EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING

I wanted to like this book. I really and truly did. It portrayed personable people being personable among nice illustrations and some clever framing devices like school assignments on kissing. This was one of the start-reading-and-don't-stop-until-you-finish-kinda-book. Immersing, catchy, has substance and has a tip-top plot.

This Madeline girl, also called Maddy from Nicola Yoon's Everything, Everything book has SCID, which means anything in the outside world can trigger an allergic reaction in her and be fatal. She almost died when she was an infant, at least that's what her mom said.

Maddy is a spunky girl I would say, despite having been confined within the walls of her house all her life. She's homeschooled and her only friends are her mother and her nurse, Carla. She spends most of her time reading and playing games with her mom but she makes the best of her situation, choosing to smile brightly as each day passes by.

Then a boy, Olly, moves into the house next door and Madeline's world flips 360 degrees. He's different from anything she's encountered before and he's bold and positively bursting with constant energy. In the beginning, Olly and Maddy can't even talk to each other face to face, so they got to know each other through IM. When they finally meet, Olly has to stand all the way on the other side of the room so he won't risk contaminating Madeline. This is the tragedy of her disease.

"How can I live the rest of my life in this bubble now that

I know all that I'm missing?"

The plot was uncomplicated to follow and full of genuine emotions. It had a similar vibe to John Green's TFiOS in the way that it was pleasing, sad, and each chapter was brimming with lovely writing. It kept my attention the entire time.

The eventual happy ending is: Yay, Maddy, is not in fact disabled, she just has a weakened immune system from her mother's abuse of keeping her locked in response to her father and brother's traumatic deaths in a car crash. A few years of gentle exposure to diseases and allergens, and she'll be right as rain. (I honestly threw the book when I read that part.) The lovely young couple doesn't have to deal with the work-arounds like filter masks or gloves or pill schedules or signing up for the marrow waiting list. They just need to be extra careful during flu season, while Mom needs some intensive therapy.

"In my head I know I've been in love before, but it doesn't feel

like it. Being in love with you is better than the first time. It feels

like the first time and the last time and the only time all at once."

However, it's a really different (and with different, I mean a GOOD kind of different book.