Samantha Kingston is used to getting what she wants: from her parents, from stores, from her friends, and from her foes. This is because Sam is popular. And to be popular, Sam wasn't always very nice. This lifestyle works for her, though - that is, until February 12, when everything changes. The day starts off like every other, except perhaps for her school's Cupid Day celebration. Even the night-time party she attends isn't an oddity. Sam's life is forever altered, however, when in a terrible accident after the party, Sam dies. Except she wakes up the next day, only to find that it's Cupid Day all over again. Sam finally has a chance to correct her mistakes, but will she take it? Or will her desire for popularity be all that is remembered of her when she is gone?
I did end up enjoying this book, although it took me more time than it usually does to tell. This was largely due to the character of Sam. Sam was a narcissist, clean and simple, and I couldn't stand her for four days, give or take, after her first death. The writing was good, the high school scenarios weren't entirely unreasonable, and the characters were believable, but Sam drove me crazy. I kept thinking, why? Why would you do this? Why are you such a b****? Her actions, the things she said, even the things she put up with from her friends, all annoyed me to the point of not liking the first half of this book. After Sam began to slowly change, however, and I could tolerate or at least better understand some of the more cruel things she still did, I was able to appreciate the rest of the book.
One thing I was able to appreciate throughout the entire book was the rate of Sam's personal growth. Part of the reason I disliked her so strongly in the beginning was because she was relatively the same person, with hardly any changes, despite the huge life events that had occurred. She didn't go through a magical transformation and become a better person in one sitting. So, although this contributed to my dislike of her character, it also made the story more believable. Believability and closeness to reality is always exceptionally important in fantasy novels such as this, so I did enjoy that aspect of the plot. However, this slowness (and the fact that Sam was living the exact same day over and over) did make several scenes feel quite repetitive. Although this, again, added to the level of believability, it also made the reading a bit tedious.
I listened to the audiobook version of this story, which makes my next issue a bit more specific. Although I'd previously listened to some other novels narrated by Sarah Drew and have no issue with her pace or intonation in general, the voice she used for Kent drove me mad. Kent is supposed to be the real love interest, but the voice Sarah used was the stereotypical nasally nerd voice. Maybe Kent is supposed to be slightly nerdy, but he was also supposed to be somewhat popular, and the annoying voice Drew assigned to him completely turned me off of any possibility of a romance between him and Sam. This is one case in which I may have been better off just reading a physical copy of the book.
The final issue I had was with the ending of the story. Yes, perhaps Sam did make several better choices, and became a better person. She still wasn't perfect, and that's okay, because real life isn't perfect. But she turned a complete 180 on Kent, who'd had a crush on her for the longest time, and changed herself into a better person in his eyes. Then she died again, as she'd known she was going to, which I found completely cruel. If Sam really had been a better person, and known she was going to die, wouldn't it have been a better choice to ignore Kent altogether? Let him be to avoid additional suffering on his part? I thought the ending left much to be desired, which was definitely partly intentional, but the majority of my displeasure stemmed from the way Sam left things, instead of just the fact that she left.
Although I had several problems with this novel, I did ultimately enjoy it, so I will award it a rating of three stars. Although Sam's personality bothered me terribly, I wouldn't change it - it's critical to the storyline. And although the ending annoyed me worst of all, I don't think I'd change it either. It's one final reflection on Sam's character. I would recommend this novel for readers who enjoy high school drama, life after death (literally), and chances at redemption.
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