*SPOILERS AHEAD*

I’m way behind on my own 2016 Reading Challenge, but there’s cause for hope! In the week since I left another job I managed to finish two books already!

The first one was Every Day by David Levithan, which I finished on the morning of Thanksgiving.

First, a little about the book. A, the main character and protagonist of the story is unlike any person you’ve ever read about. At least I haven’t. She’s a sixteen-year-old teen who wakes up in a different body every single day. She lives in these different bodies until midnight each night, only to wake up in another body in the morning. She has no physical presence outside of inhabiting these other bodies for the single day, which leaves her longing for much of the interactions and feelings we take for granted. That all changes when she wakes up in the body of Justin, and spends the day with his girlfriend, Rhiannon. Nothing is the same after that single day.

The day is all but perfect. The two cut class and spend the day at the beach. Rhiannon enjoys it but doesn’t understand why Justin is acting so differently for no apparent reason. Shortly thereafter A drops a bombshell and tells Rhiannon what’s really been going on. Of course, telling a teen that you wake up in a different body every day is hardly believable. But they continue to see each other just about every day with A in a different body.

Enough of my quick little summary, let me get to what I thought of the book. First off, this was the first book I’ve read by David Levithan. I bought this one over a year ago at someone’s recommendation. I immediately read the back of it and was intrigued, though it took me forever to get around to reading it.

I thoroughly enjoyed A. She wasn’t your typical smart-mouthed teen (mostly because she chose not to dramatically alter the lives of the bodies she inhabited). She didn’t give off this feeling of knowing all there is to know about life or certain events. Which would have been easy because she experienced life from a different perspective every single day. And the entire concept of the story was something I’d never really thought about. I mean, can you imagine what it would be like to wake up in a different body each and every day? You essentially have control over 365 lives every year. You can change any thing, whether it’s a boyfriend or how you treat your parents.

A typically doesn’t change any thing in the lives of those she inhabits. But one body stood out to me. She woke in the body of a girl who was seriously contemplating suicide. She’d set a deadline for six days into the future to do it. A considered doing nothing, but ultimately decided she had to help this girl. The girl’s relationship with her father was rough at best, but told him during the night before she left the body that she needed help. That she wanted to kill herself. And that she might try to forget this conversation took place in the morning, but he couldn’t let her change her mind. She also gave him her journal in which she’d drawn herself committing suicide in several different ways. It was never confirmed, but it appeared the girl was sent to get help for what she was feeling after that night.

I enjoyed A and Rhiannon, but the main issue I had with the book was also them. They spent one day together, right? A was Justin and Rhiannon had no idea what she was dealing with. After that single day A proclaimed to the reader that she was in love. That it was different this time around. I understand the book is young adult fantasy, but for someone to say they are in love with someone after one day with someone is about as childish as it gets. Over the course of the rest of book they became closer and their relationship grew more in line into what I’d expect, but the idea that the whole thing started after a single day is simply absurd.

All in all, I enjoyed the book. It was completely different from anything I’ve read.

The book satisfied the requirement on my Reading Challenge to read a book that starts a new series. I’ll post an update on my overall progress tomorrow!

Have you read Every Day? What did you think of it?