Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon Review
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon follows a 17-year-old girl named Maddy who has severe combined immunodeficiency. She lives with her mother in a place that is constantly sanitized. The only other interactions she has with Carla, her nurse. After noticing a new boy named Oliver who moves next door, Maddy finds herself yearning for a new friend. Oliver (who goes by Olly) makes several attempts to meet Maddy, without knowing of her illness. Maddy finds a way for them to communicate using email and finds herself slowly wanting to have a face-to-face conversation with him. Carla notices her connection with Olly after Maddy spends more hours on her electronic devices. Wanting a more in-person relationship with Olly, Maddy begs Carla to let them meet in person. Reluctantly, Carla makes sure that Olly is sanitized and lets him into the house. She forbids any sort of contact between them, fearful that Maddy might become very sick. After Maddy talks to Olly face-to-face, she finds herself wanting more and more for their relationship. Just a warning, from this point on, there will be spoilers.
There were a few things I disliked about this novel. The first place it went wrong was when Carla let Olly come into Maddy’s life so easily. Carla’s want for Maddy to meet someone her age led her to do something that could’ve killed Maddy if she actually had a severe immunodeficiency disorder. When Maddy’s mother is gone, Carla is supposed to be her caretaker and shouldn’t have let her feelings come in the way of Maddy’s safety.
However, I do like the role Carla plays in Maddy’s life and how important she is to her. They both obviously care about each other but Carla’s relationship with Maddy made her make a decision that affected Maddy’s entire life. On one hand, Carla letting Olly inside Maddy’s house introduced her to someone her age and eventually led Maddy to find out that she doesn’t have severe combined immunodeficiency. On the other hand, what Carla did was out of line and shouldn’t have been done. Carla is an extremely complex character and I wish there was more from her point of view that described what led her to make the decision of letting Olly inside Maddy’s life.
Another thing that I disliked was the fact that Olly and Maddy were able to ‘escape’ to Hawaii for two days. The trip was an important part of the story and helped their relationship grow but it wasn’t realistic. It mentions that they bought plane tickets, a hotel room for two nights, dinner at a good restaurant, and other things. All of this appears semi-unrealistic for two young people who appear to not have that much money in general. Also, if Olly really did care about Maddy he probably wouldn’t trust a most likely faulty pill for her disease to keep her safe, especially after learning how severe it was. Both Maddy and Olly took an irresponsible route in order to try to be with one another.
Despite everything I disliked about it, Everything, Everything is not a bad book, but it isn’t a great book either. It tended to fall into certain clichés such as ‘falling in love with the boy next door’ and ‘forbidden romance’ which are pretty overused topics in my opinion. I would probably only give this book a 2.5/5 because it isn’t a must-read. However, if you’re just looking for something to read, it’s not a bad book to check out.
Great review! This seems like an interesting book that will definitely be worth checking out. I liked how you alternated between what you liked and what you didn't since it made the review balanced and demonstrated how you have a mostly neutral (not good, not bad) standpoint on Everything, Everything well. I also appreciated how you gave a warning about spoilers and how you didn't dwell on the spoiler since even though I know that Maddy does not have severe combined immunodefciency, I really want to read Everything, Everything now so that I can learn the context behind the plot twist.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of this books seems interesting. I don't typically read romance books, but if I were to, this would probably be my first choice. I can see why Carla's actions can be weird. One thing about this review that confused me is how Maddy does and also doesn't have severe immunodeficiency disorder. Did the doctor give her a wrong diagnosis? How did this happen? Even though that part was a little confusing, this was a great review! I might look into this book.
ReplyDeleteInteresting review. I read this book a few years ago and really enjoyed it due to the unique concept and detailed writing style, so it was intriguing to read about a different, more negative perspective on the book. Now that you point it out, the author did tend to rely on Maddy's illness as a plot device a bit too much and didn't really put any work into avoiding romantic clichés. Thanks for giving me some points to look out for if I ever decide to re-read it. Nice job!
ReplyDeleteNice review! I read this book a while ago and I thought it was an okay read. I liked how you spent the majority of the review giving your opinions on the book; it was interesting to read about a different view on the book. I can agree that some parts of the book seem unrealistic and cliché, but I also think that the author did a good job incorporating topics rarely discussed in young adult fiction. Overall, you did a great job with this review!
ReplyDeleteGreat job! I read this novel a few years ago, and although I hadn't found anything outwardly disappointing about the book, I was also not as critical about characters as I am now. If I were to read Everything, Everything again, I would probably agree with your take on the unrealistic approach the novel took when writing this novel. Knowing a film adaption of Everything, Everything was released relatively recently I would also like to get your thoughts on comparing the two. Overall, great review and I look forward to more of your reviews!
ReplyDeleteYour review has definitely left me wanting to read more about this book! You mentioned the complexity of Carla’s morality, and this is something that I want to read about further. I also want to read the plot twist within the context of the story, as it seems very important to the story and its characters. I think you described the shortcomings of the book very well and in a way that was unbiased. Overall a great review on what seems to be a very interesting book!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great review! I liked how you described the relationships so deeply and you were very realistic about the things you didn't liked about the novel. I can tell that you spent a long time thinking about what you wanted to say and how to say it in a concise, but descriptive manner. You seemed very honest about your review;. You weren't too harsh, but you also weren't forgiving to make it sound better. This review was detailed and informative so now I know I will likely not check this book out soon mostly because I hate books that are super cliché which you mentioned in your review.
ReplyDeleteI think you did pretty well describing this book. I was confused at first because her sickness wasn't really described, but as the review went on I understood more. I like that you mention the book is kind of unrealistic. From your description, I would agree that the book seems too cliche, so I probably wouldn't read it.
ReplyDeleteI remember when a movie for this book came out a few years ago, and I was curious about if the book or its adaptation were any good. I never got around to reading the book, but this review has helped me understand what kind of novel this is. Your analysis is very thoughtful, and I like how you focus on the confusing motivations behind a side character's decision that sets the entire books' plot in motion. This book seems to have an interesting premise, but it's disappointing that you mentioned it relies heavily on cliches. I won't go out of my way to read this book. Great review!
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