Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Title: Everything, Everything

Author: Nicola Yoon

Published by: Delacorte Press

Released: 2015

Source: Library

Summary: Madeline hasn't left her house in 17 years. It's not by choice, but by necessity. Madeline has a disease that makes her allergic to everything. Going outside means death.

To pass the time, Madeline reads a lot of books, goes to online school, and has fun with her mom. She can't miss having a life when she's never really had one.

Everything changes the day a moving truck pulls up to the house next door and out jumps Olly. Madeline can't take her eyes off him. He's so vivid, free, and cute!

Does Maddy choose safety or love? Is life any fun when you're not really living it? Madeline is determined to find out everything, everything.

My Thoughts: What is this? I'd been wanting to read this because of all the hype I'd heard about it. I was also interested because this is going to be a movie. I was disappointed by this. I feel like I'm missing out on what exactly made it so good, why everyone praises it. There are so many glowing reviews for this book, and I just don't get it. If this is your favorite book, then maybe don't read my review, because it's not my favorite book. That's the cool thing about books, how everyone can view a story differently. My view, I found this book to be ridiculous.

I'll start by being nice, with the pros. I thought the writing was very enjoyable and easy to get in to. The story was also very fast. It seemed like in no time, I was done.

Now the cons, which was everything, everything else! Haha, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. That weak joke was just too easy. So mainly, I thought this whole story was pretty ridiculous. So many instances of Why? Just Why?

The biggest irritant was the insta-love. It was bad, real bad. I didn't feel the development of their relationship. Everything just happened too fast.

I should have know I wouldn't really like it from the start, when Maddy bragged about the amount of books she read. How she was a more accomplished reader than anyone else. I don't like characters who have an inflated sense of self.

And I don't know how I feel about the illness portion of the book. It never really felt real. If you're really allergic to EVERYTHING, how does online shopping work? Wouldn't there be the threat of allergens on everything? Like her mom coming home from work... at a hospital? I don't know. I just didn't buy it. And for a girl who is sick, why would Maddy make such stupid decisions? I get that she wants to have a life, but she needs to consider the consequences to things.

I'm also irritated, irritated at that ending. It just felt like the biggest cop-out. I just wasn't impressed.

Other minor irritants: Who's gonna pay for that credit card she applied for? It's not like Maddy has a job. And what about her future? I don't think she's thought anything through.

I still come back to that romance though. It just felt so unnatural, so rushed. It's like everything had to be crammed into it, and it felt ridiculous. It could have been cute if it had taken 7 or 8 months, or even a year to happen, instead of being crammed into three months. I just didn't buy it.

I was disappointed in this book. This was another classic case of overhype. Too many ridiculous situations, a horribly rushed romance, and a cop-out ending. I expected something more, something better. The writing was fine, and it was a fast read, but I was just frustrated by it. Maybe this is why YA contemporary isn't my favorite thing.

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3/5

not my everything, everything