I am almost finished with your book Before I Fall. I have really enjoyed the book so far, as well as the other books I have read by you. The main character, Sam, is very interesting, and I like seeing the story through her point of view. You can see how she has changed throughout the book, and even though I didn't like her in the beginning of the book, the way she changed made her more likeable and relatable.
My favorite part was when Sam started to see the whole world differently, but the thing that changed the most was the way she saw her classmates: her friends and enemies. I like the quote on page 370 that says, "I've been in high school with all these people forever, they look different, unfamiliar, and when they smile at me I just see teeth everywhere, like piranhas getting ready to eat." This is a nice indirect way of showing how she didn't pay attention to much before, but later not only was she paying attention, she saw the problems with people that she associated herself with. On page 371 Sam thinks, "I feel like a curtain has dropped away and I'm seeing people for who they really are, different and sharp and unknowable." She realized that she hadn't made the best choices in the past and that these people weren't exactly who she thought they were.
Another quote I really like is on page 394. "I remember a story I once heard about drowning: that when you fall into cold water it's not that you drown right away but that the cold disorients you and makes you think that down is up and up is down, so you may be swimming, swimming, swimming for your life in the wrong direction, all the way toward the bottom until you sink. That's how I feel, as though everything has been turned around." I really like the comparison of drowning to how Sam was feeling. I think that it help the reader understand how differently she sees the world, and how it can also be kind of confusing. Overall, I really like this book and think it is very interesting and it makes you think.
Sincerely,
Allison Miller
Author Lauren Oliver
I really like how you used three different quotes to show how the main character has changed, and how the quote shows that she has changed, without giving too much away.
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