Every Day by David Levithan

Every day A wakes up in a different body, to a different life. It has been this way for A for as long as A can remember. A never knows who he will wake up as or where he will wake up (Note: I use "he" as a loose term here as A does not identify as either male or female). He has woken up as a male, as a female, as a drug addict, as an athlete. The only consistency is that all of his host are same age as A.

A's hosts (for lack of a better word) are for the most part oblivious to his possession, which never lasts more than 24 hours. A is able to "access" the memories of his host, which allows him to get through a day in their life, but he does not have access to their emotions or feelings. When he leaves their body, they are left with the memories of what they did that day, but have no memory of A's possession.

A has accepted his fate and lives by simple guidelines: Don't get too attached, avoid being noticed, and do not interfere. All that changes for A when he wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. For the first time, A wants nothing more than to wake up every day in the same body so that he can see Rhiannon again. As A and Rhiannon fall for each other, they must struggle to find a way around their biggest obstacle: how do you love someone who changes everyday?

When I first read the synopsis of this book I was immediately intrigued by the idea of the story. It was a very quick read and I enjoyed the story very much. It raises some interesting questions about love and our perception of each other. How do you love someone who appears different to you every day? I think that we would all like to think that when it comes to love, the physical doesn't matter, but it does. So I can completely understand Rhiannon's struggle. How can you love someone fully when you have no mental construct of the person, no way to really define them? How do you reconcile that person in your mind when every day they appear in a different form? How does your mind wrap around that idea? And if the person never knows where they are going to wake up, how do you depend on that person? What if love isn't always enough?

My only problem with the book was that it felt unfinished, or underdeveloped might be the better word.

The next part of my review may contain some spoilers, so proceed with caution.


We never get to unravel the mystery of A's existence and why he must borrow the bodies of other people. The story started to move in that direction after A possess the body of Nathan who wakes up in his car on the side of the road with the feeling that someone else was in control of his body. Nathan is somehow able to track A's email address and demands answers. It is through Nathan that A meets Reverend Poole, who is the first to suggest that A is not as unique as he thought and that there are others like him. Furthermore, he suggests that it may be possible for A to remain in the same body. The problem is, this turn of events stops cold and leaves more unanswered questions.

Instead of pursuing this new development and possibly unraveling his own mystery, A just leaves. While there is a vague indication that A is morally opposed to possessing a person against their will indefinitely, the reasons for his departure are not entirely clear. If he was so in love with Rhiannon, how is he able to leave her so easily? The fact that he does not even attempt to discover the truth is mind boggling to me. Although maybe he's the bigger person. Maybe he left because he knew the temptation to act on the information would be too much. My issue is that the story seems to break off too quickly, leaving too many questions unanswered. Who is this Reverend Poole? Are there really others like A? Why does all of this happen? Is there a way to stop it?

It is unclear to me if the author is setting the story up for a sequel or if he simply chose not to answer these questions, but it is somewhat frustrating for me as a reader to have so many unanswered questions at the end of book. As far as I know there are no plans for a sequel and I am inclined to think that the author intentionally left these questions unanswered.

Having said all that, the story itself is intriguing and well written. I have a feeling that most readers will either love this book or hate it. I didn't love it, but I did like it and I would recommend it others with the caution that they may be left wanting at the end.