Thoughts on Every Day by David Levithan

Every Day (Every Day #1)
by David Levithan
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Published: August 28th 2012 by Knopf Books for Young Readers
Format Acquired: Paperback from Fully Booked
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

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

This isn't much of a review. This is a complete jumble of my thoughts and feels on David Levithan's novel, Every Day. This is what my notes would look like if I scribbled while reading it. This may be the only time I'm at complete loss of words to fully describe how I feel about a book. So let me begin with this...

Basic things you need to know:

1. We have a protagonist named A. Just 'A'
2. We don't know if A's a boy or a girl
3. But ultimately we learn that not knowing A's gender shouldn't complicate the story...
4. ...only it does. For so long, A has only lived his life day in and day out. Because, duh, he inhabits a different body everyday; he really doesn't have a choice. Because his experiences are technically not his own (although he's in control, he's made a conscious effort not to deviate from how his hosts would usually go about their day), he's learned to appreciate life through the eyes of his many hosts. A has never had a reason to want more than a day. A has learned to accept the things the way they were. Until Rhiannon.

Now I'm bothered because:

1. What makes a person, a person? Is it our body? Is it our thoughts? Is it our experiences and how we handle them? Our emotions? Our soul? Our essence? What is our essence? (I guess we could all answer that last part but that would take an incredible amount of time and study and general thinking) I'm pretty sure we discussed this in my college philosophy class but I'm only questioning it because A is a person but there's so many complexities that makes it hard to imagine.
2. In the story, Rhiannon would find it hard to interact with A whenever A would show up in a different body. However it was evident that she felt more comfortable around boys with somewhat pleasing appearances. We could chalk it up to Rhiannon's preferences but it sorta makes you wonder- who or what part of a person do we really fall in love with?

Uncomplicated things that wow-ed me (the complicated did too):

1. David Levithan's breathtaking writing. This is the first time I've read anything of his. I can confidently say that his work is something every reader should try at least once. It is quite an experience.
2. The rareness of a story like this. Every Day isn't just about love. There's so much more underneath A and Rhiannon's story to ponder on. It's not often you find a book that can effortlessly move you and entertain you as well.
3. The ending.

I'm done.

Please read this book. Buy it and then read it. I have nothing else to say.