Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I'm allergic to the outside world. I don't leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mum 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.

Review:

Everything, Everything is a story about love. It's a story about finding yourself, losing yourself and giving yourself up for love. It's a story about hope. It's a story about loss. It's a story about everything, everything.

Madeline is allergic to the outside world, she's spent her whole life surrounded by her mother and her full-time nurse. This is the only life she's ever known. She's never felt grass, never seen the ocean, never met someone her own age. Until Olly moves in next door and shows her the life she didn't know she could have.

There's a line in Everything, Everything that goes 'In the beginning there was nothing. And then there was everything' which I think perfectly sums up the book and my feelings towards the book. Before I read this, there was nothing and after reading Maddie's story, there was everything.

I must admit, Madeline annoyed me a little bit in the beginning of the book. It's starts off on her 18th birthday and yet she still acts and speaks like a 6 year old. It's understandable though, she hasn't had a chance to grow up yet. However, once Maddie grows into herself throughout the book it's almost as if she's transformed. She's a completely different person. She's strong, she's a fighter and she's absolutely hell bent on seeing the world. I grew to love Maddie as if she was my best friend and Olly right along with her. Maddie and Olly's story isn't even the best part of the book, as beautiful and heart wrenching as it is. No. The best part of the whole entire thing is getting to see Maddie discover who she is and losing the Madeline she's always known behind. It's like watching a butterfly escape the cocoon. Fascinating, scary and yet the most beautiful, inspiring thing you'll ever see.

Olly is just as much a fighter as Maddie. He fights every day to keep his family safe, with little regards to himself. While his story was a little 'cliche' for lack of a better term, it still gave the story a little more beauty, a little more fire, a little more love. If I ever meet an Olly in my time on earth, I'll have accomplished everything I've ever wanted. He loves Maddie, he tells her as much, hell, he tells everyone as much. He'd bend over backwards (literally) to impress her, keep her safe, keep her loved.

The people in this book more than enough make it a book worth reading but then comes the writing, the plot, the illustrations. Yes, there are illustrations, and they are cute and perfect and brilliant and I wasn't expecting it at all. I admit, sometimes I'm not a fan of illustrations. Especially if I feel like they're just thrown in with no sense of purpose but this was not the case at all with Everything, Everything. Nicola's husband David drew the illustrations for the book himself and they made the story a lot more personal and just a lot /more/ in general.

It's hard to say much about this book without spoiling it, but I will say that Everything, Everything is Everything, Everything you need to read this year.

"We are joined and I know all of the secrets of the universe"

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