David Levithan
Series: None
Release Date: August 28th, 2012
Publisher: Knopf
Number of Pages: 304
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.Despite what you might think from my rating, I really, truly loved this book. I want to give this book a full five star rating so much, but, regardless of how much I think this book deserves a five star rating, and how much I want to give it a five star rating, I just can't bring myself to give it that.
Every morning, A wakes in a different person’s body, a different person’s life. There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.
With his new novel, David Levithan has pushed himself to new creative heights. He has written a captivating story that will fascinate readers as they begin to comprehend the complexities of life and love in A’s world, as A and Rhiannon seek to discover if you can truly love someone who is destined to change every day.
A doesn't have a determined gender, a determined family, or even a determined name. Each and every day, A finds himself waking up in a new body, experiencing a day in the life of the body he's living in. One day, A finds himself in the body of Justin - a rude and careless sixteen year old boy. What A thinks will just be another day in the life of a high school jock turns out to be completely different, when A meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. Soon enough, A finds himself falling in love with Rhiannon, and wants to be with her every day, but, given the circumstances, he's unable to. So arises the question: can you be loved by a single person, and be in love with a single person, if you're a different person every day?
I've heard great things about David Levithan, so when I saw this book show up on my Goodreads feed, and on NetGalley the same day, I decided to request it, given the extremely intriguing synopsis and the large amount of hype the author's been getting from trusted friend's of mine.
Right from the start I was unable to put this book down, and I read the first half of Every Day in one sitting. The premise is thoroughly interesting, the main character is kind (though more on him soon), and the love interest is likable in every way, and it was extremely easy for me to empathize with her.
Just by reading the synopsis, I was able to tell that there was going to be insta-love (sort of?) in this book. (One question: do you consider it insta-love if the love isn't entirely mutual at first?) So yes, A falls in love with Rhiannon within an hour or two of meeting her, but still, the relationship between A and Rhiannon is so well developed that it doesn't feel like insta-love. That being said, while there was a presence of insta-love (or not, depending on your answer to the aforementioned question), the insta-love is not the reason I'm giving this book a rating of 4.5 stars and not 5.
The one and only reason I can't bring myself to giving this book five stars is because of the narrator, A. A is sweet and kind in every way imaginable, but there is a very large portion of this book - if not the first three quarters of it - where he turns into the obsessive love interest we see much to often in YA. At times, I just found A to be creepy, and way too overly obsessive towards Rhiannon. He says that he loves Rhiannon frequently, and every morning, when he wakes up in a different person's body, he finds out what town his current body lives in and determines how far away that town is from the town in which Rhiannon lives so that he can drive to Rhiannon's town and see her. Maybe if this were something that had only happened in the first quarter of the book I'd be giving Every Day a full five stars, but his obsessiveness towards Rhiannon took up way too large of a portion in Every Day.
Like I mentioned earlier, Rhiannon is an extremely likable character, and she was incredibly easy for me to empathize with soon in the book. Rhiannon is in a relationship with Justin, who treats her horribly. Knowing that there's more to Justin, and hoping that he'll go back to how he used to be when they first started dating, Rhiannon sticks with Justin, even though he doesn't treat her well. Then, A comes into her life and treats her with respect in love - how she's always wanted to be treated - and she finds herself at a crossroads. (That does not mean there's a love triangle, so don't worry.)
Levithan's writing is refreshing and crisp, and it makes for easy and quick reading. As well as that, the plot is brilliant and is executed amazing, and the pacing is perfect. The plot twist(s) are, for the most part, unpredictable, and the book ends with a bang, and then, following the bang, me crying.
Brilliant, sweet, and heartwarming, Every Day will be a book that will linger with me for a while, as well as the amazing and emotional relationship that is A and Rhiannon's. This was my first book by David Levithan, but I can assure you that it will not be my last. And if this book is a true testament to Levithan's writing, I cannot wait to read his other works.
It's interesting to see other people's takes on books I liked or disliked. This book fell into the latter category for me. In fact, it's probably the book that's going to make me avoid the author's books in the future.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the premise, but I thought the author's handling of it was pretty weak. I'm also not a fan of Levithan's characters. I previously tried to read Dash & Lily's Book of Dares, and the pretentious, obnoxious characters in that book prevented me from finishing it. The characters here were fairly similar; probably the only reason I kept reading was to see where the story would go. Unfortunately, it didn't really go anywhere, and A's choice at the end seemed like the author couldn't figure out what to do with the difficult situation he'd put his characters into. It's a shame, really.