Review : Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
Summary (from Goodreads) Title : Everything, Everything
Author : Nicola Yoon
Publication Date : September 1st 2015
Publisher : Delacorte Books for Young Readers
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This innovative, heartfelt debut novel tells the story of a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.
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.
Personal Thoughts
Once in a while, a book comes along that sweeps you off your feet and consumes your every thought. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it's one glorious experience. For me, one of those books is Nicola Yoon's Everything, Everything. This is a book with a lot of heart and that has the potential to overwhelm you with emotions. It's a book that I immediately pre-ordered after reading because it NEEDS to be on my shelf. That's how much I loved it.
Maddy suffers from SCID, a disease that makes her immune system unable to fight anything that enters her body. Because of that, she has literally been sheltered all her life, never once being able to go outside, make friends or live the life of a normal person. There was a quiet strength and courage to Maddy that you don't normally find in sheltered heroines like her. I don't know if it's because she was a book lover like most of us are, but there was just something about her that I found very endearing. Her character spoke to me on so many levels. Maddy was the sort of character who I would love to befriend if she were real because we would talk endlessly about the worlds presented in books and fangirl over them. She may have been a diseased young woman, but she never once complained about her situation. She did wish she were like other teenagers and craved to explore the outside world, but she was also happy with what she had and who she had surrounding her. Maddy's desire to escape her bubble increases when she meets Olly, her new next door neighbor. Throughout Everything, Everything, Maddy discovered what she wanted out of her own life, making decisions that were sometimes questionable, but ones that I feel like I would have also made if I were in her position. The fact that she made some poor choices added much more depth to her character and made her more realistic.
Then, there's Olly. Olly, Olly, Olly. This boy IS my dream boy. Charming, sweet and so very loveable, I knew the minute I met him that he would top the list of my fictional boyfriends. Together with his humor and love for math (so dreamy!), he was irresistible to me. Perhaps the most attractive characteristic of Olly though was how he treated Maddy as his equal despite her being ill. He was battling some family issues at home that weren't very pleasant. You can't help but feel for him when you realize how much he is going through, but I also couldn't help but feel proud of him for not letting it take over his life. The secondary characters were also fantastic. Maddy's kind and caring nurse, Carla, and her mother were especially engaging for me.
Everything, Everything is very much a romance-driven novel and the romance addict in me loved that. This book had my perfect go-to romance in books. It was sweet and adorable and I just have no words to describe just how much I loved it. Because of Maddy's condition, their relationship started off with looks across the window and progressed to emailing and IMing. Did I mention just how much I loved it? Maddy and Olly had my heart singing and racing and soaring with happiness. It's hard not to feel like you're being overwhelmed by their relationship. Whenever they were together being all cute, the pages were bursting with joy and it was all very addicting. They obviously had to overcome many obstacles, but they never felt trite or added for the sake of bringing drama to their relationship. The book was also very sex positive and I'm in awe with how classy the sex scene in the book was.
With its unique storyline, Everything, Everything also surprised me a few times during the book. I want to also mention the diversity that was handled beautifully in the book. It's there and it's never the source of conflict which I thought was brilliant. What made this an even stronger novel was Nicola Yoon's gorgeous writing style. It engulfed me so much so that the idea of having to put down the book was painful to me. Her writing added a lovely depth and complexity to Maddy's voice. What made the book more engaging was the fact the book wasn't told solely in prose - there were emails and IMs shared between Olly and Maddy and there were also lovely illustrations to further the story drawn by Nicola Yoon's husband, David Yoon. I especially can't wait to see the drawings look like in my finished copy.
If I were rich, I would be buying all the copies of this book to give all my friends. Yes, it's that kind of book, the kind that makes me want to shove the book in everyone's face. Everything, Everything is a thoughtful, romantic and memorable read that will stay with you long after you finish the book and will have you wanting to dive back in all over again once you're done, so do yourself a favor and snag a copy of this beauty.
Rating
Cover : 4/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 5/5
Writing : 5/5
**Overall Rating : 4.5/5**
Snapshot Review
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the e-ARC of Everything, Everything.
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