Group Discussion: Before I Fall

Hello dear readers!

Today's post is a reflection of my group's discussion of Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.  If you need a refresher, the original review of the book can be found here.  And as always, this will contain spoilers.

One of the biggest things we talked about in my group was whether or not Sam was actually reliving each day.  One girl proposed that maybe Sam was comatose and the whole thing was happening in her head.  I hadn't thought about it like that.  The group was then pretty evenly split between those who thought that was the case and those who thought she was really reliving each day.

For me, the story loses something if she's in a comatose state.  The changes in Sam's life aren't as impactful and it makes me wonder what the point was.  So I believe, for the sake of my own reading sanity, that she really was reliving each day.

Another thing that came up was how impressed we all were at the fact that this is Lauren Oliver's first novel.  It's incredibly complex and a bold move for a first book.  Which is why we believe it got picked up and published; the concept is huge.

We also talked about the compassion aspect as well.  The big thing all of us took away from the book is that it is never too late to change how you treat people, to be a kind human being.  You never know how your actions will affect those around you, and it's so important to be kind and compassionate.  It could save someone's life.

Finally, we discussed some things we wanted to ask Lauren at our upcoming Skype session.  We decided we wanted to ask about whether or not Sam really was reliving each day and about her writing techniques and practices.

(Note:  I was really sick the day of the Skype session.  If I had been there, it would have it's own blog entery.  What I gathered from those who were there is that Lauren was very positive that Sam did in fact relive every day in reality.  She also gave some great advice about writing, specifically setting a word count goal.  Her's is currently 1000 words a day, but she recommended that you start at 80 a day and work your way up.  So disappointed I missed!)

Overall, all of our group members really enjoyed the book.  We would recommend it for all high school students and adults alike.

~Meaghan