Everything, Everything

It all started when I went to see Beauty and the Beast. In the theatre, they always show nearly 20 minutes of ads and upcoming movie trailers. I’m one of those people who likes this just fine, for the most part. A trailer for Everything, Everything came on. It looked spellbinding and emotional. A while later, my friend said she was reading a book called Everything, Everything. Deja vu! Once she finished, she let me borrow it, before I finished it the next morning.

Tile: Everything, Everything

Author: Nicola Yoon

Age Group: Teens up to adults

My rating: 3.5

Maddy has SCID (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease). That means that she is allergic to the world. She hasn’t been outside of her heavily controlled environment for 17 years. Her only friends are books, her mother, and her nurse (Carla). That’s how it always has been. That is, until a new family with a son named Olly moves in next door. He and his sister come to Maddy’s house, bringing some cookies and wanting to meet their new neighbors. When he hears that Maddy can’t come to the door, he decides to take a direct approach and writes his email address on his window, which is just opposite hers. They start conversing and before long, Maddy wants to be able to have a friend in-person. Carla decides to let him come in for a few visits. Each time, Maddy’s longing for the outside world grows stronger. Olly becomes someone she is willing to lie for, maybe even willing to die for.

An excerpt from the synopsis; “I, Maddy, am certainly going to fall in love with Olly.”

What strikes me about this book is that it wasn’t super exciting for nearly the first half. Yet, it was just so readable! I couldn’t stop once I had started. This story wasn’t just a good read, though. It really made me stop and think about how much I value my life and how much we humans can take things for granted. I think that people should read this, if not for the plot, then for the valuable topics that arise.

Happy Reading!

Mayah XO

Copyright 2017