''Another Day'' by David Levithan

I finished reading this book in one and half day. That's how amazing it was. Now, of course, I say that about all the books I read basically, but there is seriously no kidding when I say that the author, whose name I haven't even heard before Saturday at Tesco, is a genius when handling romance and words.
Any John Green fan would love this book!

Now, I don't get it why YA authors nowadays have this thing for writing awesome novels, that enchant you from their very first word and then they finish those stories (and the sensitive reader's hearts) with soul-crushing endings; but we all know we love them anyways. ;)



''Another Day'' is actually another version of Levithan's novel ''Everyday'', the same story told by another character's point of view. I didn't know about this when I bought it, nevertheless the plot twist still hit me with a pleasant and thrilled effect.
And here is my rating -  ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

Rhiannon thinks she has her life together pretty much, but in reality her relationship with her boyfriend Justin isn't exactly a lovely one. She knows when to be cautious around him and knows how to handle his constant mood swings. But what happens when one day Justin starts acting strangely toward her? By ''strange'' meaning being sweet to her, taking her on a long car ride to the ocean, actually listening to her, singing along to her song and spend the perfect dream date at the beach together. A moment Rhiannon knew she deserved and would always remember.
Until, the next day, Justin is very keen to stay away from the topic about THAT day and avoids it whenever he can. An unxpected person with an unbelievable secret, A, shows up and tells Rhiannon that whatever happened that day can't happen again. Not with Justin. Because that wasn't Justin.

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(((((SPOILER)))))
I loved how the author create the whole suspence before finally dropping the bomb about the reveal. Which wasn't honestly that shocking for me. I mean, I imagined something like this, but i didn't actually expect it to be right!
The mystery is beyond any sense.
''A'' is neither a boy, nor a girl, nor human. He (let's keep it like that for clarity) has this special involuntary power to switch his body everyday. So ever since he was born, he had been switiching and dominating someone else's body for one day, living just one day in their lives and literally in their shoes! A boy, a girl, an adult, a child. He has access to their memories too so he can understand how to act like them without causing suspicions.
''A'' met Rhiannon in Justin's body that day and fell in love with her. Ever since then, he tried meeting her in different bodies and befriended her for a day with different names and faces. Eventually Rhiannon catches a lie from one of them and ''A'' decides to tell her the truth despite the odds that she will believe him, or even imagine a possibility of them being together.

What I really like about this novel is how it illustrates a kind of girl who is used to being in the shadows of someone she is blindly in love with. And by not knowing anything better than that, she makes herself delusional and believe he does love her too and therefore tries depereately not to loose that. Rhiannon soon starts realizing how much her life revolves mainly around Justin. I like the way she starts standing up and get out of that shadow. I like how she had all the support from her friends.

Justin, on the other hand, is not being clear on whether he truly loves her. He is shown in one scene to be very loyal and would never cheat on Rhiannon. He misses her when she is not around but doesn't really show it. Nor does she say anything about appreciating when she is in fact present. I suppose he is the kind of character who needs to see himself again before he can be capable of sharing his attention with someone else. He is not the stereotypical douche idiot, although he has a quick temper and depressive state that drives him to quick conclusions and not thinking before acting.

Another theme that reflects on the novel is how the famous quote ''Never judge a book by its cover'' bounces throughout the story.
A appears in a different body everyday, and despite Rhiannon really loving him and trying to see what is beyond the appearance, it shows how much physical traits seems to still be a factor on attraction. And we can't really blame Rhiannon for complaining sometimes. I think the author is trying to challenge and tease that quote, and he succeeded in creating this hurricane of confusion between the characters, and with the readers asking themselves ''How is this going to work? How???''




I can't really say the ending was satisying either, but I woudn't call it frustrating. And is you've read this novel and start feeling incomplete like I did for a few seconds, ask yourself how YOU would have ended this so uniquely brilliant plot.
There. Food for your thoughts.
Eat it  and don't argue. David Levithan has created perfection.

Memorable quotes:

• “Most of the time when we think we're looking for death, we're really looking for love.” 

• “I find myself looking into people's eyes more than I ever did before. And I realize, that's where we stop being a certain gender or color. Just look right into the center of the eye.” 

• “That has to be what love is - seeing what a mess he is and loving him anyway, because you know you're a mess, too, maybe even worse.” 

• “It is real in such an intense way that it feels unreal, too.” 

• “Nothing gold can stay [...] so I guess we'll have to be silver.”