Everything That Makes You

MY THOUGHTS
This book was on of my most anticipated releases off the year, so I had high expectations. This book wasn't as groundbreaking as I expected, but I still loved it!

Ever since an accident at the zoo when she was a child, Fiona has had a large scar running across her face. Her scar prevents her from being brave (and trying out for any contact sports). She's too scared to face her crush and too scared for anyone to hear her songs. When an opportunity arises for her to surgically change her face, will she take it?
Then there's Fi. Fi is what Fiona might've been. Fi doesn't have a scar and is a star lacrosse player.She lives for lacrosse and she wishes her only problem was that her best friend might be interested in her.

It's no secret that I love parallel universes. This book isn't as sci-fi as my favorite parallel universe reads, but this book has my favorite factor: What if? This question is what I find so fascinating about parallel worlds. There are so many crossroads throughout our lives and I find it so interesting to wonder how different our lives could be in each one! This book explores this concept in such an amazing way!

One thing I always wonder, especially, if how different I would be if my life went a different direction at one point. It's entirely possible that I could be an entirely different person! That's the case with Fiona and Fi. They're the same girl, but they are completely different. They each have different talents, interests, personalities, and lives. Fiona is a songwriter, Fi loves lacrosse. Fiona is shy, Fi is more outspoken. It's just amazing how different someone could be if lives were led a different direction!

I loved seeing the differences between the two universes, but I also loved seeing how they connected. Fiona/Fi's stories were different, obviously, and their two lives were different, but the surroundings had similarities. One main factor that I loved was how both of them had the same people in their lives somehow. Fiona's best friend was just an annoying class partner to Fi, but there were others who were always there and I liked that. It gives the idea that the same people revolve in all of your lives.

I know I'm raving about this book, so now here comes the part that I wasn't a fan of. This book follows Fiona//Fi for 3 years (last two years of highschool and first year of college. While I liked seeing how their lives went, it was told in a way that we were following their lives. I don't want to say it was uneventful, because there were big moments, but it wasn't enormously exciting. Still liked it, but it's what prevented me from giving this book a 5/5.


IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this was an amazing book! I love how the question of "What if?" was questioned and I found the two stories fascinating! This book was a bit slow-going due to the format, but it's still a great read! I strongly recommend it and I look forward to any books Moriah McStay writes in the future!

Fiona Doyle wears the scars of an accident from when she was young on her face. She writes songs, notebooks full, but doesn’t have the courage to sing them. She has a huge crush on Trent McKinnon but gets flustered every time he’s around. She’s slowly coming out of her shell and maybe soon she’ll be seen as more than just the girl with scars. What if that accident never happened? Fi Doyle is the best lacrosse player in the state, a sure bet for a scholarship. Her best friend Trent has been acting weird ever since that kiss but Fi doesn’t have time to deal with that. An accident on the field leaves her lacrosse career in jeopardy and Fi’s left to wonder who she is without her sport.

This book ended up being pretty different from what I’ve read before as it was two separate stories. It was told in alternating POVs from Fiona and Fi but you could have easily read just one girl’s POV and still had a full story. It made for some thought-provoking observations on just how much one incident can shape not only you, but the people around you.

I was expecting to like one of the versions of Fiona better than the other but I actually really liked them both. They were very different but there was enough of a similarity to know they were the same person, just with a different past. At first, I did find myself identifying more with Fiona and her shyness and insecurities than with Fi’s brashness and confidence but the more I read, the more Fi’s vulnerable side started to show. It was interesting to see how each version of the same character handled the problems that arose in her life and how those problems shaped the kind of person she was.

It was also interesting how the relationships between the characters changed with each version. There were people Fiona had as friends that Fi barely talked to, the dynamic between Fiona and her brother Ryan and Fi and Ryan was completely different, as was the dynamic between both versions of Fiona/Fi and her parents.

The plot covered quite a long period in a short amount of time. 3 years in a little over 300 pages. It did make the growth arc for both girls seem a little too fast and ended up being a little light on development for a lot of the other characters. It did, though, make for a fast read and one that was interesting and kept raising questions the whole book. It was a book about ‘what ifs’ but also about the type of person you would be under different circumstances and whether or not some people are meant to impact your life no matter what.