A review by lucerez
Every Day by David Levithan
1.0
Great premise, but continuously missed opportunities. I spent most of the book not liking A, not liking the pairing, and eventually not liking the author, either.
It had a very white male perspective on the diversity of experience. I could feel it emanate from words, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. The first time was when the. I suspect this was because, from a "progressive white male" perspective, race shouldn't matter. So, he made a point of it "not mattering" to A. But it DOES matter, because of safety concerns. Is it safe to go outside? Will I be harassed? How should I talk to people when I look like this? Women and POC must continuously monitor themselves -- speech, presentation, "showing respect" to people up the social hierarchy. That's reality. But these thoughts never made it into the text. His read on female experience is very, VERY shallow. Based mostly on appearance, rather than sexist behaviors women experience. When A is female-presenting, the author doesn't have other characters continuously doubt her, minimize her decisions, talk over her (girls get interrupted! boys don't! etc). The author and his editors didn't seem to fully grasp how much gender influences how other people treat you...
I wanted to like this, but actually it made me kind of mad because it was just a reminder of how ignorant "progressive" white men can be. At the same time, he seemed certain that he was right about our experiences. And the little snapshot of the Latina worker read very racist IMO. It felt disrespectful and dismissive, sort of like a visitor to the poor part of town, where they judge and feel sorry, but don't actually care. It's not like A every thought about her again.
There is also a fatphobic section where he makes it clear how different and terrible being fat is. It was awful and maddening, like the rest of the book, but distilled into a few pages of poison.
Finally, I found the romance totally unbelievable because (A) it was instant for no reason, (B) they were actually not a match because.
It was a very engrossing read, but basically a trainwreck of whiteness and shallow male preachiness about his thoughts about the female/agender experience.
It had a very white male perspective on the diversity of experience. I could feel it emanate from words, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. The first time was when the
Spoiler
switch happened and A didn't reflect at all on what race they wereI wanted to like this, but actually it made me kind of mad because it was just a reminder of how ignorant "progressive" white men can be. At the same time, he seemed certain that he was right about our experiences. And the little snapshot of the Latina worker read very racist IMO. It felt disrespectful and dismissive, sort of like a visitor to the poor part of town, where they judge and feel sorry, but don't actually care. It's not like A every thought about her again.
There is also a fatphobic section where he makes it clear how different and terrible being fat is. It was awful and maddening, like the rest of the book, but distilled into a few pages of poison.
Finally, I found the romance totally unbelievable because (A) it was instant for no reason, (B) they were actually not a match because
Spoiler
Rhiannon is only attracted to conventionally attractive men, which A is not - or at least, isn't on a regular basisIt was a very engrossing read, but basically a trainwreck of whiteness and shallow male preachiness about his thoughts about the female/agender experience.