this book is breath taking in it's pain, confusion and love.

I just want to wrap my arms around Evan as I go through his story with him. I love his lined through words and his struggle. ( )

Got about 20 pages into this and gave up. A combination of the strike through text and the self absorbed over-talky narrator totally turned me off this book.

The photos were cool, but the strikethough text on almost every page was maddening. In the end, the storyline saved this read for me. ( )

I'd give it a 2.5. I was really close to 3 stars but it was just so weird and dark, not my taste at all. I didn't like the photos in it either. The plot is alright but like I said, it makes you cut your wrists man. This main character is too depressive. The most depressive. ( )

Kate: “Every You, Every Me” was my choice for Book Club this time around, and it was my gut reaction when I got the 700s (aka The ARTS!) of the Dewey Call Numbers. I knew that this book was written by David Levithan, but that the photos that were interspersed throughout the book were taken by Jonathan Farmer and given to Levithan as he was writing the story. Levithan wouldn’t know what the next photo would be, and then would have to fit it into the narrative. The concept of this was a fascinating one to me, and I thought that the photos angle fit into the Dewey theme. I haven’t had a lot of luck with ‘concept’ novels such as these, as I was one of those folks who didn’t absolutely adore “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” and decided to give a hard pass to the “Asylum” series. But my reasoning was that hey, it’s David Levithan.

That said, this wasn’t the thrilling mystery with appropriate and aching teen pathos that I had hoped it would be. There was a great idea here, and glimmers of that idea shined through from time to time, but all in all I felt that “Every You, Every Me” never quite evolved beyond a concept. Evan is our narrator, and he is telling this story through stream of consciousness diary entries and through the photos that he is receiving from an anonymous source. He is set up as an unreliable narrator from the jump, with parts of his diary entries crossed out (but not enough that the reader can’t read the redacted thoughts). It was a little heavy on the crossing out, but I felt that it was a fairly effective way of showing his personal struggles instead of him literally saying ‘I AM CONFLICTED ABOUT ALL OF THIS AND DON’T KNOW HOW TO FEEL OR WHAT ROLE I PLAYED’. Evan himself was both interesting and maddening. Maddening in that goodness gracious was he the epitome of emo teen angst kid, so much so that our book club joked about how much My Chemical Romance and Evanescence would be on his iPod.

But along with Evan being so hopelessly angsty, he was also very fascinating as a character, mostly because I felt that Levithan did a VERY good job of portraying the mind of someone who has gone through a very upsetting trauma. No deep spoilers here, but what I will say is that Evan has lost his closest friend Ariel, and he thinks that it is all his fault. While Evan is the narrator and protagonist, this story is really about the mysterious Ariel; who she was, how she was, and where she has gone (which is the main mystery of this book). They have a deep and codependent friendship, and the more you learn about Ariel and how she treated Evan, the more, I think, you get to understand why he is so, so warped and moody in this whole thing. I definitely found Evan to be more sympathetic as time went on, but also stopped caring about what happened to Ariel and who is harassing Evan BECAUSE my opinions of Ariel changed so much. Which is a bit callous of me, within the context of the book, but the sheer manipulation within that relationship just made me uncomfortable and angry and uncaring towards her endgame.

The ending, though. Again, I don’t want to go into deep deep spoilers here, but it felt so tacked on and so clunky that it kind of threw the book off kilter for me. I know that it kind of harkens back to one of the bigger themes in this book (i.e. no one really knows every side of a person), but it almost felt a bit TOO unrealistic in how it all played out. I’m fine with a huge twist coming through, but I want at least SOME groundwork for that twist to be laid out.

So while I was kind of disappointed with “Every You, Every Me”, I did like the characterization that Levithan created for his main players. The concept is unique enough that I would say pick it up just to see how this neat writing exercise turned out, but don’t expect to be super blown away by it.

Serena: I have read a few David Levithan books before this one and have mostly enjoyed them. He is particularly strong at writing believably complex teenage protagonists who are not only relatable to teens themselves, but also to adult readers. Other than this knowledge of the author, all I knew about this book was a vague understanding of it being a concept book with the photographs being sent to him as he wrote the book. I, like Kate, have never particularly loved the concept books I’ve read in the past. Too often I feel that the author ends up relying on the images to depict much of the drama of their story, thus paying less attention to, or becoming simply lazy with, their own written descriptions. Powerful writing doesn’t need the support of photographs, and while they can serve as a nice backdrop, I don’t love the idea of a story becoming dependent on them.

For the most part, I think that Levithan walked a nice line with the art in this book. The photographs were interesting and he managed to (mostly) tie them in nicely with the overarching plot of the book. There’s a great theme of what it means to know someone that runs throughout the story, and this concept ties neatly with a conversation that seems to always swirl around the small glimpses of a person that are caught in specific photographs. I loved this idea, that like photographs, we’re only ever seeing small glimpses of an entire person. And that another person (another photograph) will see/capture an entirely different side of that individual. These themes were probably my favorite part of this book.

Other than this, I did struggle with the story. Evan is not the type of narrator that typically appeals to me. He’s conflicted and self-questioning to the point that his angst and confusion are more off-putting than sympathetic. I wanted to shake him at multiple times during the story, and frankly had a hard time taking him seriously. As we learn the truth behind his concerns, I could better understand his reasons for feeling the way he does. But that doesn’t wave away the execution of those feelings that presents him as a whiny, overly emotional teen boy who is hard to invest oneself in.

Further, I was not a fan of the crossing out text tool that was used so much in this book. Not only did it negatively play into the already annoyingly self-involved angst machine that was Evan, but at many points in the story the basic function of cross out text seemed to be misunderstood. In some ways, yes, it makes sense for a story like this with a semi-unreliable narrator like Evan to cross out some parts of the text and through these reconsidered aspects of his writing, get a better understanding of his thoughts and character. But at times, especially towards the end of the book, huge sections of the story were crossed out and the format was being used more to indicate a flashback than to highlight a questioned thought of Evan’s. I think the format read as a bit pretentious, and by the end of the story, I was so distracted by it and how it was being used that it was actively throwing me out of the story.

I also agree with Kate about the ending. Without spoiling anything, the explanation of the photographs seemed to come out of left field and a lot of hand waving and hoop jumping was done to explain portions of the mystery. It felt tacked on and unearned.

Lastly, as this entire mystery revolves around Ariel, we learn a lot about her and need to understand the role that she played to all of these friends, specifically Evan, who are all so distressed by her loss. And, like the character of Evan, I couldn’t really get behind the appeal of Ariel. At Book Club, we all had a bit too much fun coming up with all the crazy explanations for why all of these characters seemed so obsessed with Ariel. None of our explanations were favorable to her.

Ultimately, I think this book touched on some very important themes, specifically those having to do with the fact that people are made up of multitudes and that no one person can ever fully know another. But the execution was shoddy with the crossed out text, and Ariel and Evan were pretty unlikable all around. Add to that the fact that this isn’t a favorite genre of mine (no fault of the book’s), and I didn’t end up loving this one. Alas, they can’t all be winners! ( )

Mmm...this is the ultimate teenage angst novel. Unfortunately the premise doesn't work and I found it quite tedious. Not for me. ( )

Something different from David Levithan. . . a psychological drama involving high schoolers Evan, Jack and Ariel. Ariel is gone and Evan feels guilt and loneliness, until a series of mysterious photos appear. ( )

How do you preserve the memories of a relationship when your best friend is gone? Levithan and Farmer craft a haunting story of two high school boys who have a tenuous bond with each other through the anguished girl they lost. But this ambiguous relationship is about to be tested as Evan begins to find puzzling photographs that unravel his grasp on his relationships (past and present) and reality… almost. Incorporating strikeout text and Farmer’s photographic images Levithan only wrote the cryptic passages as he received the photographs. Unaware of Levithan’s developing story, Farmer continued to create the enigmatic images of his own design. Through their partnership the ensuing mystery created itself. At times a psychological thriller and at times a love story, “Every You, Every Me” will appeal to young adult readers who struggle with growing relationships as they begin to understand that everyone has a secret self that they might not be ready to share. ( )

Let me get straight to the point okay? It was no Every Day but this book is still good because LEVITHAN. I love his writing. I love that style of his that really gets to your mind, heart and even your nerves. Like sometimes it frustrates me how I've never thought of that before but then I still love it. Anyways, I like this book because it showed deep and true emotions from the characters. It was a fast read because 1) the book is quite short and 2) i really want to get to the end of the story and find out who the mystery person is. ( )

Twenty-five pages into this, and I am already putting it on hiatus. Maybe I will be in the right mood later.

Review from library copy

Very interesting concept. I liked that we didn't really know all of what was going on until the end. ( )

Two words: teen angst! And how does one evoke more teen angst? Strike through wording!

Evan has lost his best friend, Ariel, but how? Readers are not meant to discover a solid explanation until the end. In the mean time, Evan is haunted by her through memories and his own guilt for actions that resulted in her absence. Then, beginning on Ariel's birthday, someone starts leaving photos for Evan: a picture of trees, a picture of him, more trees, more Evan, and finally... pictures of Ariel. Evan, no thanks to his guilt and truck load of angst!angst!angst, interprets these as messages meant to punish him, and he's right.

So what happened to Ariel and who is stalking Evan? Why is someone stalking Evan? Several ideas popped in and out of my head, none of which were correct, and I am honestly sad that I didn't see it sooner. In retrospect, because Every You, Every Me is easy to zip through, I most likely overlooked tell-tale hints. No matter, because Levithan did not capture my intrigue. The concept of Every You, Every Me is interesting and true: there are several unalike fragments that make up the whole of an individual. We (speaking generally) often choose to reveal only one aspect of ourselves to certain people. This story, however, is a far cry from any kind of thrill.

If you can manage two or three uninterrupted hours, this is not difficult to read and finish in one sitting. Delighted to discover this wouldn't take long to finish--a quick, light book--I originally slapped Every You, Every Me a three-star rating. What it comes down to in the end, however, is quality, which I find sub-par. I dislike the angst and word-striking (among other things), but it isn't terrible, and I know terrible: those books that take days of resentful trudging, and the only reason I find myself continuing to read is the simple yet sad motivation to say, "I did it! I read the book!" Regardless:

Strike-through. I can't stand it. I don't find it clever; I find it annoying, especially when 65% or more of the text has a line running through it. I read

"What'd you do last night?"
I never do anything. "Not much, you?"

and I wonder why the narrator can't simply say that to his or her audience. It's not pleasing, aesthetically, but the bulk of Every You, Every Me's struck-through text could have avoided a strike had Levithan phrased it differently. At other times, it is doesn't look needed whatsoever:

I put the photograph back in the envelope. I didn't put the envelope back on the ground. I kept it.

Because Evan decides to keep the photograph, which he places inside the envelope, it indicates that the envelope is not returned to the ground.



Did I mention there are entire struck-through entries? Well, there are entries entirely struck through.

To add, Evan's angst is vastly explored but little else is. Because this seems more like a neat project Levithan opted to do, I feel doubtful that he intended for it to work in conjunction with the title. The photographs shown were taken by Jonathan Farmer, who'd send Levithan any random photo(s) from which Levithan would construct his plot around. It's similar to how [a:Ransom Riggs|3046613|Ransom Riggs|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1298018979p2/3046613.jpg] wrote [b:Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children|9460487|Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Miss Peregrine, #1)|Ransom Riggs|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320564598s/9460487.jpg|14345371], yet I enjoyed Riggs' book. The plot is layered, as are the characters. In contrast, Every You, Every Me offers one-dimensional characters and a weak plot in which very little occurs.

Suspense that should surround the mysterious photographs--who is leaving them and why?--goes by uneventful until the near-end, to which I say: what the heck is that? The "climax" (it would be the climax if I had felt proper suspension) comes much too quickly, too predictably, and ends similarly. This is an issue I have with the book in general. If Levithan had put in more effort--allowed necessary timing for events to pop up and unfold, realistic teen dialogue, less broody angst, perhaps a twist or two--this story would simply be a better story.

Although I have read [b:Will Grayson, Will Grayson|6567017|Will Grayson, Will Grayson|John Green|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347192518s/6567017.jpg|6759965] and [b:Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist|25373|Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist|Rachel Cohn|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320426861s/25373.jpg|929639], this is, technically, my second Levithan book. The problems I have with this are similar to the ones I have with [b:Boy Meets Boy|23228|Boy Meets Boy|David Levithan|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356335082s/23228.jpg|1118789], yet I already expected the lackluster effect because I'd already read Boy Meets Boy. What I know of David Levithan's writing style is not much, but I understand that he is a popular author. I just haven't discovered why. ( )

David Levithan utilizes strike through to establish a doubtful narrator. The concept of how well you really know someone was interesting to find in a young adult novel. I also liked having the mystery surrounding the photographs instead of trying to tell the story through them. ( )

I always anticipate reading Levithan because I know the writing will be unique and inventive. I found the use of the strike-through interesting and went well with the fractured storytelling and the unreliable narrator. I had some issues with the story overall, mostly in the characters. The structure of the story didn't allow for a clear picture of all the players, specifically Ariel. Not my favorite of his, (see The Lover's Dictionary) but still a very strong work about a kind of friendship many teens will recognize.
( )

This is a quick read, and those who like nontraditional writing styles may enjoy it. A healthy percentage of the text is in strikethrough, as if the narrator is editing his own thoughts, and there are photographs as well (which the narrator discovers in his locker and elsewhere, left for him by an unknown person).

It is an oblique manner of storytelling, but eventually the reader learns that the narrator's friend Ariel was suicidal, likely as a result of some kind of mental illness (bipolar disorder?). Whether or not she did commit suicide or was prevented from it is left till the end of the novel.

Something about the narrator reminded me a little bit of Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Both are shy and hang around the fringes socially. However, the style of writing in Every You, Every Me is entirely different from that of Perks.

Overall, I was a little underwhelmed, and it's not my favorite of David Levithan's books, but that's more about my preferences than about the quality of the book.

Quotes:

I was using all the strength it would take to run away, only to stay still. (71)

Now [she] looked at me in a different way, and I wondered if this was how I used to look at you, the barely masked concern that lands like pity. (74)

( )

there's something special about art that can make you feel uncomfortable ( )

I should have reviewed this book the day after I finished reading it. It was one of several that I grabbed off the shelf at my local library the day the TBR Double Dare ended April 1. I was attracted by the author, whom I've read before and enjoyed, and by the extensive use of very cool photographs throughout the book.

Yes, I picked it up because it has pictures.

I like the way Mr. Levithan mixed the use of narration and photographs in Every Me, Every You. They give the novel a puzzle element that it wouldn't have had otherwise and struck me as a fresh idea. (I know that several other authors have done this before, but this is the first time I've seen it in a Y.A. book, at least in this fashion.)

The book's narrator is a young man in high school who is facing life without his best friend, a girl whose absence is unexplained until near the end of the novel. In the novel's opening chapters, he finds a strange photograph of a familiar scene. Who left it for him? Is it just some sort of coincidence or is someone trying to tell him something? Is that someone his missing friend?

As he book continues, he finds more photographs, some of which include pictures of his missing friend doing things he never knew she did, living a life separate from the one they shared.

So I liked the use of photographs.

What I didn't like was the use of text that has been crossed out. Much of Every Me, Every You features passages that have been struck through. We're meant to know that the narrator decided he wouldn't include this information, but we get to see the information anyway. This is not a new idea either, it goes back to Lawrence Stern's, Tristram Shandy, at least. While the photographs added to my enjoyment of the novel, the crossed out passages annoyed me. One clever device felt fine, two felt precious. And I didn't think the fact that some passages were crossed out added to the overall mystery of the novel they was the photographs did.

And there's a third gimmick to Every Me, Every You, in that we don't know what happened to the missing best friend until the closing pages of the book. We spend the novel wondering if she killed herself, if she was sent away for some reason, if she was the victim of a crime. At the end of the day, making us wonder what happened to her should have some sort of emotional pay-off. When I did finally find out what happened to her, it rang false to me and it made much of the preceding novel ring false as well.

These three devices, the photographs, the crossed out narrative, the unexplained absence, pushed the book into too much narrative game playing when simply telling the story in a straightforward manner would have packed more emotional punch.

But I did like the pictures. ( )

When a mysterious photographer strategically plants pictures of him and his missing best friend Ariel where he will find them, Evan starts to unravel with paranoia, guilt and grief. He enlists Jack, his close friend and Ariel’s former boyfriend, to help find out who’s sending the photographs and why they’re being stalked. ( )

Shel and Bel will roll their eyes at me when I make this comparison but really, in my Killers muddled brain, it’s the best comparison I can come up with.

Have you ever heard the song Tranquilize by The Killers? If not, watch the video on YouTube. Relax. I am not asking you to like it. I just want you to listen. Notice how the song sounds a little edgy in the beginning. Then it builds up to a frenzied paranoia that is frightening and almost out of control. Then all of a sudden it ends with a tired sense of relief.

That right there is the emotional journey that David Levithan takes you on in Every You, Every Me.

Every You, Every Me is a novel told with words and photographs. David Levithan, of course, providing the words and Jonathon Farmer providing the photographs. Evan feels responsible for what happened to his best and only friend, Ariel. On his way to school, Evan finds a photo of the exact spot where he is standing. The next day he finds another picture in the same spot. A picture of himself. He doesn’t know where the pictures are coming from but their continued appearance sends him on a downward spiral of depression and paranoia which makes the reader wonder if the photos are responsible for his paranoia or his paranoia is responsible for the pictures.

I have wanted to read a David Levithan book for a while now. When we had the chance to meet him at a YA panel hosted by our favorite Indie Bookstore, I took the opportunity to buy this book. I wasn’t disappointed. The first chapter had me in tears. The rest of the book had me on the edge of my seat. The story is told in first person, from Evan’s point of view. The most interesting part was that the point of view included all of Evan’s unfiltered thoughts which were then filtered through with strikethroughs.

This technique was an excellent way to help the reader understand Evan’s state of mind, which, you may have guessed, is not exactly stable.

The photographs were a wonderful touch to the story. All the photos highlight the reason for his paranoia and keep the reader guessing as to what is really happening.

In the end, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone that enjoys a good psychological thriller.

Nat

www.bibliojunkies.blogspot.com ( )

WHOA. Dark, compelling, unbelievably haunting and unimaginably brilliant.
I was dizzy from being inside Evan's mind. His character is so utterly palpable that it was scary. I've always loved anything that has to do with 'dangerous' girls. That sort of mysterious, dark and troubled female character that is just as messed up as she is magnetic. Sort of like Alaska in Looking for Alaska. And Ariel's character was mind-blowing. From inside Evan's head she was so many different things, so many different people and yet, I could just picture her perfectly. I was probably as drawn to her as any of the other characters.

I think 'gripping' is an understatement. It was almost physically painful to pull myself out of the book. Such magnificent writing with a relatively simple plot, but it was given in these bits and pieces, photos and moments, memories of half-conversations, taunting the reader until the very last page.

Some parts were even creepy, some pictures and scenes would give me goosebumps but just resulted in me being more and more invested. It was a delicious thrill-ride. I wish I had the time to read it in one sitting because it followed me around when I wasn't reading.

If you like dark, life-shaking contemporary fiction or if you want to read a thriller that will keep you GLUED to it, read this! ( )

I read this book in about two sittings. It was a surprisingly dark (almost harsh) book. I'm a huge fan of Levithan and I had somehow missed that this book even existed. I wasn't sure I was going to like the style (pictures + words crossed out), but I did. The pictures enhanced the book tremendously, especially when you read that Levithan had no say in what the pictures would (except the one on the cover, since he picked that) and nor did the photographer know what Levithan was writing until the novel was over. I especially liked the crossed out words because it led a frantic tone to the book, which I found to be essential to the telling of the story. In a way, it's like reading Evan's slow decline into a hole that he might not be able to find his way out of. I quite liked the book, as I do with most (though not all) of Levithan's works. ( )

Every You, Every Me is an artistic endeavor that falls short. The idea of basing a story on random photos is intriguing and I was rooting for it to be an inspiring hit, but sadly I did not care very much for this work by David Levithan. Although I'm a fan of previous stories by the author, Every You, Every Me didn't provide the level of intrigue or mystery the synopsis promises. At no point did I truly believe Ariel was behind the scheme and although this had depth potential, the plot wavered along the surface. The voice of Evan was feminine sounding in the beginning, so much so, that I had to recheck if the narrator was male or female. I was not convinced I was in the mind of a male teen. After I put that aside, I tried to focus on the photos and was equally put off. Nothing seemed to gel, especially Ariel's dress in contrast to Dana, Alex and Evans. It was strangely out of place and not in a that's so retro sort of way. The strike-through in the text is distracting. Some readers may find it interesting, but I became quickly annoyed, especially in long passages that included crossed out words. Lastly, the battle of BFF's between Dana and Evan was bizarre to say the least. It was difficult to believe that neither the boyfriend or Evan knew anything about this 'secret' friendship -- even though they all attended the same school. The whole tale was a tad inconceivable and I simply didn't care for it. The media intention was commendable and deserved the attempt, but was not achieved. A quick read that can easily be finished in a day since many of the 240+ pages have photos or merely 1 to few sentences. ( )

"Every You, Every Me" is an emotional tale about a high school student named Evan who is coming to terms with losing his very best (and mostly only) friend Ariel. Levithan slowly reveals what exactly happened to Ariel through pictures that Evan discovers being 'planted' for him by their photographer. While reading through the author's notes, I learned that Levithan worked with a photographer who would reveal the photos as the story was actually being written. The concept works amazingly well here and I was intrigued by the story throughout. But where this book really shines is in the emotional journey Evan takes as he is forced to face the Ariel he knew as well as the Ariel he didn't. Some of the reading became slightly uncomfortable as I began to question Evan's sanity right along with some of his other classmates. I feared for the end of the story because I very much wanted Evan to have some peace, some sense of hope. The characters are drawn so vividly that I imagine that most any pre-teen or teenager can relate to them. The language of the book is so pretty that sometimes it feels like reading poetry. One of my favorite lines from the book sees Evan remembering a kiss he witnessed between Ariel and her boyfriend. Evan wonders if Jack thinks about his time with Ariel, "I wondered what happened to kisses when they were over". This was a very quick read and although I love YA books I usually read the paranormal kind rather than reality-based fiction but "Every You, Every Me" certainly made an impression. Although my first book by this author, it certainly won't be my last. ( )

Now THIS is what a young-adult thriller should be like. After being a bit disappointed at the mystery-thriller aspect of Susan Beth Pfeffer's Blood Wounds (but not disappointed in the book as a whole), Every You, Every Me was definitely a welcome surprise. I had expected the book to focus heavily on the gimmick and let the actual mystery plot, of what happened to Ariel and who's sending Evan those mysterious photographs, fall to the wayside. But it didn't. In fact, Every You, Every Me wouldn't have suffered one bit if it didn't include any of the photographs. It still would have been an intriguing story and one hell of a mystery. Yet the photographs do add something extra to it.

Since I had an advanced reader's copy of Every You, Every Me, I didn't get the full effect of the photographs. Not that that part of the book was bad at all. The book was still pretty amazing, but the final released copy of Every You, Every Me is supposed to include full-length color photographs, while those with an ARC had small-ish black and white photos. But again, the photographs do add something extra. For me, it had me feeling that much more freaked out for Evan. The slashed out lines (that were still completely readable) were an interesting way to show what Evan was really thinking as opposed to what he was actually saying. So, the gimmicky parts of Every You, Every Me actually worked and were very well-done.

Every You, Every Me was also superbly written. You can just feel how screwed up Evan is due to everything that happened to Ariel. You really do start to wonder about Evan's state of mind and that just intensifies the disturbing factor. Every You, Every Me just drives home the fact that we never really know someone completely. We just know one facet of them. Who they are when they're with you can be completely different than who they are when they're with someone else.

So, I thought Every You, Every Me was a fantastic novel. Every single aspect of it worked wonderfully. I do think that it will be even more amazing as a finished product with the full-length cover pictures included. Either way, Every You, Every Me is highly recommended. ( )