Everything, Everything - YA Book Review

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Remember John Travolta in that movie about the boy in the bubble or whatever it was called? Or how about the funny Bubble Boy movie starring Jake Gyllenhaal? Well, now we've got a female main character in Nicola Yoon's YA novel Everything, Everything that has the same "bubble boy" disease as John and Jake.

I can't compare the story to the John Travolta movie because I never saw it, but I have seen Bubble Boy (many, many, many, many times) and this new YA novel reminded me of Bubble Boy only without the comedy.

Girl is quarantined in her house. The only human interaction she has is with her mom and her nurse. Sometimes a tutor will come over, but most of her schooling is done online. But then a cute boy moves in next door, and it's love at first sight for girl and boy when they see each other through the girl's window. They strike up an online correspondence, and their relationship is enough for the girl to want to risk everything (everything?) for the boy. But if she does, what will she really be giving up?

Throughout the story, there are illustrations (done by the author's husband) that help tell the story. Each chapter is pretty short,too, so that combined with the illustrations means this is a quick read.

The buzz was ALL OVER this book at Book Expo America, and I was super excited to read it because of the hype. But I have to say, it's nothing groundbreaking. It's your typical teenage love story novel, and I actually had a feeling that this book was going to end the way it did. I didn't really think it would go there because it's been done before (advice: probably don't watch Bubble Boy before reading this book if you want to avoid spoilers) but no. The book went there, and I totally saw it coming.

But if you don't overthink it, it's a good story about a girl just trying to live her life on her own terms.

Everything, Everything is published by Delacorte Press and is on bookstore shelves now. I received a free autographed advance review copy at Book Expo America with no obligation to review.