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A review by arundlestl
Every You, Every Me by David Levithan
5.0
I didn’t just read this book; I gulped it. I read it in one day. It has it all: mysterious characters, teen angst and a stalker leaving creepy photographs. Evan is walking home from school one day and finds an envelope with a picture inside: a picture off him taken in the woods on the day that his best friend, Ariel, had a nervous breakdown. He had no idea anyone else was there with them. With the help of his semi-friend Jack, he tries to find the mystery photographer. They want to know who it is and how he or she knew Ariel. Is Evan’s paranoia making him crazy? Could HE be the photographer? Or could it be Ariel? The tag line “Every picture tells a thousand lies” is apt, but I might also use “Do you ever really know a person?”
David Levithan has written other collaborative books; among my favorites are: “Will Grayson, Will Grayson” with John Green, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” and “Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares” with Rachel Cohn. The difference is that those books are written in alternating chapters with each author writing from the point-of-view of a protagonist. “Every You, Every Me” is more experimental. The author asked his friend, professional photographer Jonathan Farmer, to send him random photographs, one at a time. Basically, the author had no idea what he would get next: just like Evan.
This book is written unlike any other book I’ve read before. The chapters are numbered in an outline form (1, 1A, 1B, 2, etc.) which breaks down each chapter into smaller pieces and makes for a quick read. The book is written from Evan’s point-of-view, but it’s almost stream-of-consciousness, although some of his thoughts are “edited” with a line through them. The author leaves a lot of white space on the page for dramatic pause and emphasis along with the photographs that Evan finds sprinkled (in full color!) throughout the story. And let me tell you, they are extremely creepy, add to the spine-tingling story.
David Levithan has written other collaborative books; among my favorites are: “Will Grayson, Will Grayson” with John Green, “Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist” and “Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares” with Rachel Cohn. The difference is that those books are written in alternating chapters with each author writing from the point-of-view of a protagonist. “Every You, Every Me” is more experimental. The author asked his friend, professional photographer Jonathan Farmer, to send him random photographs, one at a time. Basically, the author had no idea what he would get next: just like Evan.
This book is written unlike any other book I’ve read before. The chapters are numbered in an outline form (1, 1A, 1B, 2, etc.) which breaks down each chapter into smaller pieces and makes for a quick read. The book is written from Evan’s point-of-view, but it’s almost stream-of-consciousness, although some of his thoughts are “edited” with a line through them. The author leaves a lot of white space on the page for dramatic pause and emphasis along with the photographs that Evan finds sprinkled (in full color!) throughout the story. And let me tell you, they are extremely creepy, add to the spine-tingling story.