Every Day by David Levithan

Title: Every Day
Author: David Levithan
Type: Young Adult Novel
Genre: Fantasy
Series: No
Pages: 324
Copyright: 2012
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Rating: 3 out of 5


Summary: From Goodreads
Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.

Feelings: 
I had great hopes for this book. Maybe it being in first person should have been a tip off that it wasn't going to be as good as I hoped. There seemed to be great potential for the story, and I enjoyed most of it. My problem was that I ended up having more questions at the end of the book than were answered. This is never exactly a good thing. For instance if A trades bodies everyday what happens to the person whose body he inhabits? Are they just pushed aside for a day? That is what the book makes it seem like. How did A come to be? Does he have parents? Did he have a body at one point and lost it somehow? I had a lot more questions than this as well to list them all will not change that I have them and the book didn't answer them.

The writing was enjoyable to read and the story itself was unique and led to questions of sexuality and the fluidity of love. Do we love beyond our sex, male or female? A doesn't just inhabit males but also females the only thing they have in common is that they are the same age as he is. Other than age there isn't much consistency  A can wake up a girl or boy, of any race, or weight. This is difficult for A who is in love with a girl who has a hard time coming to terms with the fact that A is ever changing. This book can be viewed from the lens of GLBT, and it does a good job presenting a non judgmental view of this.

It's hard being in the body of someone you don't like, because you still have to respect it. I've harmed people's lives in the past, and I've found that every time I slip up, it haunts me. So I try to be careful. (p.2)

This is how A starts the day in Justin's body. However, he does not long stay respectful but begins to act of his own will rather than thinking what the person whose body he is inhabiting would want.

There's a notebook on his desk. Remember that you love Rhiannon, I write in his handwriting. I doubt he'll remember writing it. (p. 27).

Rhiannon is the start A not living cautiously and making mistakes. This is what makes the story good. I believe that A would decide to start living differently because of a connection that might be maintained with Rhiannon that he didn't have before.  He wants to feel connected and remembered. Things he didn't think he wants he begins to want.

If the book had answered a few of the big questions I think maybe I would have liked it more. As it stands I think if you are willing to look beyond the questions this is a unique fun book.