I can’t stop thinking about Lauren Oliver’s novel “Before I Fall.” I just finished reading it a few days ago and it’s the kind of story that stays with you for a long time. Maybe forever. It’s the kind of novel that changes you, maybe for a moment, maybe for a lifetime. Whether the change is small or large, it’s the kind of story that makes you want to be a better person, a kinder person, a better wife, a better mom, a better friend. It’s the kind of story that makes you want to inhale and breathe in all the goodness and wonder of life and savor every single second of being alive.

Because you never know how much time you really have. That’s what her novel is about — how we spend our time, the kind of people we want to be, and what really matters when all is said and done. “Before I Fall” is the story of Samantha Kingston, a senior in high school, who dies in a car crash at the end of the day on February 12th. Then she relives that same day seven times making different choices until she finally unravels the mystery of why she’s stuck in this time loop. She’s not likeable when the story starts, but over the course of those seven days she sheds her old self and steps into her new one.

And as she changes so do you. Because “Before I Fall” is that kind of novel. The kind that changes you.

Get out the tissues, because the tears will be pouring at the end. This is a gorgeous, uplifting story about the capacity to change, the connectedness of all people and the meaning of every action, big and little.