Everything, Everything

by Nicola Yoon

[Chelsea]

I found the whole idea of this book really interesting. I thought it would be interesting to see someone with such a huge disability live the life that is normal for them. I thought a lot of things going into this book but it was slightly disappointing. I still found myself interested in the book the whole way through, even though I had a few issues with it. It was a book that kept me hooked for sure plus I LOVED the audio book narrator(s) which rarely ever happens. So if you do decide to pick this one up, the audio book is worth it.

I did really like the main character Maddy. I thought she was really brave to have this sickness where she couldn't leave the house and she never got depressed or sad. I know if I don't leave the house for a whole day I can't sit still. I can only imagine how difficult it is for someone who can't ever leave.

I also really loved Olly. I loved how he was also in a tough situation and tried really hard to make the best of it. I loved how he made such a big impact on Maddy's life and was honestly just such a refreshing character. He felt really realistic to me, probably partially because he reminds me of a few people I know.

Despite all the things I'm going to mention next, I still really loved the beginning of this book and that's the only thing not pushing this rating down to 3 stars right now.

This book was on the way to getting 5 stars from me. There were things that I could look over because I was loving the direction the story was taking. After the "twist" at the end though, my rating dropped 2 full stars. It was disappointing to be honest. The rest of the book was pulling on my heart and I was really starting to love these characters. Something happens at the end that basically makes the whole book a big lie. It felt like a huge slap in the face or like the author took the plot and snapped it in half. It was almost like the author took the easy way out. Like "oh jk! This whole book wasn't what you thought it was!" which is good in some cases but not like this. I'm probably making it sound much worse than what it was but I had such high hopes for this book.

After being disappointed with how this book ended, I decided to not overlook the little things I was skipping throughout the rest of the book. You all know that this book is about a girl who is basically allergic to everything. She has to live in an air locked house and basically can't ever touch germs. That sounds fine and it was but after a while the illness felt badly researched. How come her mom could come and go (through the special air lock of course) but she could wear the same clothes the whole time? How could Maddy could essentially eat whatever she wanted? There were just little details like that that were either skimmed over or skipped completely. It could have been so much better.

Also the romance, pretty darn close to insta love. Just a warning.

I would only recommend this book to people who actually really enjoy insta-love and cheesy romance. If you can't skip over the lack of realistic details in books then probably don't read this one.

This book had a lot of potential and ended up a big disappointment. I don't know if I would even recommend this to anyone.