Everything, Everything

Everything, Everything was an exciting novel.
It had a really captivating plot and great characters. I really liked Maddy and Olly.
And the illustrations were a nice touch! I'm looking forward to reading more from Nicola Yoon.

"Everything, Everything" follows Madeline, who lives in a bubble- she has a rare disease called SCID, which means she is severely immunocompromised and so she must stay in a protected space away from anything and everyone. Madeline loves to read but wishes she could see more of the world. When a boy moves in next door, she is drawn to him and he to her. They begin to chat over IM and then he comes to visit (they have a decontamination process to allow him inside).

Olly is the next door neighbor. While most of the book focuses on Madeline, Olly is also dealing with some big things. His father is an alcoholic and abusive. He wishes his mother would leave him, but she is not yet able to do so. Olly immediately likes Madeline and a teenage romance quickly begins.

Madeline, tired of her life inside, decides to risk everything, telling Olly she is taking an experimental drug and convincing him to go with her to Hawaii- a place she visited as an infant before her father and brother were killed in a car accident. Her world has been her mother, but she wants so much more from life, even if it might kill her.

As the story evolves, we realize there is much more to what is going on than things first appear. There's a big twist in the book, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it. It seemed to be downplayed more than I would have anticipated such a big thing to be. This is not to say it isn't discussed, but it's a much bigger issue than I felt came across from the book.

Overall, I wasn't sure how I felt about it- the writing is good and moves fast, but there is instalove plus some bigger issues (such as risking her life to take this trip, lying, plus the twist at the end). It's a quick read both in length and in terms of fast-paced plot, and I enjoyed the first parts of it, but am not sure if I feel the same by the end.

I want to start off by praising the diversity in this book! Our girl Maddy is Asian and African American mixed. I've not seen that done in any books and I loved it! I also love that her nurse Carla is from Mexico. I love the interracial couples in this book. I like seeing more of that. There is also a LGBT guy in this book. So this book gets an A+ in diversity from me.

So Madeline has SCID, which means she is pretty much allergic to the world. So has lived in her white house for 18 years. The only people she sees is her nurse and mother and every once in a full blue moon a tutor.

I know nothing about this disease so I can't speak about how true it was to real life but I do know it seems like the author took liberties at times. There was also many times when I saw the plot twist coming and that plot twist is what bothered a lot of people. It did not bother me as I knew by reading the book jacket that it was going to be like the movie Bubble Boy. I knew this would happen.

My huge grip with this book is the insta-love. That's really it. I loathe insta-love but once I got over that I love the point of this book. Don't be scared to take risks. That's what I got from it at least. We can live in our little bubble or we can step out and take that first step and who knows what we could find.

I love Olly, he's a cute dream boat. I feel so badly for the life he lives with his family and their father. I love how he wasn't perfect and either was Maddy. I think they fit well together. I love how much he really did love her, even if they could never fully be together, he didn't care. That my friends, is real love.

The mother... I don't really know where to start... I mean I can understand not wanting to lose her daughter after losing her husband and son but to do the things she did. Again, no words.

Overall, this is a cute read and I enjoyed it so much. Just look past a few mistakes and the this book is such wonderful and it gave me all the feels.

I really couldn't put this book down once I started it. Maddy had me hooked from the first sentence with her sarcastic charm, and her amazing view on the life she was given. At the beginning you see Maddy okay with her disease, and she is okay just physically knowing her mother and nurse.
When Olly comes into the picture though, man does Maddy's world flip around. Her story is incredibly sweet and there are certain parts that you can relate with her.
I for sure fell in love with Maddy's story.

This book was everything I want in a book...EVERYTHING! I loved it so much

Maddy spends all of her days inside, with the only people she sees being her mother and her nurse Carla. Her disease makes it impossible for her to go outside so she takes classes online and spends the rest of her time reading or playing games with her mother. When a new family moves next door, Maddy finds herself fascinated by the son, Olly. Maddy can see herself falling for him, but is there any way a relationship between them won’t end in heartbreak?

This is a book I had been hearing about for a while so I was excited when I finally got my hands on a copy. It was short, just over 300 pages, and a lot of the chapters were very short, sometimes only a page, so it made for a quick read. But it was a read that I really enjoyed and, even with the seriousness of Maddy’s condition, found it quite light and adorable.

Maddy was a really interesting character. I loved her passion for her favourite books, something that was easy to relate to, her frustrations at being confined to her house were understandable, and her relationships with her mother and Carla were warm, playful, but also felt a little stunted since they were the only two people she physically interacted with in her life. She was lonely and needed someone in her life that wasn’t her mother, her nurse, or her teacher.

In came Olly. Olly was complicated and unpredictable but after locking eyes with Maddy, he became as fascinated by her as she was with him. Their friendship developed slowly, mostly online in late night IM’ing sessions, and it was sweet and gave them both someone to talk to when they needed it. His home life wasn’t perfect either and they slowly went fro being a distraction to each other’s problems to being someone they could really count on to be there.

As mentioned, it was a quick read, but not only because of the short chapters. There was just something about Maddy and Olly that made me want to see if they could find a way to really be together. There were some twists in the plot that I ended up picking up on so it was a bit predictable, but in the end it didn’t matter. It didn’t stop me from enjoying the characters and the book.

MY THOUGHTS
This was one of my most anticipated books of the year! I am so glad to say that this book exceeded my expectations! This was a wonderfully unique novel!

Madeline never leaves her house. She dreams of it, but Madeline has a rare disease in which she is allergic to everything and going outside can kill her. Madeline is used to staying indoors with only books, movies, and board games to keep her company, even if she wishes she could go outside. It's when a new family moves next door that her small world changes. She falls for the son, Olly, and they keep contact with each other, despite the fact that she much never leave her home. But meeting Olly makes Madeline realize that she's not living and more than anything, Madeline wants to live.

I really don't know how to talk about this book without full-on gushing! Everything (ha-ha) was perfect! I started this book late at night, I only meant to start it, but I had to keep going! I adored the writing, the characters, the story, everything. I picked up this book originally after reading the intriguing synopsis! A girl who is allergic to everything is certainly a new idea in the book and a perspective I wanted to see. Add the complicated relationship and I was curious to see how things would work out. The premise was very well-incorporated! It was precisely what I expected and more. The story was enormously realistic, in a new environment. I know I'm just gushing and repeating myself a lot, and I'm sorry for that.

I would also like to mention a nice surprise in the book. There are illustration, notes, and whatnot all throughout the pages. I'm a sucker for these things, so they made me very happy.

Now, Madeline is a fabulous MC. Also, she's a POC, which I feel weird mentioning, but it's so rare in YA and books in general that this just made me very happy. Anyway, Madeline is a very realistic character. Yeah, she has a rare disease, but she felt so real, as with her thoughts and actions. She also has her own flaws, like a normal human being. She makes many mistakes, but all of them are understandable is that makes any sense. It's interesting too, how this book is also a coming of age tale. She has lived a very sheltered life and the introduction to Olly gives her the realization that there's more to life and she's not really living it. I'm having a hard time describing more about her, but she's really a fabulous and strong character, and I love how real she is, while still being a character that stands out from other YA MCs.

As for romance, some people have described it as insta-love, but it's not. Keep in mind that Madeline hardly ever sees anyone and she's immediately interested in this odd boy moving in next door. This only escalates when Olly actually begins communicating with her and doesn't judge her for her disease. Also, their relationship starts as a friendship and then the feelings grow and instead of being cheesy, it's just real (there's that word again). Olly was also kind of adorable and just a fantastic guy!

The ending, though, was a bit odd. There was a twist that I wasn't expecting, but its still made sense and gave the book a very satisfactory ending.

IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I strongly recommend this book! Everything is amazing about this book! If you want to read a new contemporary that is wonderfully unique, then pick up this book! As for me, I'm looking forward to more books by Nicola Yoon!