There are a lot of romantic tropes in romance genre books. The pacing of some books is very fast and the characters fall in love immediately; some are slower and they only get together at the end. However, have you read a book where the characters get together within the first few chapters? The book Every Day with its pairing book, Another Day, displays this exact romance trope. You follow two characters as they ask the question a lot of couples find themselves asking: Do they like me for my looks or for my personality?
These books follow two characters: Rhiannon and A.
Rhiannon is a very quiet, very shy girl. She is in an unhealthy relationship with Justin. He doesn't love her (or anyone for that matter). He is dragging her on for the sole purpose of taking his anger out on her during intimate moments. Nothing more. A does not think she deserves that kind of treatment/ relationship.
A is a body swapper. Every day, he wakes up in a brand new body. In the first chapter of the book, he wakes up as Rhiannon’s terrible boyfriend Justin and ends up falling in love with her. He takes her to the beach and tries to learn as much as possible about her before he leaves the next day. Once he leaves Justin's body, he does everything in his power to get back to Rhiannon. Every body he swaps to, he tries to get back to her. No matter the distance or the sacrifices he has to make to do it.
Rhiannon is a very quiet, very shy girl. She is in an unhealthy relationship with Justin. He doesn't love her (or anyone for that matter). He is dragging her on for the sole purpose of taking his anger out on her during intimate moments. Nothing more. A does not think she deserves that kind of treatment/ relationship.
A is a body swapper. Every day, he wakes up in a brand new body. In the first chapter of the book, he wakes up as Rhiannon’s terrible boyfriend Justin and ends up falling in love with her. He takes her to the beach and tries to learn as much as possible about her before he leaves the next day. Once he leaves Justin's body, he does everything in his power to get back to Rhiannon. Every body he swaps to, he tries to get back to her. No matter the distance or the sacrifices he has to make to do it.
Rhiannon, on the other hand, is confused on why her boyfriend acted so nice one day and so cold another. Before A, they never went on dates (besides going to parties) and never had any meaningful conversations. Rhiannon wants to relive the moments she had with him on the beach, but Justin looks at her like she's gone crazy. She doesn't understand why he suddenly doesn't remember anything that happened that day.
One day on A’s quest to get back to Rhiannon, he meets her again at a party. They end up exchanging emails and having a relatively good time together. Rhiannon has completely forgotten about her boyfriend and A finally gets reunited with Rhiannon. Everything is perfect. Until A needs to switch back out of the person's body. He doesn't have enough time to fully get back to the boy’s house to go to sleep. His last resort is to pull over on the side of the road and go to sleep. This may have been one of the biggest mistakes of A’s life.
Will he finally end up with Rhiannon? Will she accept him as a body shifter? Will she even understand? If you really want to know, read the books Every Day and Another Day by David Levithan.
MY REVIEW (SPOILERS)
Personally, I’d rate these books a 9 out of 10. The only reason it isn't a perfect score was because of the cliffhanger of an ending. We do not know what happens to A at the end of the book. Other than that, I LOVE these books. I love how realistic they make the characters. Rhiannon is the perfect depiction of someone in a toxic relationship, afraid to leave. Her and A’s relationship blossoms so beautifully throughout the book as well. You also do not have to read the books in order.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves sappy relationships and romance novels in general. The main difference between these 2 books is really just the story perspective. They are the same story, just from different perspectives. It makes you feel more for Rhiannon in her part of the story than in A’s part of the story. Personally, I like both books equally, Saying that they are the same book, just different people. they're really not much different.
ALLYSE WALKER
