Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon

Every so often, I take a break from my usual murder and mayhem reading and tuck into a 'teen' read. But honestly, I hate labelling a book - 'teen' reads aren't just for teens. So let's say I enjoy a change of reading style.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon was a great choice.

Seventeen year old Madeline Whittier has Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease. "Basically I'm allergic to the world. I don't leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years."

And then Olly moves in across the street....."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."

Oh, but it's a wonderful book!  It's clever in so many ways - the dialogue, the plotting and the actual presentation of the book. The story of Maddie and Olly is told in texts, post-its, messages, emails, blog posts, drawings, diary entries and charts. (and yes, actual writing!)

Maddie's voice was so engaging - her outlook on life and her sense of humour. Olly is well, swoon-worthy - kind, thoughtful, clever and oh, yeah good-looking. I enjoyed watching their relationship bloom in such an unusual setting and manner. But not all is sweet and light - Olly too has his own set of problems. Yoon tackles love, loss, grief, mental illness, friendship, relationships and more. And all of it done in a wonderfully entertaining format.

But, just when I thought I knew where the book was headed (there's a lot of 'dying/sick teenage girl' books out there), Yoon surprised me with a nice little twist.

I love book covers - and I have to say this one is beautiful and is absolutely perfect for the story. The stark white Everything and the contrasting busy, blossoming Everything mirrors and depicts the novel perfectly. (And there's many little images hidden in the colour that also tell their own story)

Everything, Everything offers up some nice quotes."…Life Is a Gift. Don’t Forget to Live It …" And the title? Maddie..."To want everything, everything the world has to offer."

Read an excerpt of Everything, Everything. Fans of The Fault in Our Stars will love this book. Kudos to Yoon for such a great debut novel.

You can connect with Nicola Yoon on her website, as well as on Twitter.  Watch for the movie - MGM has bought the movie rights to Everything, Everything.