Reviews

Review: Every Day by David Levithan

Title:  Every Day
Author:  David Levithan
Series:  None
Publisher:  Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
Publication Date:  August 28, 2012
Pages:  322
Format/Source:  Hardback/Borrowed from a friend
Age Group/Genre:  Young Adult/Science Fiction

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. (Cover and synopsis from Goodreads)

On My Auto-Read List…


David Levithan has quickly become one of my favorite authors (Thanks, Courtney, for introducing me to his books!), and he’s now on my auto-read list.  He just writes so beautifully and every book is such a unique and fresh take on the world we live in.  Whether he’s writing a contemporary novel about teens reacting to the bombing of the World Trade Center (Love is the Higher Law), or an adult novel written dictionary-style all about the love and hardships of a relationships (The Lover’s Dictionary), or a science fiction novel about what makes up a person and what it means to love someone (Every Day), he’s creating compelling characters and intriguing plots that serve to share his love of life with the world.  And I personally can’t get enough.


Right Up My Alley…


I was so excited to read Every Day because I love science fiction and although this book isn’t about spaceships and aliens, it is about a person who jumps from body to body, sharing the life of a new person each day.  I wrote in my notes that it’s kind of like Quantum Leap but without all the cheesiness. In this story, Levithan really asks the question of what is it to love someone, to really set aside the person’s looks and clothes and situations, to really just love the person inside?  And he also really shows the complications that can arise in relationships, despite the fact that two people love each other.


There were also some interesting twists in this story, and you guys know how I love twists and turns!  And I know some people really didn’t like the ending, but I did kind of like it.  I’m not exactly sure why I liked it, but I did.


Great Quotes…


As always with reading a David Levithan book, my notes were full of mostly beautiful and poignant quotes.  Here are some of my favorite quotes from Every Day:


“If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this:  We all want everything to be okay.  We don’t even wish so much for fantastic or marvelous or outstanding.  We will happily settle for okay, because most of the time, okay is enough.”

“The moment you fall in love feels like it has centuries behind it, generations–all of them rearranging themselves so that 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 now just realizing it, you are now just arriving at the place you were always meant to be.”

“Once you experience enormity, it lingers everywhere you look, and wants to be every word you say.”

“I am the people in the other cars, each with his or her own story, but passing too quickly to be noticed or understood.”

“It is my father who looks diminished now.  As if when someone close to us dies, we momentarily trade places with them, in the moment right before.  And as we get over it, we’re really living their life in reverse, from death to life, from sickness to health.”

“I wanted love to conquer all.  But love can’t conquer anything.  It can’t do anything on its own.
It relies on us to do the conquering on its behalf.”

My rating for Every Day by David Levithan:


Actually 4.5 stars.  I really enjoyed this book, but not quite as much as I loved some of his other books.  But I’ll definitely be reading anything that David Levithan writes.
Find it:  Goodreads │ Amazon │ Random House, Inc.
You may also enjoy:  What’s Left of Me │ The Host │ The Lover’s Dictionary

Disclaimer:  I borrowed this book from a friend (Thanks, Courtney!).  I was not compensated in any way for this review.


 I read this book as part of the Levithan Loveathon, hosted by Courtney at Abducted by Books.

Related Posts

February 22, 2013

Andrea is a mom, writer, and spoilerphobe. She works in a library and mostly loves YA SciFi and YA Fantasy.

4 Comments

  1. Brandi Kosiner

    February 22, 2013 at 3:18 pm
    Reply

    I actually haven't read anything by David yet, but I want to. I like the sound of how he shows complications happen even when people love each other. And from the quotes it seems I will like his writing style.
    Brandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog

  2. Kate Midnight Book Girl

    February 23, 2013 at 2:34 am
    Reply

    I do love Levithan too- even when I don't love his books (Every You, Every Me is just okay), I find myself highlighting quote after quote. He has a beautiful way of phrasing simple human truths. He also has insanely good taste in music. ;)

  3. fakesteph

    February 25, 2013 at 7:34 pm
    Reply

    He writes so beautifully. His books are just so quotable!

  4. Sarah

    May 31, 2013 at 11:18 pm
    Reply

    You keep asking me what I thought about this one! I read Will Grayson, Will Grayson and loved it so much that I knew I had to read all the John Greens and all the David Levithans. I like this book – it's original and well written – but I prefer The Lover's Dictionary and Dash & Lily's Book of Dares.

Leave a Reply

Want to include a link to one of your blog posts below your comment? Enter your URL in the website field, then click the button below to get started.