Book Review: Everything, Everything, by Nicola Yoon

Find Everything, Everything on Goodreads.

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*Spoiler free*

Summary

Everything, Everything has one of those premises you just know has the potential to be a really emotional ride. And while it wasn’t a The Fault In Our Stars (John Green) kind of rollercoaster, it definitely had heart.

The concept was unique – a girl trapped in her own house because she’s literally allergic to everything? I wanted to keep reading because I was genuinely intrigued as to how someone would navigate that kind of existence, and how you’d deal with that sort of life sentence.

Main Characters

  • Maddy, our heroine was likeable, because she did her best to always be positive. She’d accepted her fate, as it were, and looked for the good parts in her life. I can admire a character like that. She liked reading (can relate), was close with her mum (can relate), and had a sweet, imaginative sort of quirkiness about her. I wanted a good outcome for her, and I wanted to know how she was going to manage that.
  • Olly, our love interest, was adorable. He had all the components you might want from a boy-next-door type: funny, strong, mysterious, and caring. His sense of humour and commitment to befriend Maddy won me over, and I think wanting to know what happened to him (probably more than what happened to Maddy) was my greatest motivator for turning the pages.

Things I Liked

The pages turned quickly! This isn’t a giant novel, but it’s intriguing, and the chapters are done in short, snappy bursts with the occasional doodle, or notebook page, or email thrown in, which I really enjoyed.

None of the parts dragged – always a bonus. I expected ‘big moments’ to be built up throughout the story, so they would ultimately happen at the end, but they actually took place much earlier than I anticipated, which was a nice surprise. It kept the story interesting and moving faster than I expected.

Nicola Yoon is a beautifully talented writer – her use of prose was ridiculously gorgeous throughout.

Final Thoughts

This book is definitely unique, in its premise, and in the way it’s told – using illustrations and snippets of characters’ handwritten notes and papers throughout. The love story is sweet, and the overall action isn’t always what you expect.

Though I’d worked out the ending about half way through, I was actually glad my prediction was correct, because it was what I wanted to happen!

Recommended for

Fans of John Green, Rainbow Rowell, Nick & Nora’s Infinite Playlist (Rachel Cohn and David Levithan), and The Love That Split the World (Emily Henry).

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