book review | Everything, Everything
Genre: YA Fiction, Romance, Realistic Fiction
Maddy and Olly get to know each other by exchanging their “fast five favorites.” My “fast five” here doesn’t necessarily include all favorites--they’re more like “fast five musings, disappointments, and favorites” I had while rereading this novel.” I’ll add a TLDR at the bottom of this post. Also there are a few spoilers sprinkled throughout this, so beware.
1. Fun format. I love it when authors weave the narrative into a nontraditional format (think, Where'd you go, Bernadette or Illuminae or the Sun is Also a Star). there are emails, plane tickets, doctor's notes, dictionary entries, etc that keep the story moving in a unique way. bonus points for Maddy also being a tumblr book reviewer!
2. Illustrations! these were done by the author's husband, David Yoon, and I absolutely adore with these doodles. there's also the gorgeous cover (art done by Good Wives and Warriors, design by Natalie C. Sousa) that is a mix of trendy adult-coloring-book and indie album cover.
3. Portrayal of SCID (Severe Combined Immune Deficiency). After reading this I looked into a few resources about how accurate this novel was when it came to SCID, the disease that Maddy (supposedly) has. I'm not going to completely cancel this book or the author or anything, but based on what I've read, I do see where this novel failed in terms of positive representation of illness/disability. it’s one of the reasons why I bumped my rating down to 3.5 after rereading this. At the bottom of this post, I'll link some of the resources I read in coming to that conclusion.
4. Cute, but underwhelming romance. There were plenty of swoony moments and a wholesome ending, but it didn't stick out to me in any way. It was a little insta-lovey and I disliked the fact Maddy gave up her health and ideals for a relationship with Olly, her edgy, artsy, blue- eyed love interest. I liked them most at the beginning, when their interactions were more platonic.
5. Carla deserves everything, everything. For me, Carla was the most realistic character in this whole book. She has flaws and struggles and depth that provides a great contrast to Maddy and Olly's wholesome love story. Similar to how she was a grounding force for Maddy, she helps ground this novel.
So...should you read this book? This is my second time reading this, and I'm much less naïve and much more critical. Everything, Everything is the kind of novel you read with a grain of salt. Yes, it has its lighthearted, feel-good moments, but there are many places where it falls short. It's worth a read if you're looking for romance and a mc who has life-changing experiences--still it needs to be supplemented with an awareness of the disease Maddy is portrayed as having and the mental illness that her mother has. I enjoyed Five Feet Apart much more, simply because I feel like it was written with more attention to detail and the characters had better arcs.
TLDR; Fun format, lovely illustrations, misrepresentation of SCID, underwhelming romance, Carla is a queen.
https://disabilityinkidlit.com/2015/09/04/review-everything-everything-by-nicola-yoon/ (Review from Disability in Kid Lit blog)
https://immunodeficiency.ca/2015/11/the-problem-with-everything-everything/
("The Problem with Everything, Everything")
https://www.aaaai.org/Conditions-Treatments/Primary-Immunodeficiency-Disease/severe-combined-immunodeficiency (Info about SCID)
