Book Review: Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

At my last book club meeting, I got given the book Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon to read. This YA novel has had major success with it being made into a motion picture. It was released a few years ago, but I had never read it - or seen the film.

The woman who runs the book club thought that I’d like the novel and oh how right she was.

I read the novel within 24 hours, practically in one sitting, and I can safely say it is one that has taught me a lot about life as well as making me feel a whole whirlwind of emotions.

The story follows 18 year-old Madeline Whittier, who lives in California with her mother. Madeline is allergic to the world, suffering from SCID, and has never really known anyone apart from her mother, Nurse Carla and online tutors...until Olly.

Olly and his family move into the house across from Madeline’s, and she is instantly intrigued by the handsome guy who sits on his roof at night.

Their friendship develops and before you know it, you’ve got butterflies in your stomach anticipating their first kiss - a type of physical intimacy that Madeline has never experienced. Their liking for each other grows and you are sucked into a world of firsts and are taken right along with them on their journey.

Yoon created a plot that keeps you reading until the very end, with, in my opinion, a HUGE plot twist. To be honest it’s quite amazing I didn’t know about the plot twist before I read it as the book and film are rather popular. But when I read it, my jaw dropped, and I shot out of my chair in shock!

The narrative held me in such a tight grasp that I kept reading, and my smile grew even bigger.

The way Yoon tells Madeline’s story is different to other books I’ve read. It’s not just page after page of prose; it’s illustrations, graphs, emails, diary entries, definitions and even a swirl that has you turning the page and crooning your neck - literally, my family wondered what the hell I was doing!

At first I didn’t think I was going to like this particular writing style, but I did. It kept the book fast-paced and action-packed whilst keeping the important aspects of a traditional prose narrative.

Madeline tells her story in a way that’s spectacularly beautiful and humorous. She is smart, witty and such a relatable character that you instantly connect with her. You feel her desire to explore the world and her anger at her disease. Olly is your average boy next-door, who wants to escape his father. He’s a kind, sarcastic, math-loving guy, with a likability that doesn’t just apply to Madeline - or Maddy, as he’s called her.

Every character is engaging and realistic, even ones you don’t like (Nurse Pritchert), and you can imagine them in your own life.

The first-person point of view creates an intimacy between the reader and the characters that has you hooked until the last page.

For a debut novel, Yoon certainly outdid herself and has gained a new fan!

Until next time...