Before I Fall

Well, maybe my description of boring could be expected. The main character lives the same day over and over again, as stated on the back cover, which honestly gets to be a bit of a drag by the third day. However, I think this book important because it deals with bullying and the results that can come of it. In the beginning, the main character, Sam Kingston, is just another annoying popular girl who disrespects everybody she comes across because, as she says early on, you can just ‘get away with things’ if you’re popular. Towards the end, though, she realizes the error of her ways and try’s her best to make them right. I would say that this does have some level of social educational value, as bullying is a serious issue that people don’t really know what to do with. I don’t know so much about positive messages. This book talks a little about how the characters had to change themselves to fit in and be popular, which isn’t a great message to be sending. There are few positive role models in this book. Sam’s friends are frequently unkind towards their classmates, and Sam’s boyfriend Rob is a total entitled jerk who thinks he’s better than Sam and has told her so. Sam herself is a snob for the majority of the story, but towards the end tries to be a good person. The only real role model in this story is Sam’s friend Kent, who is kind and supportive towards Sam, even though she isn’t to him. There is some violence in this novel. There are car crashes and talk about suicide with a gun, but nothing worse than other young adult novels out there these days. There is a lot of talk about sex in this novel. The main character plans to lose her virginity to her boyfriend, and there is a lot of kissing throughout the novel. The characters curse quite a bit throughout this book. A lot of brands are names. Most of the characters drink, Sam’s best friend Lindsay smokes all the time, and at one point in the story pot is smoked in the bathroom. I personally don’t like this novel, but it could be an interesting and romantic approach to death and the afterlife.