katekintailbc | Every Day by David Levithan (Reply)

Every Day
by David Levithan
(Audio)

This book is an amazing example of what good YA is about. I've read only one David Levithan book before (Boy Meets Boy and two books he's written with others (Will Grayson, Will Grayson and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist). I really liked WGx2 but had a hard time buying into the AU in Boy Meets Boy at first. This book, however, blew the others out of the water. Want to imagine people more complexly? BE IN THEIR BODIES FOR A DAY!

That's the concept behind this book. We've got a main character who wakes up every morning as a different person. Or, more specifically, IN a different person. The main character, who goes by A, can access the memories of the body in order to make it through the day (figure out what class to attend next, figure out who the person sitting next to him/her is, figure out what food allergies the body has, etc.). A's rule is to not interfere too much with the person for the day (not do anything the person wouldn't normally do). And that's a great way of being... until A falls in love with the person's girlfriend: Rhiannon.

A learns more about life than a normal person would because A gets to experience living in a different way. A gets to be a girl who has to wake up early and clean houses with her sister. A has to suffer through being a druggie jonesing for one more hit. A goes to a boy's grandfather's funeral. A goes to classes and parties, dates boys and girls, sees the very very best and very very worst inside of people... and everything in-between. A's insights are absolutely astounding, deep, thought-provoking. But A doesn't know what it's like to have the same friends every day, to be able to hate and love a mother over years, to let anyone in.

Which is why, when A falls in love and tells Rhiannon, A's rules go right out the window. A feels compelled to see Rhiannon, even though she might be hours away. And Rhiannon, though still dating Justin, has to deal with what A is.

It's a highly unrealistic concept I bought into from the beginning, and I desperately wanted it to work out for A and Rhiannon. It was fascinating to see all the different people, all the different complications, all the moral dilemmas, and all the ways it could or couldn't work.

This book was astounding. It was an emotional journey. And it definitely made me think about my own existence. I recommend this book to everyone who is alive.