The Day Before Review

Date Published: June 28, 2011

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Page Number:  307

Publisher:  Simon Pulse

First Thoughts:

I read this book about a month or so back but I just now sat down to write a review, it wasn’t that I didn’t like it, it was just I didn’t have the time. Anyways there’s several things about this book that were new to me, one of them being is the style it was written in, this was my first verse book, I’ve never read any of Ellen Hopkins books or any other books written in verse, I always thought it would just be too awkward and just weird but this book proved me wrong, though I won’t always go with a book with this style I will be more open to reading books written in verse. There was just so much to the shortness of writing that it gave the story a much deeper level and foundation.

Plot:

Believe it or not the plot itself was just like any other book’s plot, there was all of the steps it took to tell a good story, even the end was well concluded and wrapped up. I loved the way this author chose to tell the story, it wasn’t hard to follow along and the way she chose to end each set made it even the stronger. Though I felt the end to be concluded I do secretly wish that we could have gotten more of “After” though in no way was it necessary to say anymore, I felt that it would have been nice to see just a little bit more, to really get a great picture of the days after. I also thought the letters within the pages were very well strategically placed; they helped us understand in better depth what our main character had to deal with, it was like getting to peek into her life with a magnifying glass. And every time a letter came up I felt it was at just the right moment, it slowed leaked information alongside the storyline. As for the romance I thought it was really good, it wasn’t over-powering and though this book mainly took place within a days’ time I felt with the length of  book that the romance was gradual and never rushed…it seemed there was resistance at first which you don’t always get in young romance these days. Though I wouldn’t consider their romance to be gooey or gushy it did have a warm feeling to it and had a few raw edges. The pace of this book was very fast, one thing I’ve learned about verse is that even though this book was over 300 pages it took me less than half the time to read a book that long, it really only took a couple of hours, but I guess the pace of the book in addition to a great story helped speed things along. It was an overall good story and the plot didn’t really like in any areas.

Characters:

I felt the author did a good job creating two strong main protagonists. We were able to see the unique qualities to each one and they were very realistic in the terms of them being able to exist in our world. And within the verse of the story it was really easy to see who was who and see them adapt to within the changes in the story. We were really able to see within their minds and mini worlds to figure out just what makes them feel the way they do. But as far as the other characters went (there were actually very few) they were just kind of there, we were able to get a view of them but I just wasn’t able to connect with them like I could with the two main characters. I guess in the end though it would have been nice to see some good well-built minor characters it wasn’t that hurtful in the grand scheme of things.

Transformation of the Character:

This was a good aspect of the book, we were able to see these characters start one way and see a gradual change throughout the book. As far as the quality of the transformations they were good but I kind of think in a way they were too rushed, like maybe the length of time it took them to make that transformation was too short but then again a lot can happen in just one short day; it can really change a person so in the end I don’t know what to think of that aspect of the transformation.

Description:

I really liked the description in this book; the way the author was able to take simple feelings or ideas and put it into words was so creative and fun. I’ll never forget the meaning she had behind the glitter…it was just so beautiful and fun to read. Each set in a way had its own theme and it was just cool to see these sets blend in with each other…to tell a story but at the same time create an almost mini world…it was definitely fun to read. This book’s description was lyrical at times but also just like any other book but just in this case the lines were broken down differently than a traditional book. As for the dialogue surprisingly to me there was some, though not a lot. It was really cool to hear the voice of the characters instead of description all of the time.

Style:

Though I wouldn’t say this type of style is for me I did enjoy it for this book, it only took a minor adjusting period to get used to how the book worked.  This author’s style of writing was very good for this story, I think for this particular author writing in verse is what she’d do best because just by reading just one story by her I could tell she knew what she was doing; she knew how separate each set and make it flow in a way to allow the story to be told in a nice gradual and smooth way. So overall I liked this author’s style of writing but I’m still not sure if verse is for me.

Quote of the book:

“It's like

the silence

that follows

 the beautiful song.

Or

the darkness

that follows

 the glitter in the air.

He knew

what to do

to make it better.

As I walk toward

the door,

I take a deep breath.

I know

what to do

to make it better.

As he

embraced me,

I will

try to embrace

this day

that follows

 the day before.”

Goodreads Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Amber, hoping to spend one perfect day alone at the beach before her world is turned upside down, meets and feels a strong connection to Cade, who is looking for his own escape, for a very different reason.

Last Thoughts:

I would recommend this to any reader who enjoys reading verse and likes a good cute story. I wouldn’t recommend this if you don’t like reading verse and even if you haven’t read any story with verse I would say give it a try, if you don’t like it at least you know that verse just isn’t for you. I really did enjoy this book, I liked that even though some of the things were serious it wasn’t really necessarily a deep read; it had a lightness to it. I would definitely consider reading the other books this author has written, she really does have a way with words, and overall I enjoyed the book and can’t wait to expand my reading world.

My Rating: