on a much greater meaning when we begin to see the big picture. Sam's seeing the big picture right along with us though and it's bittersweet to see her put things right one day, only to have to start all over again the next day. She takes with her from day to day, the knowledge from the previous day(s) though and it's a steep learning curve for her as she realises that changes need to be made if she's going to get through this.

It wasn't until the very last chapter that I half guessed what her goal was and when the realisation hit me I was desperate for her to succeed and I read into the wee hours just so I could sleep easy as it's impossible not to go over and over and over the events in the book and think how it could turn out differently with different actions....... Which is exactly what Sam is experiencing too and it's wonderful to see her make and re-make the changes that shape each day.

Brilliant book and I highly recommend it. It's the first book in ages that I haven't been able to put down. I just wanted more days and then more days.....poor Sam would have been stuck in a loop forever but I just didn't want it to end......

I wish more books could be as good as this one and I'll definitely look out for more books by this author. I hope there are many, many more to come.