Everything, Everything Book Review
When Jennifer Niven, author of All The Bright Places (whose book review you can read here) wrote 'heart wrenching' about Everything, Everything written by Nicola Yoon I have never heard words quite this true. Let me begin by just saying what a brilliant, one of a kind, brilliant book this is! I've never quite read something like this and I do read a lot.
About the book.
Book: Everything, Everything
Author: Nicola Yoon
Pages: 310
Publisher: Delacorte Books For Young Readers
Rating: ★★★★★
Synopsis: Maddy is allergic to the world. She hasn't left her house in seventeen years. Olly is the boy next door. He is determined to find a way to reach her. The book is about the crazy risks we take for love.
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Age Group: Young Adult novel however can be read by anyone 13+
Why its brilliant.
Everything, Everything is amazing because it is extremely unique. However at the same time, it is still relatable and sweet. Let's break down the other elements of the book that is so amazing before we get to the actual plot, shall we!
The book is very beautifully presented in the sense it is the first novel with illustrations I've read. The page are covered by drawings that are funny and sweet at the same time. I found they set the book apart from others I've read because they just added an extra something. The writing style the author used was also another that I loved. Nicola writes casually and conversationally, allowing us a real insight into Maddy's head and emotions. It also uses emails and text conversations between characters to convey dialogue, which I personally love when reading books because it is a modern and fun way of communication between characters. It allows us to view their true personality.
The characters Nicola Yoon wrote and built up throughout the book are very 3-D and layered. At the same time, they are also quite realistic. Personally for me, I don't like authors that write teenagers as being these weird, angsty people with weird habits (eg John Green style characters) as I don't find them to be super authentic. I fell in love with Maddy and Olly simply because they were so funny and full of life. They were sweet and at the end of the book, it was so hard to let them go.
Finally, before getting into the spoiler part of review, I just want to discuss how this book made me feel after I had finished it. There are a few different types of feelings I get after reading a book. Either it's disappointment because it wasn't as good as I hoped or sadness that it was over. However after reading Everything, Everything, I felt happy and sad all mixed into one. Happy because I loved the ending and sadness because I wanted more of Maddy and Olly!
There is not a single disappointing thing about that book and I loved it to bits and pieces! I definitely recommend it to people who love something sweet and unique.
There is not a single disappointing thing about that book and I loved it to bits and pieces! I definitely recommend it to people who love something sweet and unique.
**Spoiler part ahead**
I highly, highly recommend not reading this part if you haven't read the book because it will ruin it otherwise.
So let me just begin by saying how cute I thought Maddy and her mother were at the beginning of the book! It was easy to see although Maddy had zero interaction with kids her age, she was still as normal as can be! She had a good, healthy and loving relationship with her mother and treated her nurse Carla as if she were part of the family. Another thing I loved about her personality was how although she had been living without any social interaction and at home her entire life, she was positive and upbeat.
The relationship between Maddy and Olly was seriously enviable. They were the ultimate OTP! I loved how they both looked out for each other and crossed many lengths to be together. I also loved their easy and funny relationship, especially at the start with the Bundt cake! That made me laugh a lot and a lot.
To be honest, I didn't expect many of the events that took place in the novel. I did not expect Maddy to run out of the house when she saw the argument nor did I expect her to jet off to Hawaii later. And least of all did I expect her to make it back alive if I'm being honest. I kept on waiting for the news that she was dead.
Lately most teenage fiction novels have become about sick or suicidal kids and I truly think those are amazing because they spread awareness about the topic. However, when they are not executed properly, they become run of the mill and not very impacting. Let me just say this again for people who might think I am being insensitive about the topic. Most definitely not! All I'm saying is some books about sick and suicidal kids have lost their impact because they became very mainstream. However there are very well written ones out there like All The Bright Places and even Fault In Our Stars.
However back to the topic, least of all did I expect the final twist of Maddy's sickness! I was 100% surprised and didn't expect it in the slightest. I liked the realistic ending of her not exactly being able to forgive her mother.
All in all, brilliant book and definitely worth spending your time reading!
If you do or have read this, make sure to comment below or if you want a whole discussion, shoot me an email at contactanishag@gmail.com and we can discuss Maddy and Olly to our hearts content!
If you do or have read this, make sure to comment below or if you want a whole discussion, shoot me an email at contactanishag@gmail.com and we can discuss Maddy and Olly to our hearts content!
0 happy thoughts