"Everything, Everything" (ARC Review)

My rating: ★★★★★

Author: Nicola Yoon

Series: Standalone

Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult

Page Count: 320 pages (Hardcover)

Release Date: September 1st, 2015

Publisher: Random House Kids\Delacorte Press

Places to order:
Barnes & Noble
Amazon
Books-A-Million
iBooks
IndieBound

About Nicola:

Nicola Yoon grew up in Jamaica (the island) and Brooklyn (part of Long Island). She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA with her husband and daughter, both of whom she loves beyond all reason. Everything, Everything is her first novel.

Website // Instagram // Twitter // Tumblr









Synopsis:
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 review:

I received an ARC (advanced reader’s copy) of Everything, Everything by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The cover is absolutely gorgeous and extremely creative because of how it reflects the story so well. In terms of content, this book is not recommended for readers 14 and younger since it includes some violence and sexual content. Okay, so lets get started with this review!

Superb, emotional, beautiful. Everything, Everything reels you in with a love story that will warm your heart, break it, and stich it all back together.

For those who don’t know much about this book, it’s about a girl named Maddy, who is a half Asian and half African American teenager with a rare disease that makes her allergic to the world—literally. She cannot leave the house nor come into contact with people. For a teenager, being secluded within a house and having no connections to the outside world, other than the Internet, can be extremely lonely and boring. But when the house next door has new tenants, Maddy looks out the window and sees Olly—tall, dressed in all black and beautiful. These two characters immediately connect and go through a crazy journey together about taking chances and making your own choices.

Throughout the book, there are drawings and illustrations of messages Olly and Maddy send to one another and a few other small details that make this book extraordinary in it’s own special way. Another extraordinary thing about this book is that it’s a diverse book, unlike most young adult books where the main character is typically a girl with pale skin and blonde or brown hair. Yay for diversity!

The character development for Maddy transitioned well as the story progressed since she was starting to be braver with her life (or being a rebel, whatever you want to call it) and making her own choices. With Olly, he had his own secrets and family issues that played an important role in the story. Although as the readers we don’t recognize what it is at first, but soon on, we see that his father is an alcoholic who gets violent.

This story is about a girl finally taking chances to live and experience everything the world has to offer—the good, the bad, and the ugly.

*SPOILER SECTION*

(if you have NOT read this book, don't not continue reading!)

Truthfully, I expected the twist at the end about how she wasn’t actually sick. There were some signs that her mom was being a little strange when it came to her health, and I began to see some foreshadowing that would take place.

Maddy is selfless and daring. She ran out of her house when she saw that Olly was in danger from his dad, even though she could have died from just being outside. THEN she wanted to risk her life to spend a few days with Olly in Hawaii, which gave me all the feels.

After finishing this book, I went through stuff in my head to see if there was anything that stood out in the book that I didn’t quite like or something that I disagreed with…but I couldn’t find anything. I loved every scene, picture, and word in this book—not to mention the stunning cover! I loved how it all ended with her finally making some huge decisions for herself (such as leaving home to go find her first love).

I highly recommend this read for everyone (especially to those who like John Green and Rainbow Rowell’s books) because this is one of those contemporary YA novels that speak so much to you and leave you feeling so overwhelmed with the power of the words that you won’t want to pick up another contemporary book for a while.

*Down below is a YouTube video of Nicola Yoon being interviewed and discussing about her novel among other things about herself!