Monday, April 8, 2013

Every Day by David Levithan [Review + Giveaway]

Genre:
Young Adult, Romance,  Contemporary, Science Fiction
Publication.Date  August 28th 2012 (Hardcover edition)
Pages:324
Published By:  Knopf Books For Young Readers
WebsiteDavid Levithan 

Every Day
My review copy:Review copy received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Where to get:


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.
(Goodreads)

“If there's one thing I've learned, it's this: We all want everything to be okay. We don't even wish so much for fantastic or marvelous or outstanding. We will happily settle for okay, because most of the time, okay is enough."
“I wake up thinking of yesterday. The joy is in remembering; the pain is in knowing it was yesterday.”
“There will always be more questions. Every answer leads to more questions. The only way to survive is to let some of them go.”
“I want love to conquer all. But love can't conquer anything. It can't do anything on it's own.
It relies on us to do the conquering on its behalf.”
“Kindness connects to who you are, while niceness connects to how you want to be seen.”
“If you stare at the center of the universe, there is coldness there. A blankness. Ultimately, the universe doesn't care about us. Time doesn't care about us. That's why we have to care about each other.”


     Every Day is absolutely and completely extraordinary. It's unlike anything else out there. An excellent and brilliantly executed mix of contemporary romance and science fiction - beautiful, powerful and utterly unforgettable. Brimming with intensity, wit and soulful depth, it's a bittersweet tale of love, identity, and the power of human connections. It's not just a book. It's one of the best YA books on the market. A must have, must read, and must share. 

“This is what love does: It makes you want to rewrite the world. It makes you want to choose the characters, build the scenery, guide the plot. The person you love sits across from you, and you want to do everything in your power to make it possible, endlessly possible. And when it’s just the two of you, alone in a room, you can pretend that this is how it is, this is how it will be.” 

     The premise of Every Day is quite simple, yet entirely unique and fresh at the same time. Sixteen-year-old A wakes up every day in a different body. Sometimes it's a boy, sometimes a girl - there is no pattern or rule for that. The only thing that doesn't change is age - all his hosts are always the same age as he is. He doesn't get emotionally attached, he doesn't do anything his host wouldn't do, he's merely an observer, a passer-by. Until he meets Rhianna, a girl who happens to be the girlfriend of one of his hosts. Until he falls in love, unable to resists, move on and forget. Until the universe comes crashing down on his head and the life as he knew it gets flipped upside down and inside out.

“I am a drifter, and as lonely as that can be, it is also remarkably freeing. I will never define myself in terms of anyone else. I will never feel the pressure of peers or the burden of parental expectation. I can view everyone as pieces of a whole, and focus on the whole, not the pieces. I have learned to observe, far better than most people observe. I am not blinded by the past or motivated by the future. I focus on the present because that is where I am destined to live.” 

     Levithan artfully explores themes such as love, life, sexuality, equality, abuse and sacrifice. And he does it with unmatched cleverness, intelligence, honesty and sensitivity. Every Day is filled with inspiring, thought-provoking reflections and beautifully constructed, meaningful scenes. It's full of memorable quotes that are demanding to be read over and over again and then shared with your family  and friends. The narrative voice is not only authentic and haunting, it's also - or perhaps most of all - strikingly and searingly intimate and personal. It's impossible not to be deeply affected by it. 

“It's one thing to fall in love. It's another to feel someone else fall in love with you, and to feel a responsibility toward that love.”

     I loved A. I absolutely and utterly adored him. Everything about him - from the darkness and coldness within him, to how smart, understanding, thoughtful and caring he appeared - was magnetic. He was such a fascinating character. Opinionated, intelligent, passionate. He resigned himself to his fate, accepted it and tried to make the best out of every day, making sure not to harm his "hosts" and the people around them. He understood the hopelessness of his situation - he did not go looking for love; love found him. And it was the truest of all true love - the one that inspires you to do good. Selfless love. Pure love. 

“People take love's continuity for granted, just as they take their body's continuity for granted. They don't realize that the best thing about love is its regular presence. Once you can establish that, it's an added foundation to your life.

     I love, admire and respect David Levithan. He is an excellent writer. His stories encourage deep intellectual and emotional engagement, they're not just something you read, put away and forget about. They stick with you. They make you feel and think. They change the way you see the world. They crush you to pieces and then glue you back together, leaving you all shaky and broken, but hopeful and satisfied at the same time. They're rare. Extremely rare. And Every Day is quite possibly the rarest one of them all. Don't miss it!



What you can win: 2Every Day by David Levithan (thank you Random House Kids and Random House Canada!) 
Open to: US/Canada
Ends: May 15th

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