Another Day is the companion novel to David Levithan's widely acclaimed novel, Every Day. Another Day mostly succeeds standing on its own, however, I personally think you would miss its full impact if you did not read Ever Day first.
Description: Every day is the same for Rhiannon. She has accepted her life, convinced herself that she deserves her distant, temperamental boyfriend, Justin, even established guidelines by which to live: Don’t be too needy. Avoid upsetting him. Never get your hopes up.
Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person…wasn’t Justin at all.
In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you.
Review: In Every Day we explored the universality of love through a gender neutral character named A who inhabits a different body every day. In one of these bodies A was Rhiannon's boyfriend named Justin and they two spent a wonderful day together. Unexpectedly A fell in love with Rhiannon and has tried to pursue a relationship with her, which has been further complicated by A's constantly changing state.
Another Day recalls this same event, however, we are now seeing things through Rhiannon's point of view. Throughout the book Rhiannon inquires what makes a relationship valuable. One of my main criticisms about Everyday was the lack of character development of Rhiannon. I never understood what was about her that captivated A. This time around I felt I had a better understanding of her, but I didn't really like her as a character.
In the beginning Rhiannon is a codependent person who uses her rocky relationship with her acerbic boyfriend, Justin, to define herself. While she craves intimacy and emotional attentiveness, he wants distance and wants to hangout or in other words fool around, which feel cold and mechanical. It is clear to everyone around her and indubitable to even to Rhiannon in heart of hearts, that her relationship with Justin is doomed yet her fear to be alone eclipses her logic and it is what keeps her at Justin's side.
While it was hard seeing Rhiannon defend Justin at his worst moments to her friends and even chastising herself from demanding things that is her right from her boyfriend, I did like how Rhiannon slowly comes into her own person after she encounters A and acknowledges her own needs and desires. With A's constant changing of human bodies from boy to girl, various body types, and backgrounds, Rhiannon has the emotional intimacy that she craves, but can't have the physical relationship that she wants with A. There is a nice contrast between the idealistic world that A would love to live in in which Rhiannon would love him regardless of who A is and the realistic world that Rhiannon has firmly placed her feet on in which she is only attracted to males of a particular type, however, this discussion seems to go on endless circles in Another Day and it began to feel a bit tedious. Readers who have read Every Day will recognize several scenes in Another Day, however the tone is a bit different.
Like the ending of Every Day, there is no real conclusion to Another Day and Levithan leaves the door open to a possible another book featuring Rhiannon and A. Personally, I enjoyed Every Day just a bit more because I found A a lot more interesting than Rhiannon. I think readers who enjoyed Every Day will find something new in Another Day and readers who are meeting A for the first time would be intrigued to read Every Day to find more about him/her.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Words of Caution: There is strong language, underage drinking, and strong sexual content since Rhiannon and Justin are sexually active however these episodes are not graphically depicted. Recommended for Grades 9 and up.
If you like this book try: Every Day by David Levithan, Cycler and Recycler by Lauren McLaughlin
Until the morning everything changes. Justin seems to see her, to want to be with her for the first time, and they share a perfect day—a perfect day Justin doesn’t remember the next morning. Confused, depressed, and desperate for another day as great as that one, Rhiannon starts questioning everything. Then, one day, a stranger tells her that the Justin she spent that day with, the one who made her feel like a real person…wasn’t Justin at all.
In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you.
Review: In Every Day we explored the universality of love through a gender neutral character named A who inhabits a different body every day. In one of these bodies A was Rhiannon's boyfriend named Justin and they two spent a wonderful day together. Unexpectedly A fell in love with Rhiannon and has tried to pursue a relationship with her, which has been further complicated by A's constantly changing state.
Another Day recalls this same event, however, we are now seeing things through Rhiannon's point of view. Throughout the book Rhiannon inquires what makes a relationship valuable. One of my main criticisms about Everyday was the lack of character development of Rhiannon. I never understood what was about her that captivated A. This time around I felt I had a better understanding of her, but I didn't really like her as a character.
In the beginning Rhiannon is a codependent person who uses her rocky relationship with her acerbic boyfriend, Justin, to define herself. While she craves intimacy and emotional attentiveness, he wants distance and wants to hangout or in other words fool around, which feel cold and mechanical. It is clear to everyone around her and indubitable to even to Rhiannon in heart of hearts, that her relationship with Justin is doomed yet her fear to be alone eclipses her logic and it is what keeps her at Justin's side.
While it was hard seeing Rhiannon defend Justin at his worst moments to her friends and even chastising herself from demanding things that is her right from her boyfriend, I did like how Rhiannon slowly comes into her own person after she encounters A and acknowledges her own needs and desires. With A's constant changing of human bodies from boy to girl, various body types, and backgrounds, Rhiannon has the emotional intimacy that she craves, but can't have the physical relationship that she wants with A. There is a nice contrast between the idealistic world that A would love to live in in which Rhiannon would love him regardless of who A is and the realistic world that Rhiannon has firmly placed her feet on in which she is only attracted to males of a particular type, however, this discussion seems to go on endless circles in Another Day and it began to feel a bit tedious. Readers who have read Every Day will recognize several scenes in Another Day, however the tone is a bit different.
Like the ending of Every Day, there is no real conclusion to Another Day and Levithan leaves the door open to a possible another book featuring Rhiannon and A. Personally, I enjoyed Every Day just a bit more because I found A a lot more interesting than Rhiannon. I think readers who enjoyed Every Day will find something new in Another Day and readers who are meeting A for the first time would be intrigued to read Every Day to find more about him/her.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Words of Caution: There is strong language, underage drinking, and strong sexual content since Rhiannon and Justin are sexually active however these episodes are not graphically depicted. Recommended for Grades 9 and up.
If you like this book try: Every Day by David Levithan, Cycler and Recycler by Lauren McLaughlin
Labels:
2015 YRHMB Reading Challenge,
3.5 stars,
Fantasy,
Philosophy,
Romance,
Self Confidence,
YA
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I do tend to struggle with books like this where we get a familiar story just from a different POV as, like you said, some scenes feel tedious because we've already been there. Still this world, and A, sound fascinating, so I think I need to give the first book a try for sure!
I've heard pretty good things about this author and I do want to try him but for some reason I'm nervous about trying this series. I do love your review though and it does make me want to try the first book.