Someday
Author: David Levithan
Published by: Electric Monkey
Pages: 394
Format: Paperback
My Rating ★★★★
Every day a new body.
Every day a new life.
Every day a new choice.
For as long as A can remember, life has meant waking up in a different person’s body every day, forced to live as that person until the day ended. A always thought there wasn’t anyone else who had a life like this.
But A was wrong. There are others.
A has already been wrestling with powerful feelings of love and loneliness. Now comes an understanding of the extremes that love and loneliness can lead to – and what it’s like to discover that you are not alone in the world.
My thoughts:
A wakes up in a different person’s body every day. For example, one day, A might inhabit the body of a suicidal girl; the next, maybe an athletic boy. All A knows is that he/she must never get attached and never interfere with a body’s life – that way the body will never know.
The Every Day series can be seen as clever “what if” science fiction novels, and throughout this book the author explores what it means to be genderless, without a body, and without a family in a fascinating and touching way. These themes continue to be explored in more depth in Someday, and I really enjoyed the emotional dialogue between A and Rhiannon as they tried to figure everything out as they went along.
Someday picks up from the first book seamlessly, and despite the fact that I first read Every Day almost three years ago, I was immediately gripped. Someday follows on as a highly anticipated sequel to Every Day, after the accompanying novel, Another Day, which only really told the same story but from a different perspective. I loved the first book and entered this one with high hopes. The whole fantasy/sci-fi/romance concept is really unusual and fun to read about, so I knew right away it would be almost impossible not to get drawn in.
In the first book, the numerous people A inhabited one day at a time were people readers were encouraged to empathize with and care about throughout the story. However, this novel focuses much less on becoming attached to these characters, and instead invites readers to consider more about the impact this lifestyle is having on A. Of course, this includes A and Rhiannon’s complicated relationship, which is explored in more depth in this sequel. I think the limits to their relationship were really highlighted in the story here. However, the little moments they were able to spend together were meaningful even if those moments seem short-lived. The scenes between A and Rhiannon as they met up in New York were very sweet and entertaining, but there is always an understanding between them that time is precious, as they get so little opportunity to actually be together. Rhiannon has to be extremely open-minded when she does spend time with A, as she never knows what body A will appear in from one day to the next.
I definitely feel David Levithan writes narrative better than almost anyone else in YA fiction right now. His characters feel so real and intriguing, and their thoughts feel authentic. The writing style throughout makes for such an enjoyable and addictive read. I simply couldn’t tear myself away. It was nice reading this sequel, I liked revisiting the characters very much, and the plot was interesting and romantic.
Overall, I think I was maybe expecting a little more out of this book. I enjoyed it very much, even though I didn’t get all the answers to my questions. Someday isn’t perfect, but it is certainly a sequel worth reading if you enjoyed Every Day. I still think it is such an original and exciting fantasy fiction series!
Overall reaction:
Published by: Electric Monkey
Pages: 394
Format: Paperback
My Rating ★★★★
Every day a new body.
Every day a new life.
Every day a new choice.
For as long as A can remember, life has meant waking up in a different person’s body every day, forced to live as that person until the day ended. A always thought there wasn’t anyone else who had a life like this.
But A was wrong. There are others.
A has already been wrestling with powerful feelings of love and loneliness. Now comes an understanding of the extremes that love and loneliness can lead to – and what it’s like to discover that you are not alone in the world.
My thoughts:
A wakes up in a different person’s body every day. For example, one day, A might inhabit the body of a suicidal girl; the next, maybe an athletic boy. All A knows is that he/she must never get attached and never interfere with a body’s life – that way the body will never know.
The Every Day series can be seen as clever “what if” science fiction novels, and throughout this book the author explores what it means to be genderless, without a body, and without a family in a fascinating and touching way. These themes continue to be explored in more depth in Someday, and I really enjoyed the emotional dialogue between A and Rhiannon as they tried to figure everything out as they went along.
Someday picks up from the first book seamlessly, and despite the fact that I first read Every Day almost three years ago, I was immediately gripped. Someday follows on as a highly anticipated sequel to Every Day, after the accompanying novel, Another Day, which only really told the same story but from a different perspective. I loved the first book and entered this one with high hopes. The whole fantasy/sci-fi/romance concept is really unusual and fun to read about, so I knew right away it would be almost impossible not to get drawn in.
In the first book, the numerous people A inhabited one day at a time were people readers were encouraged to empathize with and care about throughout the story. However, this novel focuses much less on becoming attached to these characters, and instead invites readers to consider more about the impact this lifestyle is having on A. Of course, this includes A and Rhiannon’s complicated relationship, which is explored in more depth in this sequel. I think the limits to their relationship were really highlighted in the story here. However, the little moments they were able to spend together were meaningful even if those moments seem short-lived. The scenes between A and Rhiannon as they met up in New York were very sweet and entertaining, but there is always an understanding between them that time is precious, as they get so little opportunity to actually be together. Rhiannon has to be extremely open-minded when she does spend time with A, as she never knows what body A will appear in from one day to the next.
I definitely feel David Levithan writes narrative better than almost anyone else in YA fiction right now. His characters feel so real and intriguing, and their thoughts feel authentic. The writing style throughout makes for such an enjoyable and addictive read. I simply couldn’t tear myself away. It was nice reading this sequel, I liked revisiting the characters very much, and the plot was interesting and romantic.
Overall, I think I was maybe expecting a little more out of this book. I enjoyed it very much, even though I didn’t get all the answers to my questions. Someday isn’t perfect, but it is certainly a sequel worth reading if you enjoyed Every Day. I still think it is such an original and exciting fantasy fiction series!
Overall reaction: