Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
August 25, 2015
300 pages
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The eagerly anticipated companion to David Levithan’s New York Times bestseller Every DayAfter reading Every Day last year, I was interested in Another Day, its companion or "twin" novel. Every Day gave us the story of A, someone for whom every day was different, a different body, a different life: "Tomorrow's body will be the same age as A - sixteen - and in close geographic proximity, but everything else, including the gender, is an unknown."
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.
In Another Day, we get Rhiannon's story. She is someone who spends the day with A - but A in the body and life of her boyfriend Justin. If you've already read Every Day, then you know the story from A's perspective. If not, you get to meet both A and Rhiannon in Another Day.
Every Day and Another Day can be read in either order, or individually.
Since I read Every Day a year ago, I remembered the basic story and some of the bigger events of A and Rhiannon's tale, but not the particulars, not the details. It was fun to rediscover the story and their interactions as I read.
I think that Rhiannon's side of the story was easier to connect with. Of course there's the fact that she is so much more like 'us' than A will ever be, but it seemed more than that, too. Her doubts, her fears, her concerns about A, about A in her life, and all that would entail were so fitting. Believing that there is someone who is in a different body every day is something pretty extraordinary. Knowing how that fits in what you know, in your every day, is something else entirely.
I liked Rhiannon and how she thought about and did things. It was really interesting and, sometimes, enlightening, to see things from her perspective. I enjoyed seeing the progression of the story from the other side and knowing how each of them felt about things.
I do, however, want to take back the last six sentences of the book. I really didn't like what it promised, for the characters or story and thought Every Day's ending and Another Day were both leading somewhere different.
If you've read Every Day or plan to in the future, Another Day is a great expansion on that tale, a look at things from another perspective. If you haven't - or don't plan to - read it, Another Day is s good read with an intriguing concept and a relationship unlike any other.
digital copy received for review from publisher, via NetGalley
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