Welcome back to Books With Cause. Let’s dive into my latest review. A beautifully original YA story about identity, love, and what it means to truly see someone for who they are. My full review of Every Day by David Levithan — a heartwarming and thought-provoking read.
The central character is an androgenous supernatural entity known only as A. A wakes up every day in the body of a different person and lives that person’s life for that day. Come midnight, it’s all over, and they wake up in the body of another person. They’re never a person for longer than 24 hours, and they’re never the same person twice. A tends to always wake up in the body of a teenager around a similar age, and they seem to always be in the United States. And they can be male or female. A lives a day in the life of whichever person they wake up in and tends not to change their life in any way.
When this story opens, A is used to their life and keeps track of it in the form of a diary and opens on the day when A wakes up in the body of Justin. But this day changes everything when A falls for Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. At this point, Rhiannon doesn’t know any different; she just thinks her boyfriend is in a particularly good mood that day. The pair of them bunk school and spend a romantic day at the beach instead.
The next morning, like every other, A wakes up in a different body, but they can’t shake the memory of Rhiannon. What follows is a unique series of events where A goes to meet Rhiannon almost every day in the body of a different person. In some cases, A is driving for many hours to get near Rhiannon and risks sabotaging the life of the person he’s borrowing for that day. Furthermore, A finds that Rhiannon reacts to them differently depending on the body they’re in.
In the end, A can’t bear the thought of Rhiannon not knowing, and they tell her exactly what’s going on. Except, how do you convince someone that you’re a disembodied spirit who wakes up in a different body every day, and yet you feel drawn to visit the same girl every day? How do you prove that? As you can probably imagine, it certainly won’t be easy, and A has their work cut out for them.
What I think makes this book so wonderful is that it finds such an unconventional way to explore the universal themes of identity, gender, and what it means to fall in love as a young adult. It’s impossible to read this book and not feel sympathy for A. While we don’t know the circumstances that led to their reality, we’re led to believe it will never change. So no matter what, A can never have the life they want so desperately. They cannot go to bed and fall asleep next to the person they love, because they will wake up as somebody else, somewhere else the next day, and the person they were inhabiting will wake up confused as to why they’re sharing a bed with a stranger. It’s a dynamic that is equal parts funny and tragic.
This book has been adapted into a movie starring Angourie Rice as Rhiannon, with a whole host of people playing A along the way. I haven’t watched it yet, but I am intrigued to see how they did it. There are also two follow-up books, which I am very much looking forward to checking out as well. If you’re into YA fiction that’s heartwarming and potentially tear-jerking, then Every Day could definitely be one for you.
My Goodreads Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 stars)
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