Post-read post: Every Day

What to say about this book? I laughed, I cried, I rolled my eyes and I loved it. That does not mean that this is a book without problems, because there are so-so many. If you like David Levithan, you'll probably like this too, because I think that without that fact I wouldn't.

I love the idea of waking up in a different body every day, and I hate it too. It is a fun thought experiment, but I wonder if this should have been turned into a novel.

Upside: It preaches a lot of tolerance. The genderlessness of A is really awesome, because gender is very much a body thing, if it wasn't for our bodies it would be just a personality thing. This part of the novel I love love love. It is also funny (did I mention that already?).

Downside: A really does not have a lot of insight into things, and a lot of the bodies A wake up in seem unreal. Also: I CANNOT IGNORE THE LACK OF ANSWER TO WHY!!!!!! Seriously. I hate that. There is so much goodness in this concept that just isn't realized.

It has so much great stuff going for it, some of the lives we peer into are awesome, and A falling in love and breaking all their rules. Then there is the stalking of the love interest, stalking is not cute, it is creepy. You do not have to see your loved one every day (intended) okay? Especially not when the person you are in love with wants you to back off. If the feeling is mutual? Go ahead, if it isn't? You're violating some privacy.

So it is an enjoyable novel, it is interesting as a concept, but it fails along the way. The writing is decent enough, but the stalking, the fact that we learn nothing of why A is like that, and very little of the "bad guy" is so fucking annoying. So in the end it comes down to this:
Read it if you liked Levithan & if you can keep yourself from thinking too much. Otherwise? Don't. It is a very quick read though. I finished it in February, it is the writing of the "review" that has been troublesome.

Best Wishes,
Kiwie

February book pick: Every Day

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
First published: 2012

Copy & Paste from Goodreads:

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

Why we chose this novel and what we want from it:
  
It is a YA Sci-fi/fantasy novel, so it checks a lot of boxes for both Kiwie and Katastrofekat. 

Kiwie: I love David Levithan, he's not my favorite writer nor the best one out there, but I've thouroughly enjoyed what I've read from him, such as The Lover's Dictionary and Boy Meets Boy. The light and sweet books that he wrote with Rachel Cohn, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson written with John Green. So I bought Every Day when it came out (and jumped with joy at the bookstore when I saw that there exists a Norwegian translation!), but due to a neverending to-read list, I haven't quite gotten round to i yet, but now I have no excuse.

I am intrigued by the concept of waking up in a different body every morning, and hope that Levithan can pull this story off, the premise is fascinating and probably very difficult to write. I also hope the love bit isn't sickeningly sweet, but charming and perfectly angsty!