So, I recently reviewed the book 'Every Day', and loved it. I mentioned in that review, which you can read here, that I had treated myself to a copy of its sequel, 'Another Day'. I won't do a summary of this book, because it is basically the same story as 'Every Day, but this time from the perspective of the character of Rhiannon, so check out my previous review first for some context!
My first impression of this book was that I was a wee bit disappointed, even bored. I mean, a lot of the book is made up of dialogue between Rhiannon and A which I recognised, as it was identical to what was in 'Every Day'. I spoke to my friend, who also loved these books, about this and she suggested that perhaps she was less bored by the sequel because she had waited ages for it, whereas because I read the two so close together, the story was a bit more repetitive to me.
However, I still enjoyed the book. It was like finishing a book you've loved (in this case, 'Every Day'), and instead of getting the 'more' you crave in the usual way of continuing the story, you get it in the form of extra, previously unknown information and details. Depth rather than length, I suppose! I think in this particular case this helped us to understand far more some of the things that may have come across as a little problematic previously, like Rhiannon's relationship with her (ex)boyfriend Justin.
I was reminded in this book of something that first occurred to me when reading 'Every Day ... these characters are supposed to be aged 16, and yet there feelings, sexual desires, thoughts, conversations, etc., are far from PG. It just sort of made me think, these are genuinely the types of things which interest many/most 16 year olds and are major parts of their lives (relationships, for example) and that just made me feel old!
Levithan used this book, perhaps even more so than 'Every Day, although I spoke about it in that review too, to explore ideas of gender and sexuality labelling. I think I found it more poignant here because, for A, it really wasn't a big deal since he had never really assigned himself definitive labels or been assigned any by society, but for Rhiannon, the thought process of whether or not she is able to love a person truly unconditionally, and not be swayed by her 'type' is a main theme of this perspective.
Finally, I was not a fan of how this book ended! While the 'Every Day' ending was a little sad, it, on reflection, kind of made sense. This ending is far more romantically hopeful, and yet, well I don't want to spoil it but let's just say that I worry that Rhiannon's inability to let go may lead to tears further down the line!
I found myself wondering, while I read this book, what it would be like if I had read this book forst, and then perhaps 'Every Day' later. Would it have made sense? I don't really think so and yet I wonder if that is just because I could not possibly read it with a clean, fresh mind-set, it was too clouded by my knowledge and experience of just having read, well, the same story!
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So, I would say to readers who have read 'Every Day', 'Another Day' is certainly worth a read, but maybe give yourself a break in between so that you can fully enjoy it. And if you've read neither, well, if anyone wants to try reading them in the opposite order, I'd love to hear about it!
Reading Challenge: 5/21
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