Read: June 3, 2012
Summary: It’s Friday, February 12 and we’re introduced to Samantha Kingston, a popular high school student. In light of Valentine’s day over the weekend, the school is celebrating friendships, relationships, and popularity. Sam and her group of friends are self-consumed and oblivious of their actions impact on others. But after a late-night party everything goes terribly wrong, and the life that she lived is gone forever.
In the blink of an eye, Sam experiences a horrific car crash and is the beginning of a horrific afterlife experience. Sam wakes up on Friday, February 12th again and again – reliving the same day seven times. The first few days, she is her usual obnoxious, thoughtless, and reckless self, but over the course of the week, Sam gradually transforms. Following Sam’s character, we easily see her transitioning from mean girl through stages of anger, moroseness, hopelessness, and regret, until she reaches a state of acceptance. The secondary characters are interestingly voiced in relation to Sam and her transformation.
My thoughts: This book wasn’t an exciting read. I didn’t know anything about this particularly book and accidentally came across it at the library. Although the story wasn’t captivating, it was super easy and very quick to get through. At times I felt like it was a chore to get read and wanted it to end. Given the story and the repeat of the same day, there wasn’t enough twists to keep me interested. It may be a captivating, relatable story for a teenage girl but it’s not so for adults reading the book.
