Audiobook Review: Every Day by David Levithan



Read by Alex McKenna

Synopsis: Every day a different body. Every day a different life. Every day in love with the same girl.

There’s never any warning about where it will be or who it will be. A has made peace with that, even established guidelines by which to live: Never get too attached. Avoid being noticed. Do not interfere.

It’s all fine until the morning that A wakes up in the body of Justin and meets Justin’s girlfriend, Rhiannon. From that moment, the rules by which A has been living no longer apply. Because finally A has found someone he wants to be with—day in, day out, day after day.
 
My thoughts: What a very interesting story! The thought of never waking up in the same body had me hooked from the beginning. Also, the idea that love has no limitations is profound here.

A is a very unique character. Though it is assumed that he is male, one has to wonder if he even has a gender because he switches bodies constantly and he does not view himself to specific gender. Does it matter if A is male or female? No. Levithan makes it obvious that it doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman; what matters more is being able to love the person within.

The love that A has for Rhiannon is just heart breaking. I kept rooting for them to be together but I could not imagine the kind of life that they both will have in the future. How stable could the relationship be? Will I be okay to know that the person I love will never be the same every day? Ay, it was just heart wrenching to read, especially towards the end.

My thoughts on the performance: Alex McKenna did an awesome job in bringing A to life. It was very confusing at first to listen to her narrate the story as A because A does appear to be male and Alex is female. But once I got used to the idea of a girl reading a male's role it made more sense.

A does not have a gender. A is A and he does his best to live by his rules. Having Alex read as A further emphasizes the fact that love has no gender. Love is powerful and unique and it should not be defined as something only shared between a man and a woman. Let's just say that this production has opened up my mind more to human rights to love whomever they want.

Overall, this was a great story and it was made even better with the audio performance. I feel that I would have not had the same experience if I were to have read it in print. I am glad that I opted to listen to the audio instead. I rate this audiobook: