Stats:
Publisher: Knopf
Release date: August 26, 2012
Page count: 322
Would appeal to: Fantasy lovers, non-readers (I really think this would convince them to read more!), anyone who likes John Green (writing has that kind of lasting impression)
Favorite Quotes:
"I know from experience that beneath every peripheral girl is a central truth. She's hiding hers away, but at the same time she wants me to see it. And it's there, just out of my reach. A sound waiting to be a word."
"I tell her what she wants to hear, but she doesn't trust it. I feed her the right words, but she suspects they're threaded with hooks."
"Margaret quickly comes down with a cold. The kissing stops, and the doting begins. Sam is rather smitten, and he surrounds Margaret with the sweet quicksand of his love."
"The books sit crooked on the shelves, like rows of neglected teeth."
"Sometimes when you hit send, you can imagine the message going straight into the person's heart. But other times, like this time, it feels like the words are merely falling into a well."
Why You Must Read This Book:
1. Amazing concept! A wakes up in a new body every single day. But what happens when he falls for someone's girlfriend and he knows his time with her is coming to an end? Are you hooked yet?
2. The insights. Levithan is one of those authors (like the above mentioned John Green with whom he wrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson) who makes me sigh because he gets it. His characters make everyday observations that I've often thought, only not as eloquently. It's like he's walked a mile in every person's shoes. A experiences the life of a twin football player, a gorgeous African American teen, a home schooled boy from a religious family, an addict. Some days are good, some days he can't get through quick enough. (I thought of A as a boy, so that's how I'll refer to him, but he's really just an "it"). A has the kind of maturity that none of us will ever attain because we don't really get to try on lives.
3. The twists. My advice is just start reading. The book blurb barely gives anything away, but Levithan's mind goes crazy places. He answers all the "What if..." questions I'd never think to ask.
4. The ending. I thought it really fit the reality that the story had built.
5. The main character doesn't have rules about his existence, so he makes his own. Because A doesn't understand much about what he is, he has to blindly accept his reality. That's what makes it exciting. He doesn't know whether the body he inhabits will remember what happened to them the day after he leaves. He lives his various lives cautiously, leaving as little behind as possible so as not to disturb the person's life. But Rhiannon changes everything, and soon, he's breaking the few rules that guide his existence.
What Bugged Me About This Book:
Nothing.
I read it in less than a day because I could not put it down. I just wanted to keep seeing life through the eyes of different people! And A's views on love are interesting. He doesn't get caught up with gender. He falls for the soul. You'll totally fall for his (couldn't resist).
