Cover Image: Everything, Everything

Everything, Everything

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Member Reviews

*There are mild spoilers in this review*

Everything, Everything was a book I was incredibly excited to see about but there were aspects of this book that didn't work for me. For one, I didn't enjoy the insta-love (I rarely care for this trope) aspect of this book. It has worked for some and while certain aspects were cute, I wasn't as big of a fan.

The ending was rather jarring and not as well executed as I would have liked. When it came to the big reveal I felt like not giving more information about how or why it happened didn't help flesh out the characters as much. I immediately thought of Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy when it came to mind but didn't come up.

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"Wanting just leads to more wanting. There's no end to desire."

I received this book as an ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

It was interesting reading about 'bubble baby disease' as I hadn't heard much about it before. The name of the disease is fairly self-explanatory, but it was still interesting to hear about the bits I hadn't known before.

Something I've noticed in many TV shows, movies and books I've watched and read seems to be that most people say "Welcome to our new home!" when they get to a new house. I still have no idea why people do that.

It's nice how Madeleine is half-Japanese and half-African American but it's not a big deal. But I think that my favourite character in the book was probably Olly, followed by Carla as they both cared for Madeleine and both had a sense of humour.

I'd like to know more about her dad and her brother - what her mum remembered them being like, the little things her brother would do for his younger sister, the jokes her dad would tell...

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I never got to this book back when it was released and I am so sorry about that. My tastes have somewhat changed, so I probably should not read it at this point, and I will work really hard to be better in the future. Thank you for the opportunity.

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Everything Everything is about Madeline, a teenager with SCIDs. She must live in a sterile environment at all times because otherwise she could die. Madeline is happy. She takes online classes. She loves architecture. Her nurse and Mom love her. But then it all changes with the sound of a moving truck. Olly moves in with his abusive father, Mom and sister. When eye contact is made, Madeline is never the same.

The girl who used to be ok with being at home, now longs for the outside. The girl who knew going outside could kill her, wonders If the risk is worth it.

Because love is everything everything.

I enjoyed this book. I didn’t love this book. I don’t think it’s one to rave over. But it’s good. You feel for Madeline. As someone who travels a lot, I couldn’t imagine only seeing the outside world through the windows of my house.

Yoon’s writing is great because she is able to make her characters believable and likeable. Others have commented on the depth of her research for this novel, and that may be true, but I am not sure how much more that would change the plot an ending. My only complaint was the ending felt a bit rushed.

I would recommend to those who are fans of non-fiction for sure!

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Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon is a novel that I felt emotionally invested in from beginning to end. Maddy was a lovable main character that any reader would want to befriend and Olly is the love interest anyone would swoon over. Their chemistry was the absolute cutest and even the side characters made the story much more enjoyable. Not only did I love the content of the novel, but the way it was formatted made it even more wonderful to get through. The illustrations were adorable and, above all, I'm super excited to see what else Yoon has up her sleeves.

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I absolutely loved Everything, Everything, and now I'm a huge fan of Nicola Yoon. I've rarely read a book that was so innovative and compassionate.

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I decided to not read this book due to some harmful content in the book. I trust the people who have told me about the book. I believe that the author never intended for it to come off that way, but I can’t see myself ever picking this book up in the future. I’m sorry!

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The way they could capture and express the emotions of each character was unbelievable! It was what made me truly enjoy this story.

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OMG! This is hillarious. At first, I thought it is a typical mainstream story about a character who is sick and then die. But this book has different execution with the story.

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Actual rating: 4.5 stars
It's taken so long for me to review this that the movie adaptation has already came out. But better late than never, right? *sweats nervously*
Even though it’s been awhile since I’ve read Everything, Everything, it has stuck with me a lot. Usually, I tend to forget the plot of a novel after a couple of months of reading it, but I think the uniqueness of Everything, Everything is what made it so memorable for me. Looking back at the notes I took while reading, I’m really taken aback at all the highlights and comments I made. Some of the things I wrote have me laughing because apparently at the beginning of the novel I wrote “oh my. Don’t ship, don’t ship. Abandon all shipping”. I have a feeling I wrote that because I was already totally shipping Maddy and Olly even though we had just met him.
Everything, Everything really hits the mark when it comes to friendships, relationships, and family dynamics. I absolutely loved Olly and Maddy. Both of them are such great characters and their relationship was so cute and precious. I would’ve have given this 5 stars, but the plot twist was a bit too predictable. Despite that, I really enjoyed the ending and its open-endedness. It marked the beginning of Maddy’s new life, and I really wanted to read more.
Overall, Everything, Everything is a beautiful novel about self-discover, love, and freedom. I highly recommend it to lovers of contemporary and romance.

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I won’t say that I didn’t enjoy this book because I did. In fact, I couldn’t put it down. The plot is intriguing to an extent but I don’t think it reached its potential. I felt it was predictable in some instances and too cutesy in others although I did enjoy some of the cuteness – but there’s only so much you can take. Another cuteness is the illustrations in the book done by Yoon’s husband. 

What I love about this book is that both main characters are intelligent teenagers with a keen eye for books. It’s an easy story to read but one which I feel lacks something to it that could have made it a great book. After a couple of chapters I felt something wasn’t right with Madeline’s illness and couldn’t understand why those given permission to visit her more than once didn’t question the situation. 

For a debut novel, this isn’t a bad start for Yoon so maybe further publications will show an improvement in her writing.

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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.

I really loved this book. Often I am irritated with YA romances because they seem so cheesy, but this one just felt right. Ollie and Maddie were so unique, clever, and optimistic. It reminded me of first love and how all encompassing it is. The illustrations and text messages were so well done and added to the story. It really felt like I was reading a teenage girl's journal. I lived on Maui for a year so the quick trip to Maui was a reminder of all the best things about it--snorkeling at Black Rock, cliff diving, the Murphy beds at Ka'anapoli, the souvenir shops, loco moco, dinner on the beach, just everything brought back a rush of memories.
The ending was a twist I did not see coming. It was a shock actually, but it made sense to me. This was a perfect summer read and I can't wait to watch the movie with my girls!

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Having a background in mental health and personal experience with varying diseases, I can always appreciate a new title on this topic. I expected to love this book, but it is lacking in plot and positive inspiration.

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Spoiler alert: Everything is nothing.

I have absolutely no words for how much I loved this book. I mean wow. My only regret is how long it was sat on my tbr shelf and I've only just read it. This was just incredible.

He grows serious again. "Maybe growing up means disappointing the people we love."

Olly and Maddy are two seriously amazing and complicated characters. Maddy is sick and cannot leave the house as if she does something could set her off which means she could die. Si she lives inside her bubble and shes never left her house to go into the outside world. Olly has an abusive father but they end up moving next door to each other.

I decide then that love is a terrible, terrible thing. Loving someone as fiercely as my mom loves me must be like wearing your heart outside of your body with no skin, no bones, no nothing to protect it.

Love is a terrible thing and its loss is even worse. Love is a terrible thing and I want nothing to do with it.

This book is absolutely full to the brim and bursting with love, not just between Maddy and Olly but between Carla and Maddy and Maddy and her mom. Its obvious that she is surrounded by love however she still wants to be able to live her life. The twist at the end and the last few chapters made my heart not just break but completely and totally shatter. Its been a while since I've read a book and its got to me and moved me in the way that this one has and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it.

Chaos theory says that even a small change in initial conditions can lead to wildly unpredictable results.A butterfly flaps her wings now and a hurricane forms in the future.

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I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read and review Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon! Madeline suffers from immunodeficiency and has many life restrictions because of this. She stays home twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Her mother is a doctor and goes to work while Nurse Carla takes care of Madeline. New neighbors move in next door and Madeline can't hide her curiosity. The teenagers that moved in next door, Olly and Kara, bring a bundt cake to be friendly, but Madeline's mom has to turn it away. Olly ends up dropping the cake afterwards. He notices Madeline watching him and sets the cake on his windowsill and dresses it up to give it personality. Olly has a wonderful sense of humor and he makes Madeline's life more interesting. Her life blossoms after seeing Olly and she can't feel contentment like she used to. The illustrations are fun and bring extra life to Madeline and Olly. Everything, Everything is one of those books that cannot be put down and I fell in love with all of it: the story, the energetic characters, the dysfunctionality of family, the humor and the romance. A wonderful young adult book worthy of 5 stars!

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So I liked the romance in this, I thought it was adorable. The narrative is very good as well, mixing elements between Maddie's reviews and her drawings and everything else. I really liked how the story was told.

However, the book is kinda ableist.
[ Honestly, Maddie's sickness is totally used as a plot device. When she finds out she's not sick it completely renegates any representation of people who actually have SCID, and it's terrible that it's not addressed in the book. Ok, her mom suffered trauma so she locks up her daughter in the house and makes up that she's disabled. I can't imagine how infuriating it must be for people who actually have SCID to deal with something like this in the book.
It's a plot device, and it's not addressed HOW it becomes a plot device. It's very disappointing. Real people don't get miracle cures or just find out that they're just not sick, you know. Anywho.]

In the end, I didn't think this compensated the fact that this was a fun story that was very fast to read.

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** spoiler alert ** Fucking called it! If Lifetime had a teen network, this would be their most popular movie. While reading, I had major issues with how the medical things were being presented because certain things didn't make sense. My brain went to the twist, but I decided to assume that Yoon thought fake science answers made for a more simple story. The twist pleased me because everything made more sense, everything suddenly became accurate. Generally, I find YA romances (especially straight ones) to be a bit obnoxious, and even though this was completely insta-love, I was all in. Maddy was dumb and brave and amazing. Olly was heartbreaking and strong and vulnerable. Everything Everything truly has everything you could want in a realistic YA novel.

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Excellent YA novel. Loved that the main character had a unique challenge that is not used in most books. Really liked the twist toward the end and did not see that coming.

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Quick review for a quick read. So I have complicated feelings about this book. I liked it, but that's not to say that I didn't feel like there were issues that needed addressing more thoroughly (and the fact it has quite more than enough problematic points to articulate in the mix of things). This book skirts the issues of mental illness as well as having an all consuming rare sickness far too lightly for my liking. I think it needed much more depth to really sell the story and could've potentially done so in a much better way than it did, even considering this is written for a teen audience. For a while, despite some cheesiness and some significant plot holes, I was enjoying this novel, enough to rate it at a 3.5 to 4 stars. It's a story with cute romantic chemistry, easy to read banter, and beautiful illustrations. But then the ending...eh. I'll get to that in a bit.

Maddy is a young woman who's been sick all of her life. She's allergic to the world around her, as diagnosed by her mother, a doctor who hires a nurse (Carla) to tend to Maddie when she's away. Maddy doesn't question her mother's dedication or words to her, hence she's in a bubble. I don't blame her for not knowing any better about the situation she's in, and I like the fact she's a bookish girl who has a natural curiosity about the world around her. When Olly moves into the house next to Maddy's, the two of them hit it off relatively quickly. ("Ba-da-da-da, I'm an instalove machine, and I won't work for nobody but yooou...") I thought I'd be annoyed with this, but surprisingly, I was flying through this novel - the chemistry between the leads does feel real (if a bit fragmented). I liked Carla's character too, she seemed a really compassionate character and I liked Maddy's interactions with her.

I flew through the narrative admittedly because of the narrative style and the illustrations within the book - it was a cool way to present the story. Yet, as the story went towards the ending, my suspension of disbelief only extended so far. The revelation about Maddy's situation didn't make the twist in the story all that strong to me, because I was left wanting more and feeling like the center of that twist was relatively unaddressed and skirted over. While I was relieved for Maddy herself, I still felt this story dropped a hard ball, missing developing the characters and situations in order to make it work and just feel like it used its very serious issues just as convenient plot points.

It's a story I liked for some experiences, but I feel it left me wanting much more from it than what it told. It wasn't "everything" to me.

Overall score: 3/5 stars.

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley from the publisher.

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