by David Levithan
Hardcover, 304 pages
Expected publication: August 28th 2012 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Blurb
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
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.
The Good
- The premise. When I first read the summary for this book, I thought it was going to be similar to the movie “Dark City” where the people wake up with new lives every day and don’t have any recollection of previous ones. Not the case. The narrator, who calls himself A, remembers all the days before but is able to access the memories of the person he is on any given day as well. Not bad, just not what I was expecting.
- The writing. I’ve read a few things by David Levithan and his writing never disappoints. I love the poetic style of his prose and how honest everything feels when being read.
- The message. Throughout the book, A becomes a variety of different people. A girl wanting to commit suicide, a drug addict, a religious zealot, a 300 pound male teenager, a homosexual boy, a lesbian—and in every single case Levithan uses A to emphasize that NONE of this matters. Straight, gay, black, white, male, female—these are all just physical aspects of a person. Who you are inside is what matters. Such a beautiful, honest, well-crafted message that I think is important to pass on to teenagers.
- The preface. I’ll be honest, I normally don’t read prefaces or introductions. I just want the story, I don’t want to hear about it. But the preface to “Every Day” is interesting and adds a little to the story. Levithan admits he had absolutely no idea where he was going with the story when he started it, making the whole book feel like an even bigger adventure.
- The romance. The romance felt real. It moved at a realistic pace, however weird the circumstances, and I felt the characters reacted in ways that made sense. It’s natural to be freaked out if you find out someone switches bodies every day and has no control over it. You should be afraid and skeptical; I know I would.
- The end. While reading I found myself often wondering, “How in the world is he going to end this and resolve all these issues?” The way A handles himself at the end of this novel made me proud, sad, happy, excited, and a little depressed all at the same time (as all good endings should, in my opinion). But really, looking back on it, there is no better way for things to turn out. It was akin to the feeling I had at the end of the last Hunger Games book.
The Bad
- "The enormity". To describe the romance that develops, Levithan often uses the phrase “the enormity.” This wouldn’t be bad, but there comes a point where it feels overused and I wish he had used a synonym or different phrasing, because it kind of ruined the idea and feeling he was trying to convey by repeating it too many times.
Overall Rating
My only real complaint was the overuse of the phrase “the enormity.” Overall, the book was absolutely fantastic. You want to read this, trust me.
