Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon Published by Delacorte Press on September 1, 2015
Genres: YA
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Maddy is a seventeen-year-old girl who is forced to live her life separate from the outside world. Essentially allergic to the world, Maddy is confined to her home. Her mother, and her nurse, Carla, are the only individuals permitted entry into her protected world. Until the new neighbors move in next door.
Olly is a tall, lean young man dressed in all black, including a black knit hat covering his hair. The moment Maddy sees him, and he sees her, she's certain she is going to fall in love with him. Given her condition, she knows their future is uncertain and unlikely, but this doesn't prevent her from taking the risk anyway. With a life as fragile and unpredictable as hers, everyday is a risk, and to Maddy, love is a risk worth taking.
I first learned about this title at Book Expo America (BEA) in May. EVERYONE was talking about it. I made a decision that I was going to avoid reading it until the buzz died down. And then it didn’t. It just intensified. Stuck in a book slump after reading a particularly phenomenal book, I decided to take the chance. Three hours later I looked up from my iPad, and smiled. Without a doubt, Everything, Everything is worth all of the buzz, the praise. Completely heartwarming and humorous, it gave me the warm fuzzies that only few books have been able to do lately.
I couldn’t fathom living isolated in my home for seventeen years. Though she spoke with her tutors via Skype, the only in-person interaction she had with other people was with her mother and Carla. Maddy’s father and brother were killed in a car accident when Maddy was just an infant. Maddy is everything to her mother, what she lives for. They spend every evening with one another, playing games or watching movies. This has remained a constant all of Maddy’s life, they never needed anyone but each other. Yet, as she grew into a young woman Maddy craved for something more. In gaining this new relationship, she begins to question her own existence, her life, her situation, needing more. She questions her illness; she doesn’t know much about it beyond what her mother has told her. In doing so, Maddy unleashes conflict with her mother that will forever alter their relationship.
Told from Maddy’s point of view, using emails and illustrations to break up the dialogue, Everything, Everything will take you, completely. It will take hold of your soul, I guarantee, leaving you with a sense of hope, of inspiration and joy. Though compared to The Fault In Our Stars, it strong enough to stand on its own, it’s strengths and differences creating a wholly unique novel. It’s not your typical young adult love story; it is full of twists and turns, of insight that will inspire readers of all ages. Highly, highly recommended.
Note: the publisher has indicated this title is appropriate for ages 12 and up. I disagree, categorizing this as a clear young adult novel.
