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.
Date Published: August 28, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Date Read: December 27, 2017
Source and Format: National Book Store / Paperback
Setting: Maryland, USA
No. of Pages: 322
Get your copy here: Book Depository, Amazon
Every Day is the book you never thought you needed, thinking how could you go on with your mundane life when there is something so beautiful is palpably lacking in it. Good god, why did I even wait this long to crack open this book, I must have been possessed or have been so ignorant all this time. The party was over and I just arrived. Please tell me I am not the only one. And then I remembered I have this thing about hype books where I let the hype die down before I join in the bandwagon, clearly a big mistake in this instance. I had this book for the longest time, so much so that my copy already has yellow spots on the pages, but I kept on buying new books, and kept reading new releases that Every Day literally took the back seat. A huge mistake, I am perfectly aware of that now. It was because of the trailer which recently came out that prompted me to finally read it, I didn’t watch the trailer as I wouldn’t want to have preconceived notions of the characters and how will the whole story progress. I am the kind of reader who wants to imagine things on her own terms, and that’s what I did. I read the book first then watched the trailer. To say I am excited for the movie would definitely be an understatement, but of course you have to manage the expectations since there are obviously some changes for the movie, but that topic is for another time. Let’s proceed to the review.
Every Day is definitely one of the most unique books out there, it was well-thought out and the writing was flawless. I have loved David Levithan’s way of writing in his book Lover’s Dictionary it was innovative and unique, much like his style in Every Day. I have not read anything like it before and honestly I am in awe at how the author was able to concoct such beautiful story. A true story-teller if you ask me. I love how Every day was a cut above the rest, never mediocre. The story introduced us to different lives, which was so clever and so beautiful because the book was able to show plethora of experiences and how all lives seemed different yet they are the same at the same time. It was a glimpse of lives of other people and how they go about it each day. I loved how the feeling of love wasn’t caged into one definition, it is encompassing and knows no size, race and gender. This what I commend most about this book, its power to see past the physical appearance and focus on what’s inside. It was complex yet you can’t help but be sucked in. This book is worthy of every praise it has been getting and more. I loved how it made me ponder on life itself and how it was able to hold that much power over me that I didn’t know possible. I loved how the author was able to present the book in such raw yet captivating tale, the attention to details, the perfectly curated plot, it is everything good and then some.
The different characters, the lives that A inhabits each day, made the book very appealing, and what’s more beautiful about it is, these bodies can very well be real people we encounter day in and day out. I loved how A was able to at least separate himself/herself from the lives he/she has been living, but also sad at the same time for he/she can’t have what these lives have. I also commend how David Levithan took his time to put essence into each of the lives A had inhabited, how he presented each lives with such regard and respect it deserved. I loved Rhiannon’s character as well, she’s open minded and mature to handle what was going on. I loved how she respected each body A had inhabited. And though there are times that she was off about it, she handled it really well. She’s the kind of character you’ll love instantly.
I was sobbing at the end of the book, the good kind of hurt, if that’s even possible. To be honest I was hoping for some explanation how A had to live like that. I had a lot of questions, but then I was still satisfied how it ended. I will definitely be reading the next book, just so I could find the answers I needed, but for now I could live with the lesson this book had imparted in me. This book is truly a gem, and Every Day has been a reminder why I love Young Adult. There is some sense of simplicity and rawness that YA genre can give that you can’t find in any other genre. How it makes an impact on an adult like me will always be a refuge I will take anytime of the day.
“The moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations – all of them rearranging themselves so this precise, remarkable intersection could happen. In your heart, in your bones, no matter how silly you know it is, you feel that everything has been leading to this, all the secret arrows were pointing here, the universe and time itself crafted this long ago, and you are just now realizing it, you are just now arriving at the place you were always meant to be.”
― David Levithan, Every Day
