Release Date: September 1, 2015
This book is about 18-year-old Maddy who has lived her entire life (except for some brief time as a baby) inside because she is allergic to everything. She thinks she has come to peace with this until a boy moves next door and THINGS HAPPEN.This book was a such a pleasure to read and beautiful in so many ways. A run down of what I liked:
- Madeline: I cared for Maddy almost instantly. She is so lovable. The best books are ones where you just really want to get to know the main character, aside from the plot. Nothing could have happened in this book and I still would have been happy to have gotten to know about Maddy. I empathized with the girl trying to figure out what she wanted from her life, who didn’t feel like she was missing out until she suddenly did.
- The format: This book has illustrations (that Nicola Yoon’s husband drew! So cute!), online chats, and a few other deviations from standard text. It makes reading the book a lot of fun. The way this is all used is part of what helps Maddy have such depth.
- The romance: The relationship between Maddy and Olly is truly sweet and I didn’t even roll my eyes once! Yoon stayed away from dangerous tropes. It’s so easy to root for them, to ache for them.
- EMOTIONS: This book is going to make you FEEL. An emotional rollercoaster I was glad to experience.
- Representation of Illness: I can’t go into too much detail without being spoilery, but this is a good book where the sick character isn’t a big Life Lesson for the healthy counterpart.
There is also a THING that happens that is a spoiler which some people were unhappy with. I think the unhappiness stemmed from expectations of what some people wanted the book to be vs. what it actually is. Guess you’ll have to read and see though!
If you couldn’t tell, I loved this book. It’s one I am going to make friends read so I can talk about it.