Books at the Box Office: Everything, Everything

I remember discovering Nicola Yoon from a Book of the Month club pick of The Sun Is Also a Star, and immediately picked up her other book–Everything, Everything. I was so pleased to see it become a movie a few years later, and it was mostly a good movie! I enjoyed it. I even saw it in theatres, I believe.

First, the book:

What if you couldn’t touch anything in the outside world? Never breathe in the fresh air, feel the sun warm your face . . . or kiss the boy next door? In Everything, Everything, Maddy is a girl who’s literally allergic to the outside world, and Olly is the boy who moves in next door . . . and becomes the greatest risk she’s ever taken.

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

I remember loving the twist in this book! Lovvvving it. It’s such a fascinating read, an interesting take on a contemporary YA romance, and I breezed right through it.

Now, the movie:

Wow, Amandla Stenberg was THE YA queen of 2015-2019, wasn’t she? Also, Nick from Love, Simon, which I don’t think I recognized until now. It was directed by Stella Meghie, who also directed The Photograph, which I saw earlier in 2020 and genuinely enjoyed! Plus, it’s got a 45% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn’t bad at all.