Monday, August 10, 2015

Review: Another Day by David Levithan

Title: Another Day
Author: David Levithan
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 25, 2015

The eagerly anticipated companion to David Levithan’s New York Times bestseller Every Day

In this enthralling companion to his New York Times bestseller Every Day, David Levithan (co-author of Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green) tells Rhiannon’s side of the story as she seeks to discover the truth about love and how it can change you.

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.



So I read Every Day not long before reading Another Day.  And while it certainly wasn't necessary to have read the first book, I'm glad I did.

Another Day is the exact same story as Every Day except told from the perspective of Rhiannon.  Was this the sequel everyone was looking for?  Perhaps not.  But it was still quite interesting to get into Rhiannon's head.  And to see more of Justin.  He's so much on the sideline's in Every Day.  The reader gets a much better feel for him as a character in Another Day, even though it's not his voice we hear.  Or see.  Or read.

And because we get to see so much more of Justin in this book, I actually found myself feeling really bad for the guy.  Yes, he's a jerk.  But he's a jerk with a soul.  He's a jerk with many reasons to hate life.  And in the end, Rhiannon just gives him more reasons to hate life.

One thing that I wish there were more of was the ending.  I was a bit disappointed in exactly what the ending was - in how Rhiannon handled everything.  But I would have liked it to go on a little bit further.

Rhiannon's voice can be repetitive sometimes.  But so was A's.  And it's interesting to see that she isn't all as superficial as she seemed in Every Day.  She just tries dealing with being or not being attracted to certain people.  And wondering why she can't be attracted to someone when she knows she should look past it.  It's unfortunate, but most people wouldn't be able to just see past looks or gender.  And Rhiannon is no different.  So I applaud Levithan for making this aspect of the story as realistic as possible.

My Overall Opinion
I enjoyed Another Day quite a bit.  While I don't think it was as good as the first book, it was certainly a fun and interesting read.  If you read and enjoyed the first book, you're likely to enjoy this one as well.  Or even if you haven't read the first book.  It's still an intriguing book that I'm glad I read.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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