Review: Everything, Everything

Everything, Everything

By Nicola Yoon

Published: September 1, 2015

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla. 
 
But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He's tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.
 
Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

My review:

Maddy hasn't been outside her home since she was a baby. She has SCID (Severe Combined Immunodificiency) so her house has an air lock and her mom and nurse would have to go through an hour long decontamination every time they left and returned. It's a repetitive and lonely life but she loves rereading her favorite books, playing games with her mom and taking classes online, especially architecture. Her routine life gets disrupted when Olly moves in next door.

Olly has challenges of his own, namely an abusive dad. He first sees Maddy through her window but he is intrigued by her and they become friends online and later in person in spite of the risks and with the careful observation of decontamination and a "stay on the other side of the room" rule that you know will be broken eventually. 

I loved Maddy as a character. She has a unique perspective on the world because of the isolated way she was raised. She is smart, sweet and funny and she doesn't let her disease defeat her. I also liked that she is part Japanese and part African American.  I wanted her to find a way to be with Olly and experience life and get some kind of happy ending.  Olly is a nice guy. He cares about his mom and sister and tries to protect his mom from his dad. He is also concerned about Maddy and wants to make sure he doesn't cause her to get sick even though he wants to be near her. 

The chapters are short and fast paced. Maddy and Olly's friendship and developing romance are documented through IMs, Maddy's diary entries, and lists among other things. There are also cute book reviews written by Maddy and diagrams she draws such as her research on how to kiss. I think this adds to the story and makes it more entertaining. It also showcases Maddy's quirky character perfectly. 

Everything, Everything is being touted as a novel for fans of The Fault in Our Stars and Eleanor and Park and  I'd have to agree. The book does remind me a little bit of both books while being original at the same time.  I thought it was a really sweet and touching story. It isn't as sad as The Fault in Our Stars and the ending is definitely uplifting like Eleanor and Park. I think readers who enjoyed those books or are fans of contemporary teen authors like Jessi Kirby, Morgan Matson and Cammie McGovern would love this.  Everything, Everything is an excellent debut novel and I look forward to seeing what Nicola Yoon writes next. 

Note: I received an ARC for review courtesy of the publisher and Netgalley