Before I Fall

On the Inner Flap
What if you only had one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all: the world's most crush-worthy boyfriend, three amazing best friends, and first pick of everything at Thomas Jefferson High -- from the best table in the cafeteria to the choicest parking spot. Friday, February 12, should be just another day in her charmed life.

Instead, it turns out to be her last.

Then she gets a second chance. Seven chances, in fact. Reliving her last day during one miraculous week, she will untangle the mystery surrounding her death -- and discover the true value of everything she is in danger of losing.

Maybe you can afford to wait. Maybe for you there's a tomorrow. Maybe for you there's one thousand tomorrows, or three thousand, or ten, so much time that you can bathe in it, roll around in it, let it slide like coins through your fingers. So much time you can waste it.

But for some of us there's only today. And the truth is, you never really know.

My Thoughts
After reading the first chapter of the book, I was hesitant to continue reading. The protagonist appeared to be a whiny, self-absorbed teenager, who revelled in her popularity. I didn't think I could take a whole book of it. I'm really glad I stuck it out though. Oliver writes in such a way that transports the reader back to high school, whether it brings back good or bad memories, and each morning Samantha wakes up again, she plays a slightly different character. There is a paragraph in the novel that I think sums up the journey Oliver takes us on:

"It amazes me how easy it is for things to change, how easy it is to start off down the same road you always take and wind up somewhere new. Just one false step, one pause, one detour, and you end up with new friends or a bad reputation or a boyfriend or a breakup. It's never occurred to me before; I've never been able to see it. And it makes me feel, weirdly, like maybe all of these different possibilities exist at the same time, like each moment we live has a thousand other moments layered underneath it that look different."

You go through the different turns Samantha  makes and how they have an effect on her and the people around her, making the reader think about their own mortality and question if they're making the right choices and living their lives in a way they really want. I got so sucked into the changes and the fine tuning of her personality, and kept wanting to know how she would 'wake up' the next morning based on the events that occurred during the day, at the same time, thinking about what I would have done in those situations.

I enjoyed this one a lot. Though it was a quick and easy read, it still had the ability to make me pause and contemplate my own life.


Wine Pairing
I made a trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake last week and stumbled across what I think is now my favourite winery in the region: Lailey Vineyard. Those of you who've read my blog would know that I typically don't enjoy red wines from the Niagara region (or Canada in general), but have decided to start trying them. I still dislike many of the reds I try here, but Lailey surprised me. I really liked their 2008 Meritage! I spent the whole day pronouncing it mĕ-rē-TÄZH, but apparently it's pronounced like "heritage" and is in fact a cross between the words "merit" and "heritage". Essentially, it's a Bordeaux style wine that can't use that name for the same reason bubbly not produced in the region of Champagne has to be called something else. But back to the story... because I rather liked this wine (and the other reds I tried), I figured, it would be a good reason to call it my favourite regional winery. According to Lailey's website, the wine is described as:

"a fairly even split between Merlot, Cab Sauv and Cab Franc, this is value-packed, incredibly rich and concentrated with excellent structure and fabulous flavour. Succulent mulberry, luscious black currant and spice-infused cherry wash over the palate. The oak and ripe, subtle tannin are seamlessly integrated and the aftertaste lingers." 

It was certainly a tasty treat: fruit forward, but not as robustly fruity as the Apothic I tried last week. Yes, you can get cheaper, more complex red wines from California, South Africa and Australia, but for a Niagara red, I think it was top notch. I also really like being able to buy direct from the vineyard as opposed to blindly selecting from the sea of options at the liquor store from faceless (to me) wineries. I'm excited to go back and try and buy more wine from them, and curious to try their new release Malbec.