A review by ienne
Another Day, by David Levithan
3.0
Every day was probably one of the most unique books I have ever read and David Levithan undeniably became one of my favorite young adult authors to date. If there's one word I could candidly pick from the dictionary to describe his first book Every Day, I'll choose "AMALGAM" with considerable certainty. It had been an odd mixture of sadness and euphoria. I was blown away by how brilliant his idea was.
I could care less about the brilliant idea if the execution was flat. In all likelihood, I could give a high rating on a book with simple plot but with gratifying delivery. But the case with Levithan's Every day: the plot, the writing style and the delivery were both surpassingly good. After hearing that Levithan was going to write a companion novel instead of a sequel to his book, I still became utterly desperate to add it on my TBR.
Holy freaking crap. This is one of the most amazing news I have ever received.
These are the same reasons why I was a bit disappointed upon finishing his book, Another Day. The second book is "literally" a companion novel to the most-loved young adult contemporary book. Contrary to the first book which is told from A's perspective, this companion novel is told from Rhiannon's POV. The backbreaking works had been created by the same magician, unfortunately, the effect and the magic were no longer the same. Another Day will now be coined as: "Rereading of your favorite book." Everything became a repetition told from a different angle of no exceptional appeal.
HERE WE GO AGAIN...
The book follows a girl Rhiannon who's living a monotonous life. Everything in her life is under an unfaltering state. School, friends, grades, parents, boyfriend and sex. Her another day is the same as before. She attaches little importance to the idea that her boyfriend is an asshole and the relationship that's supposed to be rewarding for both parties is slowly turning into a complete sh*t.
Every day, she convinces herself that there's nothing wrong with the relationship. For her, even though there are bad days, the good days are always able to compensate for it. She refuses to acknowledge the reality by disowning the fact that her relationship with Justin was no longer healthy. She disaffirms any findings that will prove that Justin didn't treat her the way she deserves to be treated. Her life is full of nothing but justifications.
This steady rhythm changed after one fateful day. Rhiannon met her boyfriend with a soul of another. Little did she know that the boy in front of her was no longer Justin. She met the boy with no gender, no friends, no parents, and with no permanent mortal dwelling. That particular day seemed different. Her belligerent, self-indulgent boyfriend soon became an idealistic fairy tale: sweet, selfless, spontaneous.
As "A" struggles to find a way to meet her every day, Rhiannon is having a trouble with CERTAINTY."Is it worth the risk?" Will she be willing to throw away her mundane life for an indefinite future? What I liked about this book is that Rhiannon, albeit a characterless predilection, seemed quite pragmatical at some point. Every time A was in a body of a girl, I understand Rhiannon's hesitation.
HARD NUT TO CRACK
Anyway, the most common problem of this book is that the readers already know what's going to happen next. The readers already anticipated the ending. Different perspective but same characters. Same situations. Same dialogues. Same ending. The excitement as to how the book will end is practically inexistent. Not to mention that the story had been told from a less compelling angle nobody's interested. Hence, the magic loses its effect.
I expected the author or at least Rhiannon's character has something new to offer. An entirely different story we failed to capture from the first book told from A's point of view. That being said, the roadway to imagination certainly could have been widened.
What I was looking for is a different formula. Another incomparable fantasy or a satisfying closure or perhaps a meaningful story from Rhiannon's perspective. I didn't get the same emotional confrontations I experienced from the first book. What I actually got from the second book: BROKEN RECORDS. Overall, the book wasn't bad and the writing style was indeed solid and flawless. I still love David Levithan. I will, by all means, read any work written by him.
I could care less about the brilliant idea if the execution was flat. In all likelihood, I could give a high rating on a book with simple plot but with gratifying delivery. But the case with Levithan's Every day: the plot, the writing style and the delivery were both surpassingly good. After hearing that Levithan was going to write a companion novel instead of a sequel to his book, I still became utterly desperate to add it on my TBR.
These are the same reasons why I was a bit disappointed upon finishing his book, Another Day. The second book is "literally" a companion novel to the most-loved young adult contemporary book. Contrary to the first book which is told from A's perspective, this companion novel is told from Rhiannon's POV. The backbreaking works had been created by the same magician, unfortunately, the effect and the magic were no longer the same. Another Day will now be coined as: "Rereading of your favorite book." Everything became a repetition told from a different angle of no exceptional appeal.
HERE WE GO AGAIN...
The book follows a girl Rhiannon who's living a monotonous life. Everything in her life is under an unfaltering state. School, friends, grades, parents, boyfriend and sex. Her another day is the same as before. She attaches little importance to the idea that her boyfriend is an asshole and the relationship that's supposed to be rewarding for both parties is slowly turning into a complete sh*t.
“Most of the time when we think we're looking for death, we're really looking for love.”
Every day, she convinces herself that there's nothing wrong with the relationship. For her, even though there are bad days, the good days are always able to compensate for it. She refuses to acknowledge the reality by disowning the fact that her relationship with Justin was no longer healthy. She disaffirms any findings that will prove that Justin didn't treat her the way she deserves to be treated. Her life is full of nothing but justifications.
“So I get to be the bitch now? Fine. Then you, my friend, are the scary girl. 'He doesn't hit me. He doesn't abuse me. He doesn't cheat on me.' Can you hear yourself? If those are the standards you have--hey, he hasn't punched me, so everything must be okay!--that scares me. That makes me think that at some point you've used these justifications. 'Oh, it's really bad right now, and he's being awful...but at least he's not hitting me. Have a little more respect for yourself than that, okay?”
This steady rhythm changed after one fateful day. Rhiannon met her boyfriend with a soul of another. Little did she know that the boy in front of her was no longer Justin. She met the boy with no gender, no friends, no parents, and with no permanent mortal dwelling. That particular day seemed different. Her belligerent, self-indulgent boyfriend soon became an idealistic fairy tale: sweet, selfless, spontaneous.
“Whatever we shared is gone, because it was destined to be gone from the minute it started.”
As "A" struggles to find a way to meet her every day, Rhiannon is having a trouble with CERTAINTY."Is it worth the risk?" Will she be willing to throw away her mundane life for an indefinite future? What I liked about this book is that Rhiannon, albeit a characterless predilection, seemed quite pragmatical at some point. Every time A was in a body of a girl, I understand Rhiannon's hesitation.
HARD NUT TO CRACK
Anyway, the most common problem of this book is that the readers already know what's going to happen next. The readers already anticipated the ending. Different perspective but same characters. Same situations. Same dialogues. Same ending. The excitement as to how the book will end is practically inexistent. Not to mention that the story had been told from a less compelling angle nobody's interested. Hence, the magic loses its effect.
I expected the author or at least Rhiannon's character has something new to offer. An entirely different story we failed to capture from the first book told from A's point of view. That being said, the roadway to imagination certainly could have been widened.
What I was looking for is a different formula. Another incomparable fantasy or a satisfying closure or perhaps a meaningful story from Rhiannon's perspective. I didn't get the same emotional confrontations I experienced from the first book. What I actually got from the second book: BROKEN RECORDS. Overall, the book wasn't bad and the writing style was indeed solid and flawless. I still love David Levithan. I will, by all means, read any work written by him.