Ratings126
Average rating3.6
I enjoyed this book, but there is a fatphobic chapter that was so harsh that it took my breath away. Also, A is kind of a stalker.
Not a fan. It's been a while since I've read YA, so I'm not sure if this is objectively juvenile writing or if it fits neatly into the genre, but I'm inclined to think the former; after all, I've read and enjoyed (if not loved)plenty of YA in the past, or books at that reading level, from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games to John Green teen romances. This book feels...flat. The plot is flat and anti-climactic. The dialogue is flat. Scenes are flat. The characters are especially flat (seriously, he fell in love with Rhiannon after a few hours? Rhiannon is boring AF and WAY too trusting of strangers. Which means A fell in love with her physical appearance, mostly, which is antithetical to THE ENTIRE POINT OF THE BOOK).
Oh, and the premise is wholly implausible. I don't like having to accept this absolutely bonkers premise in a world that is supposedly ours (vs. fantasy world, dystopian, etc). Especially because the “rules” of said premise are so artificially imposed, making it harder to buy in. And for a book like this to work, the reader HAS to buy in.
I'll give it this: the premise does drum up some interesting questions about identity. How tied is our identity to our bodies, and our circumstances? What truly makes a person a person? And how might these questions affect our experience of romantic love?
Also, it does force us to explore what it is like to be in someone else's shoes, quite literally; so I also appreciate the exercise in empathy.
But mostly I appreciate that it only took me a few hours to read because on the whole I thought it was dumb.
This concept is so full of potential, so many ways it could make a rich and smart and poignant novel. Every Day gets very close to fulfilling that potential.
It's both tragic and uplifting, and the tone is balanced throughout. It's a smart sci-fi novel with the skin of a well above-average YA romance, and both manage to be interesting. The ending doesn't answer any of the questions I had while reading, but it still feels like the way this story should have ended. It doesn't quite achieve the level of greatness it has the potential to, but it's a great story anyway.
Il arrive souvent qu'un roman soit basé sur une très bonne idée originale. Il est plus rare que cette idée soit bien exploitée et que le résultat soit à la hauteur de l'espoir donné par l'idée de départ. Avec ce roman, c'est le cas : l'histoire est excellente et se lit avec un grand plaisir, et une certain émotion.
The entire time I was reading this book, it felt familiar. I don't know why.. it could of been that I have read it before or a book like it. Overall, it was a wonderful book. It was a little predictable. I wish the book had more of a background in it. How did he get like this? Why? I wish he looked more into it but I understand he just wanted to live day by day with Rhiannon.
[SPOILER]
I knew when things would happen and that he would eventually get into the body of Rhiannon. I was reading it life by life hoping that he would find himself or there would be a glitch so he would be in one body. I did not like the ending because it was just like a “REALLY?” ending. You want A to be happy. Somehow find himself.
It was a really good book though. Wasn't like many other books. I think I have only read one other book that was like this; hence the familiarity. (But in that book the person only woke up in one body the whole time) I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an easy read with a lot of emotion.
4/5
I think the beginning moved a little too quickly and the love story felt kinda fake because of it but besides that, it was pretty good.
i liked this and how it could totally be sold as a teen movie. i didnt like however what was happening to build into the second book. cause also when you move to the second one this setup feels a little weird since everything is getting even more fantastical. when before it was more heavily focused on the people and relationships and stuff for almost a whole book. not to say this isn’t good because it was nice to read but it just didn’t hold my attention
Pros: brilliant concept, brilliant writing, compelling characters, thought provoking
Cons:
For Parents: some sexual content, some swearing, very minor violence (two teens fight), mention of drug use
‘A' wakes up in a new body every day. The only similarities are the age of A's hosts and their relative proximity to A's previous host. A has come up with a guideline for his/her life: don't mess with the host's life.
When A wakes up in Justin's body and meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon, his/her guideline changes to: spend as much time with Rhiannon as s/he can, often making his/her daily hosts act completely unlike themselves for one day. This starts to cause problems, both for them and for A.
But A no longer cares. All A wants is for Rhiannon to reciprocate his/her love.
This novel is brilliant. The writing is amazing, the premise is bizarre but handled brilliantly, the characters are interesting, both A and Rhiannon. Similarly A's host bodies are varied by gender, sexuality, race, religion, social class, size, etc. Some are drug addicts, some are nice, some are definitely not nice - to themselves or others.
The premise allows for a lot of interesting social and cultural issues to be brought up - how we see ourselves and how we judge others - making this a really thought provoking book. A's acceptance of everyone as they are, and his/her eventual judgements regarding them as s/he starts to see his/her hosts the way Rhiannon does, with her social conditioning, is fascinating.
It's a brilliant novel and even if you're not a fan of romances, it's worth the read.
3/5 ⭐
An interesting concept but it was done without any logic. It started off interesting but soon got redundant.
Originally posted on The Selkie Reads Stories (http://selkiereadsstories.blogspot.com)
Every Day isn't my favorite Levithan book, but it surely will be one of the ones I'll keep close to my heart. It's one of those books that may not be over all as brilliant as others, but it's own essence makes it shine with a unique brilliance.
David Levithan is one of my favorite contemporary YA writers and when I found out about Every Day, I was completely floored. I couldn't grasp the concept of Levithan writing a paranormal/fantasy novel. I'm not sure if this is his first, but i'm more familiar with him as a contemporary kind of guy. I wasn't sure what to expect but I looked forward to reading the book nonetheless. And I am so glad that I did because I loved the reading experience Every Day gave me.
I loved the dialogue, I loved A's inner narrative, I loved A's interaction with the people who are close to the people he becomes. Levithan weaves all the aspects of the narrative so well and the characters he introduces as the book progresses and the descriptions of the things that A goes through to every single day are so overwhelmingly surreal. That's what I loved the most about this book, I guess. Every morning when A wakes up in the body of a different person, Levithan introduced me to that person and that person's life and the people around him/her. The way he embodies the different characters astound me because they were all so uniquely interesting. I will forever be a fan of Levithan's fluidly easygoing writing and his strong voice that emanates honesty.
Rhiannon. The plot basically surrounds her because this book basically is a romance and she's the whole reason why A is doing all these things that he doesn't usually do, but I didn't care much for her. I mean, I was okay with her character, but I strongly feel that the book would be equally as interesting even if she didn't enter the story line. What I did like about Rhiannon was that she was like a real person; ethical and logical and used her brain in every situation, and she took into consideration how her actions would reflect other people.
Most people hated that the love A felt for Rhiannon was like instalove and that he was doing all these things for a girl he barely knew, but imagine yourself in his position for a moment. If you led a life like him and then a girl you can imagine spending every day with enters your life and then everything you lived for suddenly has meaning, wouldn't you jump at every opportunity to be with her? Love isn't always out there as an option for him and when life gave him a chance at it, he did what any person with a right mind would do and took it. And from Rhiannon's point of view, would you be willing to be with someone and love someone who became a different person every day? There's so much more to this book than others let on, because it makes you think and wonder and makes you thankful for every day.
I'm not a big fan of the decisions that A made and the things that he did either, but I understand why he did them. I'm proud that he made a good decision and did the right thing in the end; it's like he opened his eyes and finally faced the truth. And because of that, A and David Levithan and this book tore my heart apart with equal amounts of depression and happiness.
3.5 stars!!!! i'm surprised by how much i enjoyed this book, the summary sounds corny but the story is well done
Actual rating 4.5 stars.
This book consumed me. I read in one sitting, totally engrossed in the condition of the human soul and its ability to love.
The spirit of A goes beyond gender and sexual identity and into a space of simply ‘being.' It was such an amazing perspective on existence. Juxatpose that with the love interest, Rhiannon's perception and interactions with A and her gradual understanding and acceptance of A, and their humanity, and you end up with a universal attitude of love and acceptance of everyone. It was truly inspired.
On the other hand, being A was weird. Always the interloper, unsure of your very existence. It's a hard place to be. Alone and transient. Enough to send you completely bonkers. But A finds a way to balance it all. A's own desires and wishes without impacting the lives of the bodies that are being borrowed for the day.
I loved toe tone of zero prejudice about the physical being and of identity. I loved getting to walk, if somewhat briefly, in so many other people's lives and feel that impact.
While we only get the tiniest hint of the mythology behind A and his existence, the rest of the novel feels like a social commentary on identity and how we treat each other. How we are all different, yet the same. I wanted to get involved more into the reasons why A was the way he was – a wandering soul. I was hoping that in the sequel ‘Another Day' I'd get more answers, but alas, only another brief touch on the mythology. I have my fingers crossed that we can really sink out teeth into the paranormal or science fiction of it all in the third book of the series ‘Someday' due out on the 2nd of October this year. Not long to wait now!
There's not much to say about this novel. It's a romance, a character study with a heavy dose of philosophy. I loved it. The concept so fresh in YA!
It's a beautiful quick read that I highly recommend.
I loved how this book had me interested from the very first page, every chapter like a new story.
3.5 stars. Enjoyed the concept of the book and the exploration of what life would be like when one identifies only as an awareness and not a particular body. I would have like to see more plot, though, as I felt the story was just getting started when the book ended.
got seven pages in and couldn't go on. seemed predictable; just like any other teen fiction novel of the like
i wanna take this book and hit anyone anti-lgbt over the head with it and make them read it and EDUCATE THEMSELVES. although this is a work of fiction, it gave me so much insight in the real world. so many lessons that good people should learn embedded in the point of view of the protagonist that has lives thousands of different lives.
i LOVED the romance aspect of this book. forbidden love is always fun to read but an almost impossible love bc idk what body i will be in tomorrow and where i'll even be??? AMAZING. this was a very easy but emotional read, the ending had me in tears.
honestly would have been better if the concept of waking up in another body was explored. didn't expect this to be a love story
I loved the consept of A always changing body. It was a good story but I hoped for more change.
It was a good book. I finished it in 4 days, so it was definitely interesting. It was insightful, inspirational, hopeful, and very introspective. I like how it showed the viewpoints of many people, many lives, but through the same eyes. I think that Nathan was a very underused character, and the ending was disappointing. Very vague and disappointing. A basically manipulates the body he is in to give Rhiannon a new boyfriend, since A can never be there for her. And then he runs away. I think the author meant for it to be a vague ending, but I find it pretty unsatisfying. I also think that A was a terrible name for the author to choose for the main character. If this book was written in, like, Japanese or something, A as a name would be acceptable. But in English, a is such a common word, it is one letter–it's barely a sound. It's an article, it's a GRAMMAR thing. Having a character named A makes following certain conversations unnecessarily hard.
Still, I think the book was worth reading. I think I'll give it 3.5 stars.
There are some reasons this book deserves less than four stars, but there are more important details that give it that fourth star.
At the beginning of the book, you meet A, who inhabits a different body every day (you never figure out why). A is inhabiting the body of a boy named Justin. After being in his body, A falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rihannon. At first, it doesn't make sense, because it's breaking every rule A set for themself.
This epic love story progresses as the story goes on, but there's a seemingly useless event that won't matter until the end: one of the people A has inhabited remembers something. This conflict grows along with their romance.
And then one day, A inhabits Rihannon's body... I get that this was important to the plot, but it really didn't go the way it should have.
At the end, so much happens that I'm not okay with. Rihannon ends things with A, which they should have seen coming. But A refuses to leave it at that, and pairs her up with one of the bodies they inhabit. This made me mad because they once again broke every rule they've ever made for themself.
More on that breakup, Rihannon could have tried harder because A cant control anything. You know that even in the other books of the series, nothing will be the same.
This was a great book overall, but some things don't match up. I recommend this book, unless you're bit picky about details.
Gave up partway through the audiobook. The teenage characters seem accurately written to being teenagers, and irritate me to no end.
Short review: This was a very unique book. As a concept it was great. As a book it wasn't bad. It is worth reading just for the unique concept (a teen wakes up in a different body every day, and falls in love).
I am having a hard time putting my finger on why, but it just felt like it wasn't done as well as it could have been. I am mixed between a 3 and a 4. But I rounded down because I didn't think much of the end. But I still think it is worth reading.
My full review is at http://bookwi.se/every-day-by-david-levithan/