Scan barcode
A review by mariekejee
Every Day by David Levithan
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I'm a bit conflicted on this book - the magical realism part is quite nice, but I don't think I liked the romance part as much as I should've. Therefore, it sits at a solid 3,75 stars for me. As A is both and neither boy or girl, it is essentially a queer love story with a non-binary main character, which is commendable for a book from 2012.
As for the magical realism part: I liked getting to read through A living in a new body every day - I actually got excited about getting to meet the new person every chapter. The book poses a lot of questions about A's existence, and is not particularly interested in answering them. I can imagine this will turn some people off, but I didn't mind - this is, for all intents and purposes, more a YA romance novel than it is a book about body swapping, and that's fine.
As for the romance, it is filled with questionable tropes that I don't particularly care about. I'm not a big fan of the insta-love, I physically cringed at A's first description of Rhiannon (she is lost in the sadness, I'm the only one that notices her gentleness, and my favourite: she's pretty but she doesn't see it. Need I say more?!), the stalking,the way A fucks up people's life so they can see Rhiannon , the way Rhiannon properly cheated on her boyfriend and we're supposed to think that's okay because he's a jack-ass . A thinks they're a good person, and can be pretty preachy with lines such as "we have 98 percent in common, but people like to focus on the 2 percent". In fact, Rhiannon and A both are described as compassionate, kind people but their whole affair is riddled with selfish acts, a lot of which have long lasting effects on those affected. It's actually a breath of fresh air when I got to read about the day A lives in the body of a girl who has a healthy, loving relationship with her girlfriend. And don't even start with the ending: A setting Rhiannon up with the body he's inhabiting without their consent. That's.. all types of fucked up. From a romantic standpoint, just because the person he's inhabiting is similar to them, doesn't mean Rhiannon would love him equally, and just sets their relationship up to fail. And again: the non-existent consent?!
Sidenote: I kinda hate how every book about people inhabiting multiple bodies needs to include a fatphobic chapter where the person inhabits the body of a fat person. They're all the same; they wake up struggling to get up because every part of their body is heavy, everything about them is grotesque and gross (the sweat! so much sweat!) and the fat people themselves have no redeemable qualities (none at all! they are literally the worst because they are fat!). Please, thin writers, please stop talking about living in a fat body when you cannot disguise your disgust for them. This chapter wasn't as bad as the one I read in The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, but reading it still felt like an unexpected cold shower.
In the end, the romance is kinda iffy but nice enough. I want to think this book would be better suited for me when I was in high school myself, but to be frank, given how serious I was about school I probably would've given myself an aneurysm reading about how casually A skips tests and important events. I liked the body swapping parts, and this has been one of the few books that have kept me hooked in a long time, so I'm grateful for that. Nevertheless, I don't think I would recommend this book to friends.
As for the magical realism part: I liked getting to read through A living in a new body every day - I actually got excited about getting to meet the new person every chapter. The book poses a lot of questions about A's existence, and is not particularly interested in answering them. I can imagine this will turn some people off, but I didn't mind - this is, for all intents and purposes, more a YA romance novel than it is a book about body swapping, and that's fine.
As for the romance, it is filled with questionable tropes that I don't particularly care about. I'm not a big fan of the insta-love, I physically cringed at A's first description of Rhiannon (she is lost in the sadness, I'm the only one that notices her gentleness, and my favourite: she's pretty but she doesn't see it. Need I say more?!), the stalking,
Sidenote: I kinda hate how every book about people inhabiting multiple bodies needs to include a fatphobic chapter where the person inhabits the body of a fat person. They're all the same; they wake up struggling to get up because every part of their body is heavy, everything about them is grotesque and gross (the sweat! so much sweat!) and the fat people themselves have no redeemable qualities (none at all! they are literally the worst because they are fat!). Please, thin writers, please stop talking about living in a fat body when you cannot disguise your disgust for them. This chapter wasn't as bad as the one I read in The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, but reading it still felt like an unexpected cold shower.
In the end, the romance is kinda iffy but nice enough. I want to think this book would be better suited for me when I was in high school myself, but to be frank, given how serious I was about school I probably would've given myself an aneurysm reading about how casually A skips tests and important events. I liked the body swapping parts, and this has been one of the few books that have kept me hooked in a long time, so I'm grateful for that. Nevertheless, I don't think I would recommend this book to friends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Transphobia