Before I Fall

Like Adam Silvera's They Both Die at the End and Colleen Hoover's It Ends with Us, Before I Fall raises thought-provoking questions about love, death, and how one person's life can affect so many others. With this stunning debut novel, New York Times bestselling author Lauren Oliver emerged as one of today's foremost authors of young adult fiction.

For popular high school senior Samantha Kingston, February 12—"Cupid Day"—should be one big party, a day of valentines and roses and the privileges that come with being at the top of the social pyramid. And it is…until she dies in a terrible accident that night.

However, she still wakes up the next morning. In fact, Sam lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she ever imagined.

Before I Fall is now a major motion picture Zoey Deutch, Halston Sage, and Kian Lawley. Named to numerous state reading lists, the novel was also recognized as a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Daily Beast, NPR, and Publishers Weekly.

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Published Jun 1, 2021

544 pages

Average rating: 7.2

85 RATINGS

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Liliana Milano

Jul 12, 2025

6/10 stars

Dulce y entretenido. En realidad en mi escala es un 3.5. Tiene sentimiento, pero Samantha se me hizo tan superficial 80% del libro que sólo al final logré contactar emocionalmente con ella... y es ahí cuando sentí la calidez y pasión que esperaba encontrar en un libro de Lauren Oliver. Es un libro entretenido, sólo que el tema de la muerte y redención en mi opinión tiene tanta tela que cortar que me encontré durante 300 páginas casi tocando algo hermoso pero sin poder sumergirme en ello. Un poquitín frustrantre.

nina.denise

Jan 31, 2025

9/10 stars

I can’t explain it well without revealing even the simplest thing but I just absolutely love this book

brismel

Feb 01, 2024

8/10 stars

Review: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver When I first picked up this novel, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it. I found myself not particularly liking the main character, her friends and their actions. Samantha Kingston is a girl most of us knew in high school. She's popular, loud, and doesn't seem to care what other's think of her. She's the type of girl who knows how to get a reaction when she wants it. Not exactly someone I'd fondly relate to. I then realized that Oliver's writing is actually the opposite because it shows just what kind of person Sam and her friends are.I love how Oliver set up the book. Each chapter represents a day that Sam repeats. With only seven chapters, each one is broken down into smaller parts. Despite Sam repeating the day multiple times, it doesn't grow old or boring. Oliver makes each day unique and heartbreaking despite having the same events happen over and over.How Samantha reacts to replaying February 12th over and over again is easily believable as she runs a gauntlet of emotions each time she repeats the day. She does what most people would do if they were in this situation: first think they were going crazy, then rebel and do things they wouldn't normally do, and last accept what is happening.Throughout the course of the book, you realize that deep down Sam is not simply a “Mean Girl”. Oliver creates a depth and realness about Samantha that you can't help but want to root for her to make the right decisions. You might start off despising the popular girl, but in the end she'll have you in tears.This book is a cross between Mean Girls and Groundhog Day and so much more. Lauren Oliver's writing is refreshing and portrays the teenage mindset perfectly.

elliereale

Nov 11, 2023

7/10 stars

better than the movie

E Clou

May 10, 2023

6/10 stars

Groundhog's Day for Mean Girls.