A cute contemporary that felt personal to me as a reader | Everything, Everything

Title: Everything, Everything
Author: Nicola Yoon
Published: September 1st 2015 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Goodreads summary: My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I'm allergic to the world. I don't leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He's tall, lean and wearing all black - black t-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can't predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It's almost certainly going to be a disaster.

REVIEW

This book is a cute contemporary that was so hyped up before it was even released (the power of ARCs), but it deserved it. Contemporary isn’t my favourite genre at all, tbh, but I really enjoyed this one and you should definitely give it a go, because it’s not only about the romance. I like contemporaries better when they have a lighter tone and this was one of them.

In this book, the writing felt very personal. Nicola Yoon didn’t only use prose, but she also included different types of format such as graphics, emails, drawings… It felt more like Maddy’s story and I had the feeling I was reading her diary. Moreover, the chapters were pretty short, which made this one and addictive and fast-paced read.

Maddy felt really realistic to me: physically, she wasn’t the typical YA character because she is half Afro American half Japanese and mentally, she had never left her house but was very wise, because she learned a lot by herself. I really liked the relationship she had with her mother in the beginning, because they had lost the rest of their family and so were pretty close. Her relationship with Carla was also enjoyable, because it felt like she was her second mother. I’m not sure I really need to say that, but her relationship with Olly was really cute, I liked that they first built it through emails and Maddy was so unsure, because she would always be sick.

The first half of the book was pretty average – even if Maddy was stick – it was just about our two characters falling in love. However, the second half of the book took a turn I wasn’t expecting, I really enjoyed that. I often find contemporaries predictable, but this one wasn’t, it was a nice change.

Final Thoughts:

Even though contemporary isn’t my favourite genre, I’m glad I picked that one up. It was a cute story with more serious issues than I had thought. The format added a lot to the story and made it more personal to me. The characters were diverse, it’s something I appreciated. 

I know I'm late to the party but: Have you read this book? What did you think of it?