- Paperback: 352 pages Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (4 Mar 2010)
Genre: Young Adult Source: Bought- Rating:
My Thoughts - I recall being a few pages into the book and thinking "wow I really do not like this girl." I mean it happens oddly enough, but it doesn’t change my thoughts on the overall story - plus I knew her and her attitude had a huge significance to the book so I waited. For a very long time as I read on I still did not like her. I frankly thought she was a selfish bitch and went along with everything her stupid friends did knowing it was stupid. Here is the thing I have with Sam. her friends are pretty much stuck up spoilt brats; they are well off but have their fair share of family problems, well, don't we all? Am I supposed to feel sorry for them? I don't think so, nothing excuses bullying, nothing.
Yet Sam wasn't brought up to act selfish, no, she was your average kid once with a loving family; not popular since she faced some bullying, so she knows how it feels. She even faced it from one of her twinnies; being "miss I am the leader Lindsey" yet the second Lindsey realised she existed and approached her she went right along with her and never looked back, never asked why were you so mean to me, why do you want to be friends now? Instead she followed her and was perfectly happy with being horrible to others. She became Lindsey and didn't care that she knew exactly how it felt to be in their shoes. Another thought struck constantly; how many lives do you need to get a clue, to fix something. Shouldn't it be obvious the first time you die and get a chance, the next even? Why so many tries. Are you that oblivious? You see it’s easy to be part of the crowd but so much harder to stand up for what you feel is right - Sam took the easy way out and lost my respect in doing so.
I'm being mean aren't I? I doubt it's the review you expected and trust me until my fingers hit the keys I did not either.
On the night of the crash Sam is supposed to die and go wherever you’re supposed to go when you die. Instead she wakes up and relives the same day; the day she died. She realises that there is something she needs to put right, but what? Sam along with her friends; Ally, Elody and Lindsey have done their fair share of hurting so where does she even begin? It could begin with boyfriend Rob who wants nothing more than to sleep with her, or perhaps Kent who has been crushing on her forever who she doesn't deem to be on her level, or maybe even Juliet who has been bullied by Lindsey without reason, or so they all think.
However I am not saying that I did not grow to like the book or Sam because I did; liking the book wasn't ever a thought because I loved it from the start. It was situations in the book that hit a nerve. I think a large part of it was the bullying. I hated seeing the look on Juliet's face, hated how Sam ignored it all for so long and never thought to question things until she died freaking 4 or 5 times. Do you get why I’m angry in a sense. If you can't understand what you have done wrong or can’t fix something because you have messed things up to such a measure even after have 3 chances then I really feel you damn well don’t deserve any more. She got more though.
Feeling confused would be an understatement right now. The plot itself or the writing is not what brings this novel down, but perhaps the characters. I simply could not get past how cruel Sam and her friends were. Despite her changing as a person I couldn’t forget how ruthless and horrible she once was, I couldn’t forgive her. I can spot a fantastic book when I read it and I know many people have fallen in love with this novel which at times even made me question the thoughts I was having towards it, but I can’t help how I feel. After everything that happens yes some things change, but really, seriously? How many people really really change? Not many and I am not okay with that. I really liked Kent and felt he was too good for Sam anyway. I really liked Juliet and her younger sister. In a way I wanted to know more about Juliet. I felt that it would have helped if the reader was able to know Juliet on a more personal level. We are kept at arms length a lot of the time - I now understand that it is essential to the story but it doesn’t mean I have to precisely agree with it.
Yes I was emotional at times and as a book lover I can see what people adore so much about Sam and her story, but perhaps I am just not meant to fall in love with it also. This is the first time I have considered and sat down and had a real think about my feelings for a novel. What I will say is that it is worth every penny. You can't not like this book because of the plot or writing because it is beautifully written as I mentioned previously. I think in this case it's something different. I'm just finding it difficult to pin-point what that exactly is.There is no overall conclusion for me. I analysed and came back in the same frame of mind. Sam and her friends were just not my cup of tea and that hindered me from enjoying the book altogether, Shame.
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