Before I Fall discussion

Okay so this is one of my favorite books, so I'm happy to see a discussion out there!

:)

I think that Mr. Daimler was cool at first, I mean I think every girl has fantasized about having a cute teachers that flirts with them, but he did take it too far.

Anna I thought was weird. I mean, she was rude and mean and awkward. It's nice that Sam treated her well after and I think that helped but at first, I didn't like her at all. :)

I just finished this book and loved it!

I thought Mr. Daimler was a bit skeezy. He did take it too far, but as the book demonstrates, everyone makes mistakes, right? All of the comments that Kent made about him, however, made me think that that may not have been his only mistake and that he's just a slimeball with a thing for teenage girls.

I am conflicted about Anna. I liked her personality after we got to know her a little bit in the bathroom, but I can't get over the fact that she's messing around with someone else's boyfriend.

I love the flaws in all of the characters, it's refreshingly realistic :)

Mr. Daimler was a creep. He was apparently good looking and had an inflated ego. The scene where Sam finally sees him differently, wasn't out of character for him. She just finally realizes what he's really like - a pervy pedophile.

I actually forget some of the details about Anna. And even though this book wasn't my favorite, I like how you can see Sam mature. It happens with both of these characters. She finally sees what Mr. Daimler is like, and she finally realizes that despite Anna's reputation, she's a person who might actually be pretty nice if she took the time to get to know her instead of just spreading rumors and making fun of her like she used to do.

Anna is actually my favorite character in the book. I like how she isn't described that much, you don't get to know if she's pretty, or a brunette, tall etc. Anna is described as poor or "the only one who doesn't come from any money". She is also described as slut, an yeah, maybe she is, but i think it's because she's lonely or something. When Sam and Anna talks at the bathroom she kind of seems like she's afraid that anyone will get hurt. I think Anna is really nice, but because she doesn't have any friends she's blocking everyone(exempt for the guys) out so she won't be bullied or whatever.

Mr. Daimler on the other hand is simply an idiot. At first i really liked the spark and flirting between them, because this was at one point the only time Sam was happy. Further however, he seems more and more gross, and I'm glad sam said what she said during the 7th chapter

Anna was also my favourite character in the book. I've always hated the preconception that people always seem to have that being a slut automatically makes you an awful person. I think Anna just realised that there was no point in conforming with the rules of a society that had already damned her so she just did what she wanted without caring anymore. Yes, it was wrong for her to mess around with someone else's boyfriend, but all the other characters in the book seem to have committed social crimes which were equally as bad, Anna was just the only one who got her punishment. (Which I think was one of the main points of the book, popularity = free pass)

Meanwhile, as everyone else has pointed, Mr Daimler was really just pathetic and couldn't move on from his high school glory. Maybe he was intended to be a window into the futures of some of the other characters when they left high school and realised that no one cares anymore if you were homecoming queen or football captain or the guy who always knew where the best parties were or the girl with the most cupid day roses. The rest of the world moves on, but some people just can't.

I liked Anna. She was a nice person... well, maybe except the whole smoke-weed-dating-alex-thing. I didnt really have an opinion about her in the beginning, but after she talked to Sam it gave me a friendly impression of Anna.
Mr. Daimler... hes just really weird. I mean, what kind of teacher flirts with his students?? Yeah, we all wish we have a cute teacher, but i think what he did was a little... too much.

I liked Anna. She was a nice person... well, maybe except the whole smoke-weed-dating-alex-thing. I didnt really have an opinion about her in the beginning, but after she talked to Sam it gave me a friendly impression of Anna.
Mr. Daimler... hes just really weird. I mean, what kind of teacher flirts with his students?? Yeah, we all wish we have a cute teacher, but i think what he did was a little... too much.

I liked Anna too. Sure, she's not perfect and she's a slut, but that made her seem more realistic. And just because you smoke weed it doesn't mean you're a bad person.

Mr. Daimler was, as most of the kids realized so rightly, a perv.
(view spoiler)[A men in his position should not flirt with schoolgirls in such a manner, it only showed as Sam finally recognized, his desperation and inability to connect with mature women. More over, his blatant sexual harrassment of her shows him as a man with a dangerous lack of self-control. (hide spoiler)]

Anna, I think is only lonely.
Tried too hard and too often to fit in only to find her self slighted or attacked by the likes of Sam and company. I could easily relate to her and her character - it's what they make you become.

I'd disagree with calling Anna a slut, she's looking for "just a little of human touch" to say it with the words of the boss. And I found it bitterly ironic when Sam called Anna one, indirectly calling her friend Lindsay one who did exactly what rumour had Anna be doing, and what the hell kind of person do you have to be to go round and calling somebody you pretend to be best friends with a slut?

But then, I generally don't think much of the term "slut" as it is too specifically gendered.
Aimed solely at hurting girls and womens reputations.