Book Review (Spoilers): Everyday by David Levithan
Plot Overview
This book explores the life of a teenager who wakes up in a different body of someone their age, never the same person twice. This teen has been living like this for sixteen years, living each day for that person and never getting too involved in their life. But when they meet Rhiannon everything changes.
Qualms
The books overall sentiment was that love transcends all and that A was special because they didn't identify as any gender or race and had lived through all walks of life giving them a unique perspective on the world. And although to many people this seemed to be a progressive book, I thought the intent was great but the execution was horrible.
First, can we talk about how all the characters were defaulted to be white? As I was reading I found it uncomfortable the way POC characters were introduced to the reader and the use of stereotypes and lack of originality with the characterization.
As a Latina, I felt great offense about the Latina character in the book. She was presumably an immigrant who didn't speak English and worked as a maid for a rich people. This made me so angry because the only representation of my ethnic background was watered down to a mere few pages about how the protagonist was cleaning a house!
The overall setup of the book doesn't leave much room for character development since the main character switches bodies every day but they do have a capability of being able to search the memories of the people of the bodies that they inhabit. I found it interesting that the author couldn't take time to do some research to add some Spanish dialogue or interview Latinx teens about their experience to write from their perspective.
Second, why is it that we find out that the beings name is A, two-thirds of the way into the book? As an avid reader, I like understanding who the characters are and how to identify them, because when you're reading through complex storylines it's nice to reference the character's name to keep track. With a book like this, you would think it would be common sense to let the reader know the protagonist's name!
I found it quite frustrating while reading not knowing how to reference the main character because with all the body switching and multiple storylines it was starting to get a bit overwhelming for me to read about a nameless being.
Third, in all the reviews I've seen and read about I haven't read anyone speaking about how A is very aggressive towards Rhiannon about their relationship. The book starts off with A in the body of Rhiannon's boyfriend and the love storyline takes off from there. After meeting Rhiannon, A becomes somewhat obsessive about Rhiannon and pursues her amidst all their different identities but time and time again Rhiannon says that she isn't interested in a romantic relationship with A but they keep on pushing the idea onto her.
Honestly, it was very uncomfortable to read certain parts of the book because A exhibits stalker-like behavior by using Justin's email, Rihannon's boyfriend, to find out what she's doing and then shows up unannounced and deceives her to try and get to know her better. The sentiment of wanting to get to know her does seem sweet but hanging around her without her knowing is kind of creepy. By the end of the book, it isn't a romantic love story but a rather Rhiannon submitting to A because A wore her down.
Fourth, A INHABITS RHIANNON'S BODY. This was the peak of my disturbance with the whole book. It's one thing to get intimate with someone you may like and/or your partner but it's another thing to be in their body! It was so strange reading from A's perspective on how their crush sees the world because they were literally seeing the world through her eyes.
On the one hand, this particular switch allowed A to gain knowledge of what happens after they've inhabited someone's body because the next day A and Rhiannon talk about how they experienced the day. On the other, we get this same kind of revelation when A inhabits the bodies of identical twins, so was the body inhabitation necessary? I don't think so.
Fifth, at the end of the book we don't even get to see the two of them together. A ends up 'setting up' Rhiannon with a straight white male who they happen to inhabit their body before they decide they're going to run away from the weird preacher. So after transcending gender, sexuality, and race Rhiannon ends up with a straight, white, male?
Overall, I thought the intent of the book was good but the execution of the whole thing was utter garbage. A was very stalker-like and aggressive in wanting Rhiannon wanting to be in a relationship with them even after multiple times of saying no and all the "diverse" bodies that A inhabits were mere stereotypes of people...I did not appreciate this book in the slightest.
Have you read the book or seen the movie? Tell me your thoughts below!
The books overall sentiment was that love transcends all and that A was special because they didn't identify as any gender or race and had lived through all walks of life giving them a unique perspective on the world. And although to many people this seemed to be a progressive book, I thought the intent was great but the execution was horrible.
First, can we talk about how all the characters were defaulted to be white? As I was reading I found it uncomfortable the way POC characters were introduced to the reader and the use of stereotypes and lack of originality with the characterization.
As a Latina, I felt great offense about the Latina character in the book. She was presumably an immigrant who didn't speak English and worked as a maid for a rich people. This made me so angry because the only representation of my ethnic background was watered down to a mere few pages about how the protagonist was cleaning a house!
The overall setup of the book doesn't leave much room for character development since the main character switches bodies every day but they do have a capability of being able to search the memories of the people of the bodies that they inhabit. I found it interesting that the author couldn't take time to do some research to add some Spanish dialogue or interview Latinx teens about their experience to write from their perspective.
Second, why is it that we find out that the beings name is A, two-thirds of the way into the book? As an avid reader, I like understanding who the characters are and how to identify them, because when you're reading through complex storylines it's nice to reference the character's name to keep track. With a book like this, you would think it would be common sense to let the reader know the protagonist's name!
I found it quite frustrating while reading not knowing how to reference the main character because with all the body switching and multiple storylines it was starting to get a bit overwhelming for me to read about a nameless being.
Third, in all the reviews I've seen and read about I haven't read anyone speaking about how A is very aggressive towards Rhiannon about their relationship. The book starts off with A in the body of Rhiannon's boyfriend and the love storyline takes off from there. After meeting Rhiannon, A becomes somewhat obsessive about Rhiannon and pursues her amidst all their different identities but time and time again Rhiannon says that she isn't interested in a romantic relationship with A but they keep on pushing the idea onto her.
Honestly, it was very uncomfortable to read certain parts of the book because A exhibits stalker-like behavior by using Justin's email, Rihannon's boyfriend, to find out what she's doing and then shows up unannounced and deceives her to try and get to know her better. The sentiment of wanting to get to know her does seem sweet but hanging around her without her knowing is kind of creepy. By the end of the book, it isn't a romantic love story but a rather Rhiannon submitting to A because A wore her down.
Fourth, A INHABITS RHIANNON'S BODY. This was the peak of my disturbance with the whole book. It's one thing to get intimate with someone you may like and/or your partner but it's another thing to be in their body! It was so strange reading from A's perspective on how their crush sees the world because they were literally seeing the world through her eyes.
On the one hand, this particular switch allowed A to gain knowledge of what happens after they've inhabited someone's body because the next day A and Rhiannon talk about how they experienced the day. On the other, we get this same kind of revelation when A inhabits the bodies of identical twins, so was the body inhabitation necessary? I don't think so.
Fifth, at the end of the book we don't even get to see the two of them together. A ends up 'setting up' Rhiannon with a straight white male who they happen to inhabit their body before they decide they're going to run away from the weird preacher. So after transcending gender, sexuality, and race Rhiannon ends up with a straight, white, male?
Overall, I thought the intent of the book was good but the execution of the whole thing was utter garbage. A was very stalker-like and aggressive in wanting Rhiannon wanting to be in a relationship with them even after multiple times of saying no and all the "diverse" bodies that A inhabits were mere stereotypes of people...I did not appreciate this book in the slightest.
Have you read the book or seen the movie? Tell me your thoughts below!
