Everything, Everything

by Nicola Yoon

[lindsey]

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't read this so much as devour it. I picked it up around 2:00, and by 4:30 I was sitting on the couch, stunned that so much time had passed. I was emotionally drained, but in a good way.

Everything, Everything is about Maddie, an 18-year-old girl with SCID. She's basically allergic to everything, and hasn't left her house since she was a baby. She has no friends, and apart from a visit from a tutor once or twice, the only people she sees are her mother and Carla, the nurse who stays with her while her mother works. She's spent her entire life living this way, and believes she'll spend the rest of it the same way. Until Olly moves in next door.

She experiences a lot of new emotions in a short span of time, and she is irrevocably changed. As much as she tries to go back to the way things were before Olly, she can't. She learns she isn't really living - she's just existing. And that isn't good enough for her. She's determined to live, even if it means she has to die.

This was a pretty deep book that dealt with several different issues. However, the author did an excellent job of keeping the book from getting dark. I liked the parallels between the lives of Olly and Maddie, even though their circumstances were different. I also enjoyed the illustrations (drawn by Nicola Yoon's husband, coincidentally), and the usage of emails and IM worked well.

And that plot twist! While I had a tiny inkling that something wasn't quite right, I never would have guessed the ending on my own.

In short, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the writing, the characters, the diversity, the illustrations... just everything, everything. :)

I would highly recommend!