Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan
Release Date:
August 28, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Source: Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summary

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

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(courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

**The main character of this book is ardently described as being neither male nor female. I'm using him/her to refer to 'A' or just using 'A'. This makes the prose of the review a bit awkward, so I apologize in advance.

Every Day is one of the most thought provoking and touching books I read in 2012. 'A'  the main character, is a person who you will grow to love, but also find frustratingly short-sighted. At the time, I blamed these character flaws on the author. Now, I'm wondering whether Levithan put them there on purpose - I don't know.


Can you imagine the only life you've ever known is waking up in the body of a different person every day? You're like an alien invader. The thought of living a million different lives at first seems invigorating; you'd certainly never lack for variety. But also imagine never having a family, no friends, no house, no clothes...absolutely no life independent of the people who temporarily inhabit? How isolating.

'A' has figured things out after 16 years of being a body snatcher. 'A' is cautious to the extreme. Not doing anything to expose himself/herself or to make the life of his/her host more difficult. 'A' is flexible, resourceful, and quick to catch on to his/her host's personalities and habits. I greatly respected how 'A' managed to create even a small life for himself/herself while remaining sensitive to his/her hosts.

This all changes when 'A' meets Rhiannon, the girlfriend of a jerk whose body 'A' inhabited. 'A' falls head-over-heels in love with this sweet girl. Suddenly,'A' is using his/her host bodies to go to almost any length to see Rhiannon. It's not so much that 'A' is forgetting to be cautious, but more that he/she is weighing the pro's and con's and caution loses.

I had a little trouble with A's ability to empathize with Rhiannon. In other parts of 'A''s life, empathy is one of A's strong suit. It's hard not to relate to people when you've lived so many of their lives. Yet, 'A' was also incredibly short-sighted when it came to Rhiannon. She was stuck in an abusive relationship. 'A' desperately wanted Rhiannon to get rid of him. I was annoyed at how angry 'A' got about Justin (the bad boyfriend). I understood 'A' hating seeing Rhiannon in a bad position, but his/her anger made 'A' seem more like a jerk than a caring friend. 'A' just couldn't comprehend why she didn't drop him and lashed out. I wonder if the author also feels A's reaction to be a character flaw. Perhaps 'A''s inexperience with long term relationships, in any form, make it nearly impossible for him/her to understand Rhiannon's reticence.

Every Day is a book readable yet deep. It has a unique quasi-paranormal framework that the reader quickly understands. The world-building fits seamlessly into the plot. And while I didn't always agree with A's actions or thoughts, I very much enjoyed spending a book inside his/her head. If you're still questioning whether to read this book, read it for the ending. It was perfect - perfect for this book at least. It makes me smile wistfully just thinking about it.

Rating: 4 / 5

17 comments:

  1. I agree. The ending was perfect. It was heartbreaking but if it had ended any other way, the book wouldn't be as good.

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  2. So glad you liked this! I've been looking forward to reading this since I first heard about it.

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  3. I wasn't sure about this book but I'm glad you liked it. Sounds quite interesting. Great review!

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  4. I agree with your thoughts on A's lack of uderstanding about Rhiannon's situation. I still enjoyed this very much, though, and I'm glad you did, too! Such an unusual story.

    Wendy @ The Midnight Garden

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  5. I agree. This book is deep and thought provoking while easy to read. The author raises so many questions in regards to a person's core values and where these values come from. There is a big nature versus nurture argument. You left to consider how much of our values we are born with considering A was never with a family long enough to be nurtured and taught right from wrong.

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  6. For some reason, this book just didn't catch my attention. I'm not exactly sure what it was but maybe I'll have to get over it and give it a shot. Sounds like an intriguing story.

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  7. This book sounds great :) I have to read it soon! Thanks for a great review ^^

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  8. Just finished this one last week and I had similar issues with it too. Overall though, I thought the pros outweighed the cons. I still think "The Lovers Dictionary" was much better than this one, but still an enjoyable read.

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  9. Hmm, I will have to check this book out. I like the idea of jumping into different bodies. Wondered what lives he/she got to live.

    Thanks for the review!

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  10. I just reviewed this book, and, well, I LOVED it. Flat out, LOVED. I'm glad you really liked it, even if you don't share my OMGTHISBOOKISAMAZINGGGG mentality :) Great review, I do understand where you're coming from about A sometimes being a jerk, but I thought it was a display of how A had really never been loved before, nor had A ever really known how to actually love and care about someone.

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  11. Huh, this is actually the first I'm reading of the premise of this one surprisingly. Now this sounds absolutely fascinating. Can't wait to read it for the ending now!

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  12. I really like your thoughts on this-they made me reconsider my position on the book. I enjoyed reading this but it wasn't a favorite or anything. I am hoping other Levithan books work better for me.

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  13. great review. I am excited to read this one. I have it on my TBR for this month.

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  14. I really loved this book. I totally agree about A's brash lack of understanding when it came to Rhiannon & Justin. At times A was almost childish when it came to Rhiannon. I think in some ways that weakness almost made me like A more, because it made him/her more fallible, less this perfect omniscient sort of character who is endlessly empathetic to every human experience. I'm glad you liked it overall, and I agree, the ending is so worth the read. Great review!

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  15. I hated the end when I initially read this book, But after thinking about it for some time, I found that it really was appropriate. I am not sure that I appreciated this book as much as you did. I didn't understand what made Rhiannon so special. But that's just me. I absolutely loved Leithan's writing in this one. It was beautiful.

    Thanks for the review.

    Sara @ Just Another Story

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  16. Every since I first heard about this one I've been intrigued. It just seems like such a unique idea to me. I haven't read it yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to reading it.

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  17. Sounds like a touching, heartbreaking stories. I will try this one when I feel like I'm in such a mood. Sometimes, I just want to read happy endings and easy books, but there are days I want more and this sounds perfect for it :) Thanks for sharing!

    Irene Jennings (Prom Dresses)

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