Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Gut Instinct Rating - 5

Characters - 5

Believability for type and topics - 4

Similarity to other books - 5

Writing Style - 4

Excitement Factor - 3

Story Line - 4

Title Relevance - 3

Cover art - 5

To read or not to read? To read. This book was well done, an easy read, with a few twists and turns.

Movie? 2.5 Stars - Description below.

Goodreads users gave this book a 4.11. I think it was more deserving of a 4.22.

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Published on September 1, 2015

Pages: 306

Publishing Company: Ember Publishing

Number of books by author: 6 Novels

Genre: YA Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction

So overall, I really loved this book. I thought that everything was paired well with the other components of a book and it wasn't lops-sided in some areas. However, I do think it's overrated. I don't think this book was worthy of a movie. I don't think this book is worthy of the excitement. I know, I know - people said this about Harry Potter, Twilight, Lord of the Rings, etc., and all those books (ironically all fantasy) became movies. But, I really didn't think when I read this that it deserved a movie. And maybe that's because I'm reading it and the movie was already out; who knows.

The characters had a lot of balance between them, which I felt made them more special. There weren't a lot of characters, really. You have Maddy and Olly, the two main characters, but then you have each of their families, a teacher and doctor that make small appearances, but big impact on the story line. It was just really well done that we were able to see characters in a few perspectives, in ways that we don't normally get to explore them.

It was fairly believable. I can't spoil anything, so could all this happen for as long as it happened? I don't know. But, it was a good story line. I would've liked more at the end, to kind of give us some closure about Maddy's life, but even without it, the story felt whole. I wouldn't even mind having a sequel for this book. It left you with a lot of unanswered questions that I thought could've been vetted in a sequel. If nothing else, this was a unique story to tell, which meant the book was unique.

The writing style was no more or less than your average YA Fiction-Contemp read. It was quick paced. A little choppy, with all the artwork and inter-placed book reviews. It wasn't really exciting, since we knew what was going to happen from the beginning. But, the ending gave that real twist this book needed. It doesn't make it a thriller by any means, but it was propelling enough to make you turn to the next page.

This title, is what gets me. This title doesn't make that much sense. Am I right? I hope so. Maybe I'm missing some really big thing here, but it just was so average for the books' cleverness. The artwork, however, was incredible. It's not something I noticed until I did one final look at the book before placing it on my shelf, and I noticed some really cool stuff squeezed in there.

((Spoilers may be found in the discussion questions!))

1. How would you describe Maddy's character? Despite her drastic isolation, she seems incredibly well grounded. How do you account for that? Carla tells Maddy that "you're the strongest, bravest person I know." Do you agree? In what sense is Maddy brave? I think Maddy is maybe too grounded for her situation. Her social skills are incredibly developed, and delayed to the teenage years almost to an exact science. I felt that with all of the isolation she experiences, she might miss social norms, or things like that. And there's a little hint of this towards the end, but not as much as I thought there should be. Now that I think about Carla's statement, I wonder if she possible suspected that Maddy wasn't sick the way they thought she was. Or maybe she simply meant that Maddy's fearlessness is what makes her brave. 2. How would you cope if you were in Maddy's situation? Or if you were a mother of a child with SCID? The same way I do because of my chronic pain and fatigue. You simply cope. You talk, reach out, research. All of the things that Maddy did. As a parent, I don't know. You take precautions, you do what you can to protect a child that can't be protected. But, why are there not more doctor's appointments; medications? I know she is a doctor, but even more so, shouldn't she consult another opinion for treatment/diagnosis. 3. At one point, Maddy tells her mother, "I am not lonely I am alone. Those things are different." What does she mean? And do agree with her distinction between alone and loneliness? I think there's a fine line between loneliness and simply being alone, especially because of technological advances over the last 15-20 years. Before the internet became a household commodity, we communicated by phone or letters. But, paper probably wouldn't be safe for Maddy, and via phone, you don't have a photo to see unless you've met the person already. To be lonely, is to miss social interaction. To be alone, is simply to be alone. 4. Talk about the role that technology plays in Maddy's life. How does it connect her to the outside? How does it connect her with Olly, and how does it allow their relationship to develop? I mentioned this previously, but because of things like Skype/Factime, text messages, email, etc., there are more forms of communication than just the mode of being in person. Certainly, there are some down sides to this, but you can learn who a person is without ever meeting them face-to-face.

5. Finally, talk about Madeline's mother. Oh, boy. What do you predict for the future of their relationship? What would you like to see happen? Ah, to hell with her! And to Carla, honestly. You're a nurse, I know. You don't diagnose, and you don't present cases, especially to your boss who is a doctor. BUT, how did no one notice this? How did no one catch the mistake? How did Maddy go 17 years and not even suspect that she's fine? Never once tested the boundaries? At 17, the relationship she has with her mother is kind of odd. Carla repeatedly mentions that she wishes her daughter, Rosa, and her had the same relationship. But they don't, because Maddy's mom is bat-shit-crazy and has basically forced her daughter into a life of isolation and fear. What kind of life is that? If a sequel were to ever happen, I think it'd be fitting that Maddy hires a lawyer to sue her mother for mental and probably physical damage and pain. I'd like to see Carla go to bat as a witness that things weren't right. I think it's only fitting that Maddy and Olly stay together, but we know he'll go back for his mom and sister because he can't simply stay half-way across the world, never knowing if they're alive. So I think that will break the relationship in some way.