Book Review: EVERY DAY by David Levithan

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Published: August 28, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Page count: 324 pages

Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

MY REVIEW

I was very intrigued by the synopsis of this book so I picked it up immediately from the bookshelf of the bookstore I always visit. I tried not to spoil myself by not reading comments and reviews about it. From the moment I flipped the first page, I realized I can't put this book down.

A's everyday life seemed very interesting and exciting, due to the fact that A can't control whose next body will it be. A wakes up every day on a different body, and certainly a different life. A cannot control it, and A can't stop it either. The good thing is, A can access the memory of the life and body. A got used to it, and accepted it as a normal everyday routine, until one day, A wakes up inside the body of Justin.

“I wake up thinking of yesterday. The joy is in remembering; the pain is in knowing it was yesterday.” 

While inside Justin's body, A met Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, A never wanted to shift body again, but he can't do anything about it. He fell in love with Rhiannon, and realized this is where everything started all over again. He wants to spend his every day with her, even in a different body. He is certain they can makes things work out, but of course, there are these circumstances they need to argue with.

I love the story, it's unique. I never read any story close to this kind of concept, that's why I was so excited about it. The pacing is not too slow, but not too fast. You'll get hooked to A's everyday life, trying to fins out what's in for the day. He got to encounter and become almost all kinds of individuals, and learns from experiences. I was taken back by the way A tried to get in touch with Rhiannon. How he did his best, and risked the lives of the bodies he's in, for the sake of seeing Rhiannon. Their love story is one of a kind and I think I'll never encounter any love story like this again.

“When first love ends, most people eventually know there will be more to come. They are not through with love. Love is not through with them. It will never be the same as the first, but it will be better in different ways.”

Each Day always left me thinking about tomorrow. Approaching the ending, I was saying to myself "It has to be the two of them! They need to be together! There has to be a way of being together!" They cannot stay this way... I was so moved by the story, expecting it'd end the way I thought. But then... I found myself crying, having an emotional breakdown over the ending. I don't know if I should feel happy, or sad for them. I never thought I'd be left crying by this book, so I imagined some alternate endings, and so on.

The fact that I was so moved by the story, the way it touched my deepest emotions within, the way it made me feel loved, the way it broke my heart... I can say that this is a very good book. Not all books can leave you crying in the end, and feel like you're really a part of the story. I just hoped for a better ending. But who knows? I wish there'll be a sequel to the story, and by then, it will leave us smiling, making our hearts beat very fast.

MY RATING

“The moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations - all of them rearranging themselves so this precise, remarkable intersection could happen. In your heart, in your bones, no matter how silly you know it is, you feel that everything has been leading to this, all the secret arrows were pointing here, the universe and time itself crafted this long ago, and you are just now realizing it, you are just now arriving at the place you were always meant to be.” 

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