Title: Everything, Everything
Author: Nicola Yoon
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: September 1, 2015
Genre: Young Adult – Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 307
Format: Purchased Hardcover

Synopsis from Goodreads: 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.

This book was cute, and it dealt with friendships, first love, hope, and what it really means to live life.

I thought that the premise of the book was intriguing enough: a girl who is allergic to everything? How is that even possible? There are some snippets about what the disease Madeline has and it talks about how she’s not able to go outside because they don’t know what her triggers are. It seemed like a book that would tell about how it was difficult to live with this disease.

And it was, kind of, but it was mostly about relationships and friendships. Maddy had strong relationships with her at-home nurse, Carla, her mom, and then later, Oliver. I actually really liked that aspect of the book because it’s not very common in young adult books to have the parents or parental figures be around as constantly as they were in this one. I thought that the relationship she had with Carla, especially, was unique and wonderful – kind of like Carla was Maddy’s second mom.

Then the new kid next door, Olly, was introduced, and even I fell for him quickly. He loves to do parkour, he’s protective of his mom and sister, and the reason for that is because his father is a drunk jerk. But his personality seems quiet, but the way he’s described is that he’s always in motion, he’s fluid and languid all at once, and I found that to be kind of a beautiful metaphor.

Their interactions are comical at the beginning, but as they start to talk more, and even breach the subject of meeting in person, it becomes more apparent that yes, physical attraction is there, but it’s not insta-love.

I thought that Maddy’s character was genuine. She fully believed that she could be content in the life she was living until she met Olly, and even though they had a crazy adventure, I thought that it was needed for her to really discover the world and see it with her own eyes. She was fun and smart and curious, and I think her curiosity – that desire to know more and more about the world – was her best quality.

The end was bitter-sweet because of what happens, and I actually found myself angry. I won’t go into details so I don’t spoil anything, but I just didn’t understand why. But then, I did, and it almost broke my heart. I felt sorry, but at the same time I didn’t and I was happy with the decision Maddy made, even if it sort of seemed in spite.

The very end, though, was cute and I really wish there was more to the book because I just want more of Maddy and Olly’s relationship and I want them to be my friends and we can go on double dates and stuff.

Also, there were a lot of illustrations throughout the book that were done by the author’s husband, which I thought was neat. They’re simple and quirky, and I just thought that they really brought an extra bit of something special to this book.

Anyway, I recommend this book if you’re looking for a quick, cute read that is different, diverse (Maddy is half Japanese, half African-American), hopeful, and holds the promise of what living a life can really mean.

I rated this 4/5 stars.