One of the Million Ways to Fall

"What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?” Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver

There are probably a million ways to fall, and a million metaphors using the word fall… but what if falling meant dying?

I found this book a few weeks into the summer at a bookstore shortly after it was published. At first I didn’t know if I would actually want to read it though because, being a new book, there was only a hardback copy, and it wasn’t actually at the library yet (but it did appear there towards the end of the summer…). But in the end, I decided to get it because it seemed a little different than all of the other new books that were about mythical creatures falling in love with humans and such… This book also was not about the main character searching for a way to fit in with everyone else, so I assumed the end would not be like all those other books where the person figures out that they are perfect the way they are and stuff, which was a relief because so many books just seem to be the same now a days…

After pretty much sitting down and reading it without stopping (and it’s a fairly long book, depending on your idea of long, but it’s almost 500 pages), I figured out that I loved the book. It’s not that I identified with the character or the story, but I kind of identified with the writing. I’m not saying it was amazing good and out of the ordinary… that’s up to whoever reads it. But it was mostly written the way I think. Almost in circles, making everything connected and stuff. But that’s probably not that interesting… SO. To summarize this book without giving away the ending…

Sam Kingston and her 3 best friends are the most popular girls in their school. Sam has what could seem like a perfect life, and she’s happy… but then on 12 February she dies. She doesn’t see herself after her death or anything, she just knows the second before she dies that she is about to. And it’s clear that she’s gone forever… Except that she wakes up the next morning, and it’s 12 February again. This happens 7 times. She gets 7 chances to go through this one day of her life, but more importantly, she gets 7 chances to go through her death. She gets 7 chances to figure out why she has to die.

- Wenlan