Review: Every Day

First I want to say that I bought this book because David Levithan wrote it and I knew it would be full of awesomeness. I was not prepared for what happened between the cover.

You need to add this book to your mound of reads.

Title: Every Day

Author: David Levithan

ISBN: 978-0-307-93188-7

Pages: 322                          

Available: NOW at your local bookstore or library

Summary (from the book jacket):

Every day I am someone else. I am myself—I know I am myself—but I am also someone else. It has always been like this.

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 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.

My Thoughts:

What a concept – what would happen if someone woke up every day as someone else? What would life be like: exciting or lonely? In A’s case, he is complacent. It has always been this way. There is nothing to be done. There is no cure. But is he the only one like this? Are there others? I was pleased to see that Levithan did in fact address these questions because I had them before I opened the book to start reading.

I want to comment on the plot first because it was wacky and wild. I mean, waking up every day in a different body without any rhyme or reason as to why this happens? Crazy. And wonderful. But mostly crazy. What a concept for teens, a concept many of them will be able to connect to with their own lives. This concept is what makes the book worth your read.

Each chapter is labeled by the day we are on in A’s “life” and I thought this labeling worked well with the story. It allowed me to know how “old” A was as well as follow along with time. Sometimes I read YA novels and I feel lost because time is not always established in any real way. Thank you Levithan!

A’s character was fascinating because he’s not really a character, is he? He is an idea. A being of some sort. I’m not too sure what A is. Is he a metaphor for something greater? Is he an alien? Is this a punishment from the Gods?

But you know what…none of that matters because I loved A. The way he dealt with his new person each day was intriguing. He learned how to cope with his situation. There was no anger, no sadness. It just is. His goal was always to do the right thing, even in matters of the heart. 

I appreciated that he was able to feel love in his “life” when he thought he never would. It brought new meaning to the idea of a soul mate, that’s for sure, because I kept wondering if he and Rhiannon were. It would explain his attraction/connection with her. 

Rhiannon is the one I had an issue with, and it is for a silly reason, but she was too easily swayed to believe A. In a modern world where girls need to constantly be on their guards with all the crazies out there, she was too willing to believe that A was the same person in all of these bodies. I mean, I was waiting for her to open a basement door or something because in a horror movie, she would go first with her trusting nature. But this isn’t a horror movie. It’s a beautiful story. I get that, but still.

On the other hand, I applaud Rhiannon’s questions and curious nature, and the many encounters she had with A in all his different bodies were quite comical. You’ll have to read it to see what I mean. I don’t want to spoil any of those for you.

As a whole work, Levithan has really delivered a unique piece of YA literature to readers. I was surprised with how well Levithan played out the story because I have to be honest, I was skeptical when I began reading it.  

I did not feel that this was written for a teen audience but more for the adults who tend to lean toward that genre. I don’t know how to explain it, but the “feel” of the book was more mature than most other YA reads.

This novel should not go missed by any of you who regularly find yourselves in the YA aisle. I understand it makes a great audio book as well.

Have you read Every Day? How do you interpret A’s character?

Did you review it? Leave a link to your review below.

Happy Reading!

-          The Hodgenator