Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon Review

Reviewed by Melanie Allen

Like a modern day Romeo and Juliet, I was spellbound by this book. From the minute I started it, I just couldn’t put it down. It was extremely addictive and I couldn’t wait to finish it. I had an inkling at the beginning that all was not as it seemed and I was glad I was proved correct.

The story is about a 17 year old called Maddy who has is allergic to the outside world. For seventeen years she has never been out of her front door, which is very hard to imagine. Immediately you feel sorry for her and the life she has lived but she isn’t unhappy at all. She fills her days with board games, studying and reading endless books. Apart from her mother who she lives with, she only ever has contact with her nurse and her teacher. She does everything online so that she doesn’t mix with people who could literally kill her if she came into contact with them. Then she sees her new neighbours move in, and becomes attracted to Olly, the boy next door. Maddy has never experienced love before and very quickly she becomes infatuated. Deep down, she knows that nothing can come of it as she can’t leave the house. She can’t even talk to him face to face or touch him, so what’s the point? It’s not like love can kill her – or so she believes.

She manages to coerce her nurse Carla into arranging a meeting with Olly and a relationship ensues. The grass is a lot greener on the other side and now she can’t go back to being in isolation. She becomes a rebel and starts to question everything. The mundane life she has lived is no longer enough for her and she wants more. She is hungry for life. What she does next is quite extraordinary…

The chapters in this were very short, which I thought was a great way of getting you to read every word and to keep your attention. I didn’t mean to read it so quickly, but it was just so fast paced, interesting and easy to read. I loved the style the author wrote in, with pictures and doodles and copies of emails and amusing quotes and ‘spoiler alerts’. I will definitely look out for more books by this author and would recommend this book to any of my friends. Even my 10 year old daughter was asking how Maddy got on in the story and when I told her the end, she said she needed to read it for herself!

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £7.99 (paperback)

Available to buy from Amazon here.