“Everything, Everything”: A Book Review

What if you could never go outside? What if the only thing stopping you from the outside world was a debilitating disease. The only friend you have is your mother and a nurse who takes care of you daily. Never feeling the sun on your back or the wind in your face. Everything, Everything tells the story of Maddy, a intelligent, and innovative 18-year-old. Maddy has lived with a disease all her life that enables her to never go outside of her germ-free house. However, when Maddy spots Oliver the new next door neighbor, everything changes. Maddy is desperate to experience the whole world and her possible first romance. Of course when Maddy’s and Oliver’s bond grows, so does Maddy’s need for the outside to grow, and she is willing to give up anything for it.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon is one of the most entrancing young adult novels I have read in awhile. The main character, Maddy is incredibly intelligent despite her inability to experience the world. Nothing stops her – not even her disease, and I believe that that is something that everyone can relate to. Regardless if anyone has a debilitating disease, it’s still easy to understand Maddy’s situation. Whether or not you have felt trapped in your own life, or something is incredibly unfair and out of your reach, you can still connect to this novel.

I find it incredibly difficult to find a young adult novel by an author I’ve never heard of and have it interest me as much as this one. The entire book has you guessing, but at the same time this isn’t a blatant suspenseful novel. The suspense slowly creeps up on you, and you start wondering if you really know the characters as well as you originally thought. From disease, to love, to the true meaning of loss, Everything, Everything is clearly one of the best Young Adult novels of the year.