Another Day

by David Levithan

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
Another Day is the other side of Every Day, the story seen from Rhiannon's perspective, and all that happens after she meets A.



While Another Day is mostly the same story as Every Day, there are some differences as well, as the readers see some of the things that happen to Rhiannon when she's not with A. All her self-doubts and the choices she makes made more sense to me when I was inside her head, as opposed to reading everything from A's perspective. I didn't enjoy Rhiannon as much as I enjoyed A, though, and I think that may be because where A was selfless most of the time, Rhiannon was much more selfish. Not all the time, but she did put herself first, even to the point of possibly putting someone else in danger towards the end of the story.

It was very interesting to see how Rhiannon perceived A and their relationship, though, because I felt so much for A and wanted things to work out between the two of them. Rhiannon was hesitating, and didn't really see their story moving forward. Every Day showed me that she could very well be right - it's impossible to have a real, growing relationship with someone who wakes up inside someone else's body every single morning of their life! How do you explain switching partners every day? But still be comfortable with the beautiful person inside all those different bodies?

Even if I enjoyed Rhiannon a bit less than I enjoyed A, I did like her story, and her growth was tremendous. From being very unsure, and letting her boyfriend treat her less than good, she realized that she deserved better, and with that realization, she also got that she had to change for herself. Taking control over her own life wasn't necessarily as easy as it seemed, because she didn't really have a good support system. Two very good friends, who felt pushed away because of her boyfriend, and then A, whom she couldn't really introduce to anyone made those weeks complicated for her.

Written first person point of view, from Rhiannon's perspective, and in present tense, the story felt very immediate to me, even if I had already read most of what happened from A's point of view before. It was very interesting to see how perception has everything to do with our perspective, though, and sometimes, it's not enough to try to see things differently, some experiences just have to be lived.



The school door opens and the school door closes, and he doesn't realize I am on the other side. Standing there, I wonder how I can be so full of him while he's so empty of me.

I'm happy to see him, but also exhausted. It's just so much work. He looks worse than I feel, staring into his locker like there's a window in there. In some people, this would mean daydreams. But Justin doesn't daydream. When he's gone, he's really gone.

Real. Real like this is real - Justin listening next to me, the sky above, the sand underneath. It is real in such an intense way that it feels unreal, too. Like I had no idea it was possible to feel so much at once, and have it all be true.