By Quentin Monasterial
Courier Staff Reporter
Nicolo Yoon’s first novel Everything, Everything, is a novel about romance, love, family, death, and our place in the universe; basically, this novel is about any topic that can be philosophized about.
Madeline Whittier is a teenage girl of mixed descent (African American and Japanese), which, as a person who is also of mixed descent, is something I rarely have the pleasure of experiencing in books.
In light of Valentine’s Day ensuing approach, I’ve chosen a romance novel–not something I usually do–to read in respects to it. However, upon picking up this book, I wasn’t aware that I was in for so much more than just romance.
The novels revolves around Madeline who is unable to go outside because she is “allergic to the world.” Don’t worry, there is a biological explanation behind this; apparently, she has the disease known as SCID, which means she has a very susceptible immune system.
So, yes, she was unable to ever see the world. At first, I just thought this was some ridiculous ploy to amplify and complement the romance, to make it seem more drastic than the author is capable of doing without it. But, again, that was just my pessimism speaking.
A boy named Olly moves into the house next door. Of course, the two fall in love. But the love story opens the door to so many other noteworthy themes that left a light feeling in my heart after reading.
Ironically, if it weren’t for Valentine’s Day, I wouldn’t have indulged myself into a book that honestly changed some of the ways I perceive this world and widened my vision of it. If this sounds like this, then I definitely would recommend it.
