Book Review: Every Day by David Levithan

About the book:

Title: Every Day

Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Published on: August 28th, 2012

Pages: 322 pages

Genre: YA

Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

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.

About the author

David Levithan (born 1972) is an American children's book editor and award-winning author. He published his first YA book, Boy Meets Boy, in 2003. Levithan is also the founding editor of PUSH, a Young Adult imprint of Scholastic Press.




About Everyday, He writes on his website, "2012 brought the release of Every Day , the story of a teen named A, who since birth has woken up in the body and the life of a new person every morning. At the start of the story, A is sixteen, and wakes up in the body of Justin, who’s never really treated his girlfriend, Rhiannon, that well. When A falls for Rhiannon, it suddenly changes the stakes of A’s story – and A’s life. When I started writing Every Day, there were two questions I wanted to answer – first, what would it be like to be a person who grew up without gender, race, sexual orientation, parents, friends, and all of the other things we usually classify ourselves by, and, second, what would it be like to be in love with someone who changed every day – would it be possible? I wrote the book to figure out what my answers were."


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My Review:

David Levithan had been on my reading list for far too long. I don't like keeping books waiting but alas, So many books, so little time. 

So, when Another Day, a companion was announced, it shot up my interest so much so that I ended up reading Every Day, abandoning all other current reads. 

Was it worth it? You might ask. And my answer would be incontrovertibly, undeniably yes. It was so totally worth it. 

The plot is as refreshing as it gets. It is the story that delves deep into our definitions of friendship, love, companionship and belonging. How far will we go to be with someone? How far are we ready to bend the rules? Is bending the rules worth the breach? Does the breach justify the end? Are we ready for the consequences?

It gets you thinking and keeps you so.

But here is a friendly warning: to fully understand the book, and to let it to what it intends to, you need to accept it as fiction, being a realist wouldn't help. The beauty of the book lies in how it ticks our thinking cells by bringing another dimension to our world. 

This is the story of A. A wakes up each day in a new body- and that implies he misses out on so much. On having an address, on having a family, permanent fiends, and so on. Things we take for granted. Things we'd lose and not realize what hey're worth. 

Apart from the lessons in living, the plot sure does hold a sense of mystery and intrigue. The author has done such a great job in weaving a plot out of nothing, and I am definitely going to read more from the author.

A beautifully written book, provokes you into thinking incessantly, and makes you question the right and wrong.

Links to the book:

Quotes from the book:

“She is so lost in her sadness that she has no idea how visible it is.” ― David Levithan, Every Day
Posted by So many books, So little time. on Wednesday, July 22, 2015

“The clock always ticks. There are times you don't hear it, and there are times that you do.” ― David Levithan, Every Day
Posted by So many books, So little time. on Saturday, July 25, 2015

“I wake up thinking of yesterday. The joy is in remembering; the pain is in knowing it was yesterday.”
Posted by So many books, So little time. on Wednesday, July 22, 2015

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Source of the review copy: My own copy!

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Author Spotlight and Interview: Amita Trasi (+ Giveaway)

If you've read The Color of Our sky, you'll probably understand the truth in the words that describe the book as a haunting projection of the reality with an inexplicable charm!

Check out my review of the book here.

Today the person who etched those star-crossed characters, and creator of the soul-shattering plot joins us to share her experiences of writing the masterpiece.

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Interview

Kritika: Congratulations on the book, it is indeed one of the most soul-stirring books I've read. How did you decide that you will touch upon this taboo issue in your book?

Amita: Thank you! I am glad you found it to be a good read. When I set out to write this novel, I wanted write about the friendship between two girls—Tara who has a privileged upbringing like many girls in India’s cities and Mukta, a poor village girl who doesn’t really land the luck of the draw. Initially, I hadn’t imagined that Mukta would be born in a family of temple prostitutes. But as I started to write, the characters took on a life of their own and it took me to places that I honestly didn’t think I would ever research or write about.

I always knew that there were women in India, especially in the poorer sections of society, who were exploited and coerced into the human trafficking trade. There are so many girls like Mukta who are sacrificed at the altar of Devdasi traditions that still torment some villages in India (even though there is a law against it.) This, I think, is common knowledge for anyone coming from India but Mukta took me to a place in my own heart that I never thought existed.

Kritika: What came first- the idea of the plot or the desire to write?

Amita: I didn’t really have an idea of the plot when I began. I knew I wanted to write about two girls. So I started writing from their birth in different caste systems (in a village vs. a city) and I wrote detailed scenes with them growing up and retaining their friendship for three decades. The characters actually took me to where the story is now. I wrote more than 300 pages just to get to know my characters and the plot. Once I knew my characters well enough, and knew the story I wanted to tell, I got rid of more than half the writing, and worked through many drafts to start the novel at critical points in each character’s life. 

Kritika: How has the process of writing been for you? Share your struggles as you went about writing the brutalities that the characters suffered!

Amita: I think the most challenging part of writing this novel was writing the difficult scenes. It was challenging stepping into the shoes of a woman who endures so much and still retains her spirit. There were moments I went days without writing those scenes because it was too painful. But eventually, the only way to get through them was to write it. That’s the only way I could be true to my characters.

Another part that proved to be difficult was the research. There were so many brutalities /horrors I discovered during my research. I don’t think I’ve covered even one fourth of those in my novel—it would be too difficult to digest. I try to be as sensitive as possible with the more difficult scenes and use language to cushion the blow because it is a topic that must be heard.  So this novel has been an emotional ride. Writing about pain is one of the most difficult things to do and I hope I have done it some justice

Kritika: You've mentioned that Mukta's character has been inspired. Are the other characters inspired too? What kind of research has been monumental in the making of this poignant story?

Amita: Most of research for Mukta’s storyline has been through NGO’s working in India. I follow their work actively and most of Mukta’s experiences are borrowed (and dramatized) from women who have been enslaved in brothels in India. The description in my book about the way the NGO’s work in India is also quite realistic. Many characters that Mukta talks to in the brothel are mirrored on real life people.

As for Tara, a lot of her experiences are mine—especially the friendship scenes with Mukta (that mirrors my friendship with the daughter of a servant, Shakuntala) and more specifically the scene where the children find a dead infant on the construction grounds (which is a terrifying memory.)

Kritika: What publishing lessons have you learnt along the way? Share some insights with our readers!

Amita: Patience and perseverance is the key! I think getting a good developmental editor to look through your book and point out the plot holes and suggest improvement is a must before you even think about sending it out. A writer also needs to be open minded to look at his own work critically. In my case, my editor—Vrinda Condillac— really helped revamp the storyline and made me re-look at my characters and their motives. I am grateful to her.

Kritika: What do we have in the pipeline?

Amita: I am going to release a few short stories soon! I am also experimenting on working on two books in different genres simultaneously.

Kritika:  A random question: would you like the book to be adapted to a movie?

Amita: Sure. Why not?! One can dream, it just may become reality one day! 

Thanks Amita, for the wonderful interview!

Links to buy the book:

Amazon | ibooks | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Google Play

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Book Review: There's Something About You

About the book:

Title: There's something about you

Published by: HarperCollins

Published on: July 15th, 2015

Pages: 268

Genre: Chick-lit

Rating: 4/5 

Blurb: This is not your typical boy-meets-girl story. Okay, they do meet, but there are some complications.

Trish is twenty-eight. She’s unemployed, overweight, single and snarky. She knows all that. And if one more person – just one more person – tries to fix her, she might explode. Sahil is thirty-five. He has superpowers. Well, kind of. He seems to think so, anyway. He’s also hot (okay, in a geeky kind of way, but still). And he plays the guitar, helps the underprivileged and talks about his feelings. Aren’t guys like that supposed to exist only in fantasies?

When Trish and Sahil meet, magic happens. Real magic, you know, like fireworks, electricity, that sort of thing. But here’s the problem. Trish doesn’t want anyone in her life. She has enough to deal with – dependent parents, flaky neighbours, bitchy editors, the works. And yet, Sahil is determined to be in her life.

From the bestselling author of Just Married, Please Excuse and Sorting Out Sid, here is another zinger of a book.

About the author

Yashodhara Lal's USP is in taking the ordinary and making it hilarious. She graduated from IIM-Bangalore in 2002 and has over 12 years of experience in the Marketing Domain across two large corporations in FMCG and media. She lives in Gurgaon with her husband Vijay, and the three small children they call Peanut, Pickle and Papad - all of whom never fail to provide her with material for her entertaining blog athttp://www.yashodharalal.com. 

'Just Married, Please Excuse' is her first book. 'Sorting Out Sid' is second work of fiction.

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My Review:

This book is a pure joyride.
It is begins as the story of Trish (short for Trishna) whose life is a maze of the monotonous days. To aggravate the daily humdrum, are her real problems (not first-world problems, but REAL ones): she is overweight, she just lost her job, her mother's favourite pastime is to intrude in her life, her father is a patient of Alzheimer, and her neighbour always sides with her mother. She can be called a loner. Although one can't see why she doesn't make friends-oh wait- she is overweight, right. And our welcoming society sneers at her, pokes fun at her.

Well, the story takes many turns, and turns out that the other characters are just as important and crucial as our protagonist. She starts freelancing for the same company she was fired from. For a while it seems that things are taking a turn for the good, if and only if you can sell some sarcasm and a part of your conscience to write answers for the most ridiculous questions asked by people. As long as the questions pertained to relationships, her sarcasm tackled it fine. But there's only so much of conscience you can give up for a higher pay.
Enter Sahil- who knows her secrets and who ensures she knows his secrets too.
Fireworks. Magic. Humor.

The novel is such a refreshing one- a plot of chick-lit novel, a serious tangent to it towards the end, a methodically etched plot and perfectly worded sentences in this genre by an Indian author.
I just felt the suspense towards the end could have lingered longer- but that might be just my taste for the dramatic.

Funny, hilarious, heart-warming, positive and quirky- both in its plot and characters- this book is recommended as a sensible light-read!

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Source of the review copy: Indiblogger

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