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.
Like Maddy, I can’t wrap my mind around the fact that something can make you feel so many conflicting emotions at the same time. Anger and joy. Sadness and helplessness and hope. Everything, Everything made me feel all these things and so many more, but beyond all, it made me feel a love so deep (for the wonderful characters, the captivating plot and the lovely writing Nicola Yoon used to bring them to life) that I won’t even try to delude myself into thinking a simple review can encompass it all. But, for the sake of this book and my love for it, I will try to put in words as best as I can how much I enjoyed it and how much I recommend it to all of you.
‘Everything, Everything’ is a young adult contemporary romance that at first glance may seem your typical ‘Girl meets boy, girl falls for boy and they live happily ever after’ love story. Yes, it’s this and it’s not at the same time. Nicola Yoon paints this story in so many layers and yet, she delivers it in a simple, but beautiful way. Love it’s at its best in this novel. Romantic love, love for your family, for yourself and for life in general.
Although diagnosed with an extremely rare disease that doesn’t allow her to leave the house, eighteen year old Madeline Whittier is content with her life. She finds comfort in her books, in the game nights with her mother and in Carla’s daily presence, her nurse and her closest friend. That is until a family moves next door and she meets Olly. Along with their new-found friendship comes the desire to experience life as one should. She wants to see the world, go to school, visit new places, make new friends. Most of all, she wants Olly.
I was happy before I met him. But I’m alive now, and those are not the same thing.
I found the contrast between Madeline’s strong desire to go out in the world and the desire to stay inside that most people have nowadays to be very striking and eye-opening. This made me appreciate life and the endless possibilities it has to offer more, it made me see the world with different eyes and it only made my love for our protagonist grow.
Maddy is one of the best protagonists I’ve ever read about. Her optimism is contagious, her determination astounding and her capacity to love wholly and trust blindly heartwarming. And if that wasn’t enough, she is also a book blogger! I love how passionate she is about books, how she uses her short spoiler reviews to make parallels between certain concepts and her life.
Spoiler alert: Love is worth everything. Everything.
The only thing I know for sure is that this, being here with Olly, being able to love him and be loved by him, is everything.
Life is a gift. Don’t forget to live it.

It’s a hard concept to hold on to–the idea that there was a time before us. A time before time.
In the beginning there was nothing. And then there was everything.


★ ★ ★ ★ ½
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