Review: Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon
Publication Date: September 1st 2015
Publisher: Delacorte Books
Age Group: Young Adult | Contemporary
Pages: 310
Overall: ★★★★★

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'm going to be very honest with you on this, I picked this book up having a lot of expectations considering I had been hearing about it for months and it was being made in to a major motion picture. This book did not disappoint. The second I picked it up I was hooked, and I finished it the same day I started, I'm not even sure if I took any breaks while reading to be completely open. So let me get to the general break down of this book.

Our main character Madeline has a rare disease called SCID. This makes it impossible for her to ever leave her house because she is essentially allergic to everything and anything. Her mother has basically turned her house in to a safe haven with air purifiers, decontamination chambers, so on and so forth. So Maddy has lived essentially her entire life in her house like a cage. She spends her days doing homework, reading, and spending time with her nurse Carla. That is, until a new family moves in next door.

Maddy instantly becomes drawn to her new neighbors, more specifically their son Olly. She spends some time learning their habits, watching their family dynamic, and discovering things most people don't know about this family. Then one day, Maddy realizes that Olly sees her too. They start a sort of friendship by holding up notes like a Taylor Swift music video to IMing almost every night.

From there is really where the story begins, and I don't want to say too much to give it away. But what I will say is that the relationship created between Maddy and Olly and the way they interact is so beautifully written it would give anyone butterflies to imagine. It's such an amazing story of a first love, and of what someone is willing to do for that love.

Again, to be completely honest, there is a LARGE plot twist at the end of the book. This was something I wasn't completely aware of nor was I sure it was going to actually happen or be true until the time that it did happen, and the way that Nicola Yoon wrote it and spun it was so well done. I still felt a connection to all the characters involved and I could understand all points of view from the twist, but I also knew that it was a necessary twist to really give you that permanent connection with the characters.

As stated above I gave this book a five out of five star rating. It was captivating, it was enjoyable, and it really created a beautiful world for these characters. I would highly suggest if you are interested in reading the book before seeing the movie to do so, but I would also suggest not to watch the trailer for the movie either, because man does it give away a lot about this book, and I know personally I like to go in to a book not knowing the total outcome of it until I get there myself. Overall, Everything Everything will be a book I recommend to readers of all ages for some time to come.