Every Day by David Levithan: A Review

If you are a fan John Green then you should like this book by David Levithan who co-wrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson with Green. Levithan's Every Day tells the story of ‘A’, who wakes up in a different stranger's body every morning with absolutely no knowledge of who he will end up in or where that person will be. ‘A’ deals with his extremely strange and troubling existence by following a set of rules which help him to cope:

Never get too attached.
Avoid being noticed. 
Do not interfere.

This works for him until the day ‘A’ wakes up in the body of a teenager called Justin and meets and falls in love with Rhiannon, Justin’s girlfriend. His world is flipped upside down while he tries to deal with his feelings. And suddenly, he makes a crucial mistake...

Even though the rational part of my brain was telling me that this story was completely implausible, I found myself really hoping that ‘A’ would find a way to be with Rhiannon. For someone without a body of his own, ‘A’ came across as surprisingly real, even more so than Rhiannon, whom I found quite irritating at times especially in her misplaced devotion for the obnoxious Justin. However, I did grow to like her more as the story progressed.

I had a few quibbles with the story (apart from its implausibility)! I wanted a fuller explanation of  the whole body switching thing. I also found it a little too convenient that ‘A’ mostly ended up in the bodies of teenagers that lived within driving distance of Rhiannon. Still, when the whole plotline requires you to suspend disbelief, I guess minor niggles don’t really count!  Nit-picking aside, the story was beautifully written, emotional and moving. I’m looking forward to reading some more of David Levithan’s writing.

Mrs Osafo