Every Day (Every Day, #1) in What's the Name of That Book???

Oct 21, 2012 Kate rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: age-ya, 2012

Every day, A wakes up in a different body. Boys, girls, gay, straight, transgendered, thin, fat - A is used to this now. But when he wakes up as Justin, he meets Justin's girlfriend Rhiannon, and falls in love with her. Now A will do anything to be with Rhiannon, taking the bodies and going back to her, telling her about this strange affliction. Then one of his bodies, Nathan, believes that he was possessed by a devil, and A must figure out if wanting to stay means he is robbing someone else of Every day, A wakes up in a different body. Boys, girls, gay, straight, transgendered, thin, fat - A is used to this now. But when he wakes up as Justin, he meets Justin's girlfriend Rhiannon, and falls in love with her. Now A will do anything to be with Rhiannon, taking the bodies and going back to her, telling her about this strange affliction. Then one of his bodies, Nathan, believes that he was possessed by a devil, and A must figure out if wanting to stay means he is robbing someone else of life.

When I first started hearing about this book, I thought it was his last book Every You, Every Me, until I actually read a summary. Nope, totally different book! Just a similar title.

This was a fascinating concept. A is comfortable in whatever gender/sexuality s/he is given, yet it is interesting to see how Rhiannon cannot as easily divorce A's personality from A's current body. There are times when A has a difficult time separating the two as well, as s/he enters the bodies of drug addicts, the extremely beautiful and the extremely obese. I'd heard a bit about this book from readers outraged over the depiction of an overweight body, but I felt like the depiction was fair. This is someone used to average-sized bodies put in a hugely overweight body overnight, someone who wants to be attractive to a girl. It is this body where Rhiannon has the most difficulty overcoming the body to love the person inside, although she does have trouble with a few of A's other bodies, including all the girl bodies and a sweaty heavy metal-type guy.

I was expecting more of a resolution at the end, maybe A discovers how to stay in one body for longer and finds an empty shell (I don't know, a coma patient or something?) to occupy. Or maybe A would discover more about what s/he is, or head more in the direction of Nathan's explanation of demon possession. But the ending left me thinking instead of picking apart an implausible explanation.

Definitely a fast read, too. I kept turning the pages, eager to see what body A would wake up in next. ...more

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Jul 24, 2012 Debbie Barr rated it it was amazing

I can't seem to compose my thoughts very well on this book, but it was beautiful and gripping, fresh and original. It's been quite a while since I've read a book I just -can't- put down, but this was one of them. It's not that the stakes were so high, but that I cared deeply about the characters, especially A, who shows us so much in our lives that we take advantages of. I may have finished reading the book in two days, but I know A's story will stay with me for a long time. ...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Emma rated it it was ok

"Every day I am someone else. I am myself--I know I am myself--but I am also someone else.

It has always been like this."

Every morning, A wakes up in a different person's body. The person's memories are still there, but so is A. Every day it could be anyone. There is never any warning.

A has no family, no attachments. No religion, no traditions. Genderless, raceless, it is a very insightful life. But it is also very lonely. The only way A has found to survive is to stay on the periphery: Never g ...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Cindy rated it liked it

I loved the book enough so that I could not put it down. The concept is interesting. A wakes up in a new body everyday and must live the life of the person he inhabits, accessing memories but not feelings. He's been like this since birth. So, essentially, it's Quantam Leap sans Ziggy and Al. Actually, it's Quantam Leap sans the metaphysical/moral guide. The book tries to answer those moral questions-what is love? How can we love? Who do we love? Why do we love? Who is more important in the equat ...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Melissa Rochelle rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, arc, read-2012, ebook, teary-eyed

This is a story about love. "A" lives in other people's bodies. "A" doesn't have a choice. "A" simply wakes up as a different person every day, but still remembers the life lived the day before. The journey "A" takes over the time of this book is heartbreaking and beautiful. We peek in on the lives of dozens of 16-year-olds -- It's a great reminder that we are all different, but we are all so similar.

If you have enjoyed any of the following books, then you should DEFINITELY run out and find you ...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Liz rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-on-tape, young-adult

This was my favorite David Levithan book of the ones that I've read. I thought it was unique and interesting! ...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Jess rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2012

Meh. The more I think about this book, the fewer stars I want to give it - doubly surprising as, for the first chapter or so, I was completely enthralled. I was intrigued by the premise, I loved Levithan's style of writing - and then...
Somewhere along the way, despite supposedly being of indeterminate gender, A became a type of (generally male) character known for sending me on long rants when appearing in fiction of any medium: "the (I'm so) nice guy". A's hounding of Rhiannon got to me - thei ...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Jennie rated it really liked it

Shelves: fya-book-club, young-adult

I think this is one of the most unique book concepts I have ever come across. A, a disembodied person without a gender, wakes up in a new body every day. S/he has no control over where they go, but s/he ages like a normal human (mentally). As such, when A is 16, A only inhabits 16-year-olds' bodies, and only once per body.

I loved this book because it raised (but didn't necessarily answer) huge ethical questions. A tries to leave each life as s/he left it, but when A falls in love, all of that go ...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Jen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: tweens_and_teens, love_n_marriage_horse_n_carriage

The first time I opened this book, I read a few pages and put it down again for a few weeks because I was worried it would be like The Ghost In Love and I didn't want that.

But then. Then I picked it up and it swept me away - one of those books I would have read in one setting if I had the time, and one of those books that kept me awake at night reading, and one of those books that I described to all my friends as I was reading.

There was a point in this book that I was DESPERATELY afraid of the e ...more

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Aug 14, 2012 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy-fiction, children-ya

An interesting idea, but in execution, somewhat standard David Levithan fare. That is, emphasizing the ideas of tolerance and compassion. I thought the ending was somewhat unsatisfying, but I doubt (granting the premise) that anything else could have happened.

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Sep 03, 2012 Holly rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2012, magical-realism

4.5

Thanks for the heads up, John Green!

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Nov 11, 2012 Hannah added it

Shelves: ya, magic-realism-spec-fic

This was beautiful. The diversity of experiences could easily have gone for the cliche, we-are-the-world, I-am-the-walrus type of experiences, but for the most part, they weren't obnoxiously moralized. Instead, it's just a really great story with a lot of meanings. ...more

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