Review: Every Day
RATING: 5/5
Possibly one of the greatest books ever written. At least, one of the greatest books I've ever read. Every Day is incredibily unique, brilliant and captivating. It poses so many questions and pokes at our society's flaws. Yes, it's a love story, but not in the gushy way you'd think. It focuses on HOW people love and it's beautiful.
The storyline is that "A" is this being that inhabits a different person's body each day. (I will refer to A as 'they'). Sometimes they are male and sometimes they are female. Sometimes they are gay or lesbian, depressed or obese. It's really interesting to see the types of body's and lives that A is taking over for a day.
A inhabits this one guy's body and meets his girlfriend Rhiannon, who A falls in love with instantly. But of course, Rhiannon doesn't suspect that her boyfriend is actually being a host to this other being. And for A, who will never again be in this same body, the thought of never seeing Rhiannon again is devastating. A has to find a way back to her.
I'm going to go in depth on some of the moments and concepts in this book in the next section. If you don't want to be spoiled, just know that David Levithan addresses some really great points on love, gender, sexuality, mental illness etc. in this book and that you must read it. I demand it.
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SPOILERS
This is how A's whole life works: They only inhabit bodies the same age as them within the same geographically area, which is somewhere in Maryland. They were born like this, being in the body of a different person every day. Since "birth", however the hell that even happened, A has been body hopping. In the beginning, A never realized it since they were just a baby. As a child, they started to realize that each day they had different parents, siblings, friends etc. but they thought that everyone's lives were like this. Until they realized that everyone else seemed to have continous lives. People around A would talk about tomorrows and A was confused, thinking, there will not be a tomorrow with these same people again. That's when A realized they were the only one who's life changed each day.
A is now sixteen, inhabiting bodies of other sixteen year olds. A has no gender or sexuality. They simple are whoever it is they inhabit that day. And whatever the body or person, A doesn't mind. Sometimes the person A is one day is in a relationship, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual. One time, A is transgender with a girlfriend. A doesn't have negative connotations about these types of things because to them, it doesn't matter. It's interesting because A has grown up in the same society, yet they haven't picked up any of the things that society has taught people about beauty or sexuality. They aren't prejudice about race or sexuality or gender. A has loved before, a boy named Brennen, and now they love a girl named Rhiannon. With Rhiannon, A feels the need to do something about it. They need to tell her about what they are and get her to love them back.
"In my experience, desire is desire, love is love. I have never fallen in love with a gender. I have fallen for individuals. I know this is hard for people to do, but I don't understnd why it's so hard, when it's so obvious."
A does explain to Rhiannon about what they are and although she's really confused in the beginning, she believes them and continues this strange relationship with A. In whatever body they inhabit, they try to find their way back to Rhiannon. Sometimes Rhiannon meets A when they are a big muscular football player, or a Beyonce-looking girl, or an Asian girl or a nerdy guy. Each encounter is different, and Rhiannon is actually starting to love who A really is, but sometimes, she can't look past the physical body. Sometimes she kisses A or holds A's hand, but other times, she's awkward around them, especially when A is in a girl's body. This shows how physical attraction has become so important to us, but to A, they don't understand it. They don't understand why Rhiannon can't look past whatever body it is that they are in to just love the person that's inside. They are the same person every time, but with different bodies, and her attraction to them depends on these bodies. For many, appearances are just as important as personality. It's just hard to look past the outer shell sometimes.
The greatest thing about this book is how David Levithan breaks down all the barriers and portrays love in a totally different light: That it shouldn't matter what you look like because what counts is on the inside. And if we didn't label genders and sexualities and were just human beings loving other human beings, there wouldn't be all this hatred and confusion about sexuality and gender that occurs in our society today. Of course, that's hard to do because we can't change society. All these things are so engrained that it would be impossible to get rid of the labels.
In one chapter, A is in the body of a girl with depression. A is not depressed, but this body is. A talks about how it's really the body's biology and chemistry that is responsible for mental illness. Some people think depression is just being sad and that people can just get over it if they stop moping around. But really, it's chemicals in the brain that aren't functioning normally. It's the body not the mind. Thank you David for pointing that out.
In another chapter, A is in the body of biological female but gendered male, named Vic. A talks about what it's like to feel betrayed by your own body. That it's a battle between you and the body and you feel as if you'll never win, yet you keep fighting it. Major props to David for incorporating this topic into the book to help explain how transgendered people feel. Furthermore, this person that A is inhabiting has a girlfriend, Dawn. The book mentions how Dawn wasn't sure what it was she was attracted to--the boyish girl or the girlish boy-- but that eventually she decided it didn't matter, because she was attracted to Vic, this very distinct and very clear person. Reading this, I just couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful it was. It's not easy being transgender in our society, but I hope that one day, acceptance and love like this will happen to everyone.
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This wonder of a book is so awe-inspiring and thought-provoking, that I can't stop thinking about it. It makes you really see love and acceptance in a different light and I think everyone could benefit from this genuis book of David Levithan.
