BOOK REVIEW: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Genre: Young Adult/Contemporary

My Rating: ★★

Goodreads Page

Spoiler Free Summary:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

**Spoiler Free Review**

Publication Date: 1st September 2015

I was sent a copy of this book from Penguin Random House UK Children’s, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. I thought the premise of this book was pretty unique storyline for a YA contemporary and I was very excited about reading it.

The main character, Madeline was interesting and quite funny. I enjoyed the way the character's point of view was portrayed and I adored the handwritten notes, pictures and extracts within the text. I wouldn't suggest reading this book on an e-reader/kindle/kobo as these are fantastic additions would definitely work much better in a physical book than on a screen where you have to zoom in. I still loved them and they added a depth to the story that I don't think would've been there otherwise. They always pull me in and I feel they were used extremely well by the author to add more to the story.

I really loved Madeline's nurse, I felt she was quite stereotypical in a way, but she was still an incredibly likeable and witty character. Olly was one of the more interesting love interests I've read about it a long time. He was very different to the usual stereotypical boy which you find in YA fiction. His character was interesting and I did laugh out loud at some of the things he did, especially with the bunting. I did particularly like that the book explored more of family dynamics and that this book was more about different family situations than about romance. (Just like real life!)

It was shorter than I expected it to be but the length seemed about right for the story of this book, although I do wish some different things had been explored in more detail. I also found the latter part of the book, albeit quite romantic, very strange and quite unrealistic which pulled me out of the story a bit. Sadly, something about this book didn't quite grab me. I did feel the ending and the latter half of the relationship was a little bit rushed and I also guessed part of the ending. I was left feeling a little disappointed at part of the ending which I felt was a bit unresolved in a way. I would've liked to hear more about Madeline's mother and what happened between them both, but maybe that's just me!

I think any lover of contemporary fiction would enjoy this book so I do recommend it; sadly it just didn't appeal to me the way I thought it would which is why it came down from a five star rating. I think it was beautifully written and an excellently executed idea but it just wasn't for me for some of the reasons I said above. I'd highly recommend you pick this up for yourself to see if you enjoy it though!