Evidently, I've been living under a very large rock as I've only just read David Levithan's newest book, EVERY DAY and... and... I'm absolutely smitten.
And my mind boggles how to tell you why without *ruining* it.
Enough friends and close folks who know me/my tastes had recommended it and so I dutifully snagged a copy and read the blurb, which goes like this:
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.
There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.
It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.
If you're anything like me, that's enough to make your brain go ~squish~.
I read this book cover-to-cover within 2 days, only putting it down due to exhaustion--much like A must have felt when holding on to the "one day" as it passed. Every single "ism" you can think of was addressed in this book (diversity-lovers go wild here!) and, as if that's not enough, we experience love, jealousy, selfishness, sacrifice, paranoia, despair, and a generosity that exceeds anything I expected and left me thinking the crucial question, "What would *I* do in this unbelievable situation?" Our empathy extends to nearly every character in the book, wondering what life would be like through their eyes because--in a way unique to this book and difficult to describe without bizarre spoilery details--we have seen it through their eyes, through the additional eyes of a stranger. It's layers of voyeurism that become all-too-obvious as you read and then realize that we, as readers, are the observers that A is describing as personal experience. The feeling leaps off the page and envelops you.
It's mind-blowing.
So aside from the brilliant characters, unique premise, love story plot and almost sinister reveals, this books would be one of my top recommendations for the prose alone; sentences that ring out as so true and resonant, it's amazing that I'd never seen these words used this way before. This book is utterly marvelous and I can't wait to share it so I can talk about more!
Highly highly recommended. Go read!
