Every Day: Confusing, But I Think I Understand It

I finished Every Day by David Levithan a couple minutes ago. It was one confusing heck of a ride.

First off, the concept of the entire thing is just bizarre. A person that switches into people's bodies every day. And this person has no gender because it changes every day. This person also falls in love with a girl. And this person is very confusing. I guess you have to read it for this summary to make any sense whatsoever.

However, no matter how strange the plot, the writers still have those key sentences that make you cry tears of happiness. Here are my favorites:

• "[Y]ou can learn a lot about people from the stories they tell, but you can also know them for the way they sing along, whether they like the windows up or down, if they live by the map or by the world, if they feel the pull of the ocean" (12).
• "Once you experience enormity, it lingers everywhere you look, and wants to be every word you say" (32).
• "I am what they fear becoming" (271).

I love one thing the most about this book: its ability to translate life lessons into a few succinct sentences. This person calls himself "A", and he seems to be years beyond his age, 15. It's like he's seen almost everything and every type of person the world has to offer, making for an interesting look on his emotions. There is one time that he becomes an obese boy named Finn and accidentally thinks about emotionally shocking Finn to stop eating. Immediately after that thought, A berates himself because he knows that it is not his business and that he is being too judgemental.

Their age has a drawback, though. While believable at times, most of the time, I can't grasp the concept that A and Rhiannon are only 15. It doesn't seem right-- if Levithan were to change their age to 17 or 18, this story would feel much more comfortable for me.

Overall, there is something magical about this story if you can get over the quirks of the plot, characters, and reality of the situations. Levithan does have a great voice though better suited for older, more mature characters. The end of the book is supposed to make you sad, but even I, an extremely emotional person who just spent hours watching touching commercials, did not feel any sadness. It's not a terrible book, but could've been thought through a little bit more thoroughly.

Recommend for: hopeless romantics, people who want some confusion in their lives, dreamers.