Before I Fall

So I've been interning at this publishing company that publishes teen books (it's going great, btw, thanks for asking). As a result I've been learning about and reading more YA Lit (young adult literature). It's like, the fastest growing genre in publishing, or something like that. Crazy, crazy popular. One of the books that ALL the teen bloggers are blogging about is Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Two of my coworkers read it and loved it (to the point of watching the book trailer on YouTube) so I read it too. In a day.

Omg omg omg YA Lit is where it's at! Since teens have such short attention spans and generally don't like reading (why would you read when there's TV?) YA books have to be extremely compelling and total page turners. Lauren Oliver has got it down! I was at Barnes and Noble (because I was at the mall. Because I kind of love the mall.) and sat down to read the prologue and decide if I should get the book. I. Was. Hooked. Instantly! I bought it right away (in hardback, no less) and almost missed my stop on BART because I was so enthralled.

Before I Fall is the story of Sam, a high school senior who dies in a car accident at the beginning of the book. Through some weird circumstance she gets to relive the last day of her life seven times, and makes different choices each time. It's kind of like Groundhog Day, but in high school.

Lauren Oliver does such a good job portraying the high school experience. She puts in the little details that I forgot about but were so important in high school, like how North Face fleeces were really cool and certain cliques use certain bathrooms. She also does a good job of describing but not glorifying or condemning teen activities like drinking, smoking weed, and hooking up. She doesn't have a hidden agenda- she's just telling a good story.

I could not put this book down. I put off going to the bathroom just to read a few more pages. I got a really bad sunburn because I wasn't at a good enough stopping point to move to the shade. I cried in a coffee shop during the last chapter. I seriously read it in a day and it's 470 pages (kind of large font but not thaaaat large). YA Lit is not just for teens. I'm so so so hooked.

Here's the book trailer. I think book trailers are a really weird idea but I'm at the late end of the YouTube generation so I guess I don't count. But this one makes Kent, the love interest, look like a gomer and I have such a book crush on him. Oh wow, I sound like a teenager.