Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

e-ARC, 320 pages

Release Date: September 1, 2015

Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Stand-alone

Source: Netgalley (I received this book from NetGalley and the Publishers in exchange for a just and honest review. All thoughts on this are my own.)

For fans of: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Health Issues, Diversity FTW, YA

     This innovative, heartfelt debut novel tells the story of a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she’s ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.
     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.

*MY THOUGHTS*

     The reason I wanted to read this book was because of my sister. My sister has allergies really bad as well. She's allowed outside, but even the slightest thing can make her sick. A mosquito bite, pollen or ragweed in the air, dust in the house, anything can get her sick. I never once thought I would fall in love with this book like I did over an allergy connection.

"Maybe I'm holding out hope that one day, someday, things will change."
9%

     Maddy is trapped in her house with a super rare disease called SCID. She's allergic to everything on the outside world and has never wanted to make herself sick by wanting to go outside. Until the new family next door moves in. She finds out all about Olly from her window and wants Olly to know more about her as well. 

"Everything's a risk. Not doing anything is a risk. It's up to you."
30%

     There were so many things I loved about this. Starting with the diversity. There was diversity in both race and the health issue that Maddy had. It was so interesting to see how these things were incorporated and dealt with in the story. On top of that, the author is a POC as well. which just pushed this one over the edge for me. As a diverse blogger, anything to do with any other type of diversity is a winner for me. Add on how well written this book is and it was an instant winner. 

"Just because you can't experience everything, doesn't mean you shouldn't experience anything."
33%

     The romance was so freaking cute. I remember saying it was already super freaking cute when I was only about 15% in. It did nothing but get cuter as it went on. I loved that Olly was so patient. He didn't expect ANYTHING from Maddy and was happy with just seeing each other through the window. I'm not sure of the last YA boy I've read ok with that lol And as far as Maddy, I loved how terrified she was of her feelings but still had hope enough to try emailing him. It was so cute to see them try and work things out. I think it was even better because obviously Maddy had never been in this type of situation before. It was interesting to see how she handled it. 

"Love can't kill you."
35%

     I also loved the fact that Yoon is a debut author. Her story was so cute and nothing short of amazing. It was a really fast read, but it engaged me from the start. The characters were believable and the plot was extremely interesting. (<--- i.e. That plot twist that I didn't see coming AT ALL.) I loved that her first story brought out all these feels in me and I can't wait to see what else she has in store. 

"This is why people touch. Sometimes words are just not enough."
41%

     Last but certainly not least, I was super impressed that she got the help of her husband to help make this book come to life. She has some adorable illustrations that not only enhanced the story, but had it's own content as well. I'm normally not a huge fan of illustrations, but these were so cute that I couldn't deny that they were great. 

"Sometimes you do things for the right reasons and sometimes for the wrong reasons and sometimes it's impossible to tell the difference."
62%

     I can honestly say there was nothing I DIDN'T like about this book. From the cover, to the diversity, to the romance, to the illustrations, I LOVED this book. Yoon (both the author and illustrator) are definitely ones to watch in the future. I'm sure this will not be the last I read of either one of them. 

Overall, I give this