Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
'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.'
My rating- 4 stars
Genre- Contemporary romance, Young Adult, illness
Review- Non-spoiler
If you are looking for a contemporary romance novel that is a little bit different, then this is your book. When I first heard about Everything Everything, I was a little bit weary of it, I really didn't think it would be my thing due to the whole idea of it. But then everyone seemed to love it, so I gave into the hype. This book is so well written and I loved the way it was set out, structurally I thought it was perfect and it was so easy to read. However, it didn't completely blow me away, I wasn't disappointed but it just hasn't really stuck with me.
Maddy's character was fun and sweet, she was a completely likeable person but at some points could be a little reckless, it was a little frustrating, but I respected her so much because of all she had to deal with. Olly was also extremely likeable, there was something about him that just struck me as more 'real' than lots of male characters in YA, I sometimes find it hard to imagine some of the characters I come across as being real people. Maddy and Olly had such good chemistry and worked extremely well together, it was really enjoyable to read about.
The writing in this novel is one that I can imagine people literally swooning over. It is so beautifully written in my eyes, the chapters are short and it makes it so much easier to just fly through. I can't really imagine this book as having 'long' chapters, I'm really glad it was written this way. Another aspect of this book was the drawings in it. This book has the most stunning doodles all over it, it was another factor which just made everything go by so quickly.
Something which made this book a 4 star instead of a 5 star was that some of the story was quite unrealistic, I found myself frowning at the page a little. Although the characters were realistic, parts of the novel were quite unrealistic, which was frustrating at times. I enjoyed the ending, but it hasn't left a huge lasting impression on me. I'm glad I didn't go into Everything Everything with sky-high expectations, instead I was actually quite surprised that I found myself turning the pages so quickly.
I would also like to add that the diversity in this book was on point, too many books nowadays have absolutely zero diverse characters and it was just so refreshing to find it in this. Looking at my bookshelf right now I am struggling to find a book with a diverse protagonist.
So that's it! I would recommend this book because it went beyond my expectations and kept me turning the pages. If you're looking for a novel that isn't typical- maybe its worth giving this one a try. If you've already read this then I would love to know what you thought of it! I hope you enjoyed this little review and I'll see you tomorrow with another Blogmas post!
-Darcy
