Author: Nicola Yoon
Genre: young adult, contemporary, romance, realistic fiction
Published: September 1, 2015
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
My Disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I'm allergic to the world. I don't leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He's tall, lean, and wearing all black - black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
Maybe we can't predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It's almost certainly going to be a disaster.
* * *
I hate myself for not falling helplessly in love with this book like many readers. I mean sure I love the entire concept. I like Maddy's curiosity of the world and her eagerness to be out there. I like how Maddy's first love. I like the twist at the end! But something just didn't sit completely well for me.
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency or SCID. This is the first time that I heard such a disease. Just thinking about it made me pity Maddy. Just imagine a life of staying indoors forever. Imagine Cress from the Lunar Chronicles's amazement when she saw Earth. I mean sure I don't go out a lot but there are times when I'd just want to go out and look at the amazing beauty of nature. And that's what Maddy is missing. The experience of seeing the beauty of the world through her own eyes and not through photos.
I LOVE Maddy's voice. There's innocence, longing, and curiosity in it. I love how she just observes the outside of Olly's house in the beginning. I like how she writes their daily routine. I completely understand how easy it is for Maddy to fall in love with Olly. She has never really interacted with anyone let alone a boy her age who shows curiosity.
Olly. I can't completely read Olly. He has a messed up family. A mother who's completely blinded by her love to her husband and a sister who's rebellious. Olly stays up on the roof doing something Maddy can't exactly see from her room. He likes Maddy. Why he really, really likes her is beyond me. And perhaps, that's what kept me from fully loving this book. I just don't understand Olly. I mean he's out there. Why not see the world and meet more people?
Okay, I don't want to ruin's anyone's interest in this novel. It's really good. The romance started off slow and sweet. I like how they just look at each other at first and exchange a few words. It had that Eleanor & Park vibes. The longing, the bravery to take on things because of of love, the restrictions. It wasn't exactly my favorite aspect of the book but it is part of my enjoyment of the story.
What I like the most in the book is Maddy's relationship with her mother. It's not all over the book but whenever Maddy mentions her mother, how nothing but caring she is to her- always thinking of Maddy's welfare and even giving up 'normal' life for her. Maddy's debate whether to do what she wants or not - go outside - really made me think of her mother and possibly how she endures the things she does for Maddy. I LOVE family relationships in books.
Finally, let's talk about the epic TWIST of the book that I completely DID NOT see coming. You know that feeling when you're looking forward to that heartbreaking moment in a contemporary novel but find a twist in the story that had you reading page after page NOT because you're the book has short chapters, or it's thrilling, BUT because you'd like to see how the characters would go about this twist. It was that for me. This book did not made me cry or tear up like I was expecting it. It continued to make me feel sorry for Maddy and her mother and the life the lived. But the ending?? I just had to smile at that. Big grin right at my face when I finished this book.
OVERALL, Everything, Everything is a contemporary novel that had me reading one chapter after another. It didn't kept me up all night. It's a delight to read with a voice that I LOVE. It has a twist that completely caught me off guard and an ending that simply made me smile from ear to ear :) It's a great read I recommend to contemporary readers!
Maybe I'm holding out hope that one day, someday, things will change. -p14
I hate myself for not falling helplessly in love with this book like many readers. I mean sure I love the entire concept. I like Maddy's curiosity of the world and her eagerness to be out there. I like how Maddy's first love. I like the twist at the end! But something just didn't sit completely well for me.
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency or SCID. This is the first time that I heard such a disease. Just thinking about it made me pity Maddy. Just imagine a life of staying indoors forever. Imagine Cress from the Lunar Chronicles's amazement when she saw Earth. I mean sure I don't go out a lot but there are times when I'd just want to go out and look at the amazing beauty of nature. And that's what Maddy is missing. The experience of seeing the beauty of the world through her own eyes and not through photos.
I LOVE Maddy's voice. There's innocence, longing, and curiosity in it. I love how she just observes the outside of Olly's house in the beginning. I like how she writes their daily routine. I completely understand how easy it is for Maddy to fall in love with Olly. She has never really interacted with anyone let alone a boy her age who shows curiosity.
Before him my life was a palindrome - the same forward and backward, like "A man, a plan, a canal. Panama," or "Madam, I'm Adam." But Olly's like a random letter, the big bold X thrown in the middle of the word or phrase that ruins the sequence. -p162
Olly. I can't completely read Olly. He has a messed up family. A mother who's completely blinded by her love to her husband and a sister who's rebellious. Olly stays up on the roof doing something Maddy can't exactly see from her room. He likes Maddy. Why he really, really likes her is beyond me. And perhaps, that's what kept me from fully loving this book. I just don't understand Olly. I mean he's out there. Why not see the world and meet more people?
Okay, I don't want to ruin's anyone's interest in this novel. It's really good. The romance started off slow and sweet. I like how they just look at each other at first and exchange a few words. It had that Eleanor & Park vibes. The longing, the bravery to take on things because of of love, the restrictions. It wasn't exactly my favorite aspect of the book but it is part of my enjoyment of the story.
What I like the most in the book is Maddy's relationship with her mother. It's not all over the book but whenever Maddy mentions her mother, how nothing but caring she is to her- always thinking of Maddy's welfare and even giving up 'normal' life for her. Maddy's debate whether to do what she wants or not - go outside - really made me think of her mother and possibly how she endures the things she does for Maddy. I LOVE family relationships in books.
Finally, let's talk about the epic TWIST of the book that I completely DID NOT see coming. You know that feeling when you're looking forward to that heartbreaking moment in a contemporary novel but find a twist in the story that had you reading page after page NOT because you're the book has short chapters, or it's thrilling, BUT because you'd like to see how the characters would go about this twist. It was that for me. This book did not made me cry or tear up like I was expecting it. It continued to make me feel sorry for Maddy and her mother and the life the lived. But the ending?? I just had to smile at that. Big grin right at my face when I finished this book.
OVERALL, Everything, Everything is a contemporary novel that had me reading one chapter after another. It didn't kept me up all night. It's a delight to read with a voice that I LOVE. It has a twist that completely caught me off guard and an ending that simply made me smile from ear to ear :) It's a great read I recommend to contemporary readers!
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| 3.5 |
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